The City of Toronto has a program in place to add sidewalks on both sides of all arterial and collector roads in Toronto (not local roads). The work is proceeding gradually, with a couple of million dollars a year assigned. For example, next year a sidewalk will finally be added to the side of 401 Richmond, at Spadina.
To get an idea of where the work is needed, the City is building a database of where arterial and collector roads are missing sidewalks. They welcome additional information — there are always more to add. If you know of an arterial or collector road (in general, a four-lane road) that is missing a sidewalk, check to see if it is in the database. If it is missing, contact Lisa Ing at Lisa_Ing@toronto.ca with the location so that the City can put it on its list. Please do not send local roads — they are not part of the program. If you live on a local road and want a sidewalk put in, contact your councillor.
Wider sidewalks may be in store for Front Street at Union Station. The consultants working on the Union Station Precinct plan released options (big PDF) for redeveloping Front street on December 13. Some of them are little better than the current situation, but there is one that is obviously superior — reducing Front Street to two lanes of traffic, with laybys for taxis and drop-offs, with much wider sidewalks and better pedestrian crossings. The consultants are also playing with interesting paving and ordering ideas. Contact them and tell them to go with the two-lane option.
Check out, as well, the crosswalk on the north intersection of Lawrence and Yonge, where the markings are embedded into the asphalt. It’s a more durable technology the city is considering for wider use.
On a bigger scale, the City is just in the process of initiating the creation of a Toronto Pedestrian Plan. It’s still in the conceptual stages, but it’s a very exciting project that could make a big difference in making the city more pedestrian-oriented. We will post further details as they become available.
