{"id":19401,"date":"2011-04-25T10:00:40","date_gmt":"2011-04-25T14:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=19401"},"modified":"2013-01-21T13:19:56","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T18:19:56","slug":"complete-streets-an-interview-with-tcats-nancy-smith-lea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/04\/25\/complete-streets-an-interview-with-tcats-nancy-smith-lea\/","title":{"rendered":"Complete Streets: An Interview with TCAT&#8217;s Nancy Smith Lea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-19402\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/04\/25\/complete-streets-an-interview-with-tcats-nancy-smith-lea\/circling-bike-lane-1-of-2\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19402\" title=\"Circling bike lane (1 of 2)\" src=\"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/network\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2011\/04\/5148130010_530785ab66-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2011\/04\/5148130010_530785ab66-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2011\/04\/5148130010_530785ab66-1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been a big year for Toronto\u2019s streets. The good: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.toronto.bixi.com\/\" target=\"_self\">Bixi<\/a> is set to launch on May 3<sup>rd <\/sup>and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/gta\/article\/840223--controversial-jarvis-bike-lanes-open\" target=\"_self\">Jarvis<\/a> received a new bike lane. The not so good: we\u2019ve seen lackluster vision for urban streets in both municipal and federal elections and the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee is currently on the chopping block.<\/p>\n<p>Leading up to the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation (TCAT) and the Clean Air Partnership\u2019s Complete Streets Forum this week, Spacing caught up with TCAT\u2019s director, Nancy Smith Lea.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Reflecting back on the year that was, \u201cthe most important development has been the uptake in the use of the term \u2018complete streets\u2019. There has been a rallying around this vision,\u201d she says. It\u2019s a vision that\u2019s hard to disagree with: complete streets are designed to be safe, accessible and inclusive for users of all ages and abilities. All the same, Smith Lea is encouraged by the increased use of the term by advocates, City staff and professionals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has really helped advocates to form a positive vision.\u201d She cites the <a href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2010\/04\/16\/open-letter\/\" target=\"_self\">Open Letter to Candidates about Complete Streets<\/a> as an example. \u201cIt\u2019s too easy to get focused on what is wrong. It\u2019s really helpful to have everyone on the same page in terms of what we want to change and what we want that change to look like.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the face of local challenges, Smith Lea draws inspiration from other cities and individuals pursuing complete streets planning, design and implementation. In the U.S., New York City\u2019s handling of bike lane backlash and Portland, Oregon\u2019s safe routes to schools and bike corral initiatives stand out as amazing examples of what is possible. This week\u2019s forum will welcome representatives of both cities, Hillary Poole, Senior Project Manager in Implementation &amp; Safety at the New York City Department of Transportation and Mia Birk of Alta Planning + Design.<\/p>\n<p>Closer to home, Smith Lea cites Waterloo, Ontario, which last week passed what is believed to be the first complete streets policy in Canada. \u201cWaterloo is a municipality to watch. They are really leading the way and putting in lots of innovative designs.\u201d Chris Hodgson, the Waterloo\u2019s Project Manager for Capital Projects &amp; Services will speak at the Forum.<\/p>\n<p>Other program highlights include Susan Eng, Vice President, Advocacy for the Canadian Association of Retired Persons who will provide some perspective on seniors\u2019 safety and Michel Labrecque, Chairman, Board of Directors, Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de transport de Montr\u00e9al, on his city\u2019s unique \u201ctransportation cocktail\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Smith Lea maintains an open mind about what Toronto\u2019s approach should look like. \u201cWe already have a lot of really good policies in Toronto so it is worth considering whether we actually need another policy and if we do, how it will fit with existing policies. As long as we can continue to move forward, I don\u2019t care how we achieve complete streets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Towards that end, TCAT will be putting together a Complete Streets by Design resource which will serve as a visual collection of implementable design solutions for both urban and suburban contexts. TCAT will continue to develop tools and build the research that professionals and advocates can use to improve conditions for all road users, such as this week\u2019s forum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Complete Streets Forum is designed to speed up progress on the work that people are doing in these areas. We see our role as facilitating collaboration between Toronto and the surrounding region, between City departments, between politicians and advocates. This approach is critical to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Complete Streets Forum will be held April 28, 2011 at Hart House. For more information or to register for this year\u2019s event, please go to: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.torontocat.ca\/completestreetsforum2011   \" target=\"_self\">http:\/\/www.torontocat.ca\/completestreetsforum2011<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Image from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/jamesbondsv\/5148130010\/sizes\/m\/in\/photostream\/\" target=\"_self\">Steven Vance<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been a big year for Toronto\u2019s streets. The good: Bixi is set to launch on May 3rd and Jarvis received a new bike lane. The not so good: we\u2019ve seen lackluster vision for urban streets in both municipal and federal elections and the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee is currently on the chopping block. Leading<a href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/04\/25\/complete-streets-an-interview-with-tcats-nancy-smith-lea\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;Complete Streets: An Interview with TCAT&#8217;s Nancy Smith Lea&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4081,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,50,32,20],"tags":[14817,17480,457,17486,1815,17482,7077,163,2671,353,17485,17488,17479,17481,11392,14822,564,636,1041,428,1874,17478,17483,17484,11228,19,3253,6172,17487,506,4948,13398],"class_list":["post-19401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bikes","category-events","category-infrastructure","category-streetscape","category-urban-design","tag-advocacy","tag-board-of-directors","tag-canada","tag-canadian-association-of-retired-persons","tag-chairman","tag-chris-hodgson","tag-clean-air-partnership","tag-complete-streets","tag-department-of-transportation","tag-director","tag-hillary-poole","tag-implementable-design-solutions","tag-manager-in-implementation-safety","tag-mia-birk","tag-michel-labrecque","tag-nancy-smith-lea","tag-new-york-city","tag-ontario","tag-oregon","tag-portland","tag-project-manager","tag-project-manager-for-capital-projects-services","tag-societe","tag-steven-vance","tag-susan-eng","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-coalition-for-active-transportation","tag-toronto-cycling-advisory-committee","tag-transportation-cocktail","tag-united-states","tag-vice-president","tag-waterloo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Complete Streets: An Interview with TCAT&#039;s Nancy Smith Lea - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/04\/25\/complete-streets-an-interview-with-tcats-nancy-smith-lea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Complete Streets: An Interview with TCAT&#039;s Nancy Smith Lea - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s been a big year for Toronto\u2019s streets. The good: Bixi is set to launch on May 3rd and Jarvis received a new bike lane. The not so good: we\u2019ve seen lackluster vision for urban streets in both municipal and federal elections and the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee is currently on the chopping block. 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