{"id":46870,"date":"2013-11-30T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2013-11-30T14:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=46870"},"modified":"2014-03-13T19:45:20","modified_gmt":"2014-03-13T23:45:20","slug":"open-streets-coming-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2013\/11\/30\/open-streets-coming-toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"Open streets coming to Toronto?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pedestrians and cyclists alike may soon get their chance to take over a major street in Toronto, if only for a few days during the summer.<\/p>\n

Open streets are events where long stretches of urban roadways are shut down to motorized vehicles, but open to almost any other kind of traffic, and they\u2019re exactly the kind of thing Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam wants to see in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine our streets becoming the new playground for Toronto and for Torontonians of all ages,\u201d said Wong-Tam at the Nov. 16 Open Streets Summit at Ryerson University.<\/p>\n

A number of experts joined Wong-Tam at the summit to discuss the possibility of bringing the popular events \u2013 also known as ciclov\u00edas \u2013 to the city. New York, Paris, Mexico City, and a slew of others already have open streets programs, and the general consensus at the summit seemed to be it’s time to try one out in Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great thing about this program is that it\u2019s already been tested in other parts of the world,\u201d Wong-Tam told Spacing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a fantastic way to promote physical activity without building another community centre,\u201d she said in the follow-up interview.<\/p>\n

Asked what made her get involved with open streets, Wong-Tam said, \u201cI really believe that bringing mass participation through physical activity and recreational programs is beneficial to the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gil Penalosa, director of 8-80 Cities<\/a>, a Toronto-based not-for-profit organization that promotes open streets events worldwide, thinks the events can be successful in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cToronto could have the best open streets program in the world,\u201d Penalosa told the about 100 in attendance at the Saturday morning summit, noting Toronto\u2019s relatively flat surface and small overall area create favourable conditions for the events.<\/p>\n

During his presentation, Penalosa said open streets have the potential to bring communities together, while promoting physical health. A city\u2019s economy can also benefit from increased pedestrian and cyclist traffic passing local businesses, he said.<\/p>\n

Dani Simons, a former communications director for New York City\u2019s transportation department, also spoke at the summit. In 2007, Simons helped bring ciclov\u00edas to New York through the Summer Streets<\/a> project, opening up about 11 kilometres of roadways in the heart of Manhattan for recreation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that people look forward to every summer,\u201d she said of New York\u2019s Summer Streets events, which occur annually three Saturdays each August and draw crowds in the hundreds of thousands.<\/p>\n

Simons echoed the social, health, and economic benefits Penalosa addressed, while also mentioning open streets events can pave the way for cycling infrastructure expansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really helps people rethink the way that streets are used,\u201d said Simons, crediting the program with helping garner support for initiatives such as an 8th Ave. redesign that added protected bike lanes and a pedestrian medium to the busy street.<\/p>\n

Wong-Tam told Spacing<\/em> she is currently waiting on a staff report on open streets that is seven months overdue. Once she receives and reviews the report, a motion can be put to council for adoption.<\/p>\n

With council\u2019s approval, Wong-Tam said Toronto could see three to four open streets events from May Two-Four weekend through to Labour Day weekend in 2014.<\/p>\n

So far one of the main candidates for hosting an open street is Bloor.<\/p>\n

An ideal host is transit-accessible (but not a streetcar route), flat, iconic, and has historical value, said Wong-Tam.<\/p>\n

No route has been finalized, but a minimum goal of 10 kilometres has been set for the event. The logic is the longer the route, the more appealing it becomes for participants, especially cyclists who cover distances faster than pedestrians. Lengthier routes also link up more communities, meeting another objective of open streets initiatives.<\/p>\n

But how much would open streets in Toronto cost?<\/p>\n

Wong-Tam said it was too early on to give an accurate budget estimate, but explained the City won\u2019t be responsible for funding, and there won\u2019t be an admission fee either.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t asked the City for any money. I\u2019ve actually committed to this organization (8-80 cities) and working group that we will raise $1 million ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe actual cost will be largely dependent on policing costs,\u201d she said, adding if volunteers and security guards can be used to oversee the event, it will be considerably less expensive.<\/p>\n

Other costs associated with the proposal are event promotion and branding, as well as recruitment.<\/p>\n

To raise funds, Wong-Tam is looking to private sponsors. “If you were a company that wants to sponsor something that brought out hundreds of thousands of people repeatedly over the summer months, wouldn’t this be a great event to connect with?” she said.<\/p>\n

While turning the project from idea into reality has been more than a year in the making, Wong-Tam is optimistic about seeing open streets in Toronto by summer 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they can do it in New York, then I think we can do it here,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cand I actually think that we could probably do it better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pedestrians and cyclists alike may soon get their chance to take over a major street in Toronto, if only for a few days during the summer. Open streets are events where long stretches of urban roadways are shut down to motorized vehicles, but open to almost any other kind of traffic, and they\u2019re exactly theContinue reading “Open streets coming to Toronto?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8207,"featured_media":46872,"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":[7,9,20,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bikes","category-traffic","category-urban-design","category-walking"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOpen streets coming to Toronto? - 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\/2013\/11\/30\/open-streets-coming-toronto\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Open streets coming to Toronto? - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pedestrians and cyclists alike may soon get their chance to take over a major street in Toronto, if only for a few days during the summer. 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