{"id":62605,"date":"2020-09-14T08:30:11","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T12:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=62605"},"modified":"2020-09-14T08:14:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T12:14:05","slug":"reid-our-bridges-should-be-places-we-want-to-walk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2020\/09\/14\/reid-our-bridges-should-be-places-we-want-to-walk\/","title":{"rendered":"REID: Our bridges should be places we want to walk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dylan<\/a><\/p>\n

The City of Toronto is criss-crossed with ravines and sunken railways, and the way we connect the city across these gaps is with bridges. The most famous is likely the Bloor Viaduct (mythologized in Michael Oondatje\u2019s book In the Skin of a Lion<\/a><\/em>), but many other more modern and prosaic ones create essential links that sew the city together \u2013 as long as you are in a motor vehicle, that is.<\/p>\n

For pedestrians (and cyclists), in most cases the bridges are something very different \u2013 an obstacle, a fraught endurance test that they must overcome to get beyond their bit of Toronto \u201cisland\u201d to another one. For pedestrians in particular, it\u2019s an endurance test they often don\u2019t bother even trying outside of a few of the shortest, most picturesque bridges near the centre of town. (I\u2019m going to focus on walking in this post, but protected cycling routes across bridges are obviously also a priority).<\/p>\n

These bridges have narrow sidewalks, and no barrier between the walker and the fast traffic beside them (on a couple of bridges a bike lane helps a little bit). Crossing them is a deeply unpleasant experience. It\u2019s even worse in the winter, when snow is often plowed onto the sidewalk, leaving little or no space to walk safely. In the winter, these bridges are often completely inaccessible to people who move in wheelchairs or with other mobility devices, or who have visual impairments.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, in preparation for the more frequent trains of the Union-Pearson Express, Metrolinx decided it needed to get rid of the level crossing at Strachan Avenue. The chosen solution was to drop the tracks down into an underpass, and build an overpass<\/a> \u2013 a bridge \u2013 for Strachan Avenue. This bridge would be a key link between the extensive residential development in the eastern part of Liberty Village and King Street and the rest of the city. It would also be a key route southwards from the King \u00a0Street and its streetcar to Exhibition Place and the waterfront.<\/p>\n

The official documents describing the planned overpass note its importance as a connector for those on foot. The official City of Toronto study of the grade separation project<\/a> (PDF) stated:<\/p>\n

Strachan Avenue will evolve as the precinct\u2019s main street. It will provide many connections into the surrounding neighbourhoods, and will become an even more important north\/ south connection linking downtown with Lake Ontario \u2026 Over time, the street will be enhanced for pedestrians and cyclists who will enjoy bike lanes, broad sidewalks, street trees, ornamental plantings and decorative lighting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Later, it concludes:<\/p>\n

Strachan Avenue can become the lively, livable city street that it must if the surrounding area is to evolve into a truly viable new community \u2026 This solution will allow Strachan Avenue to reach its full potential as a gracious urban street that connects the City to the Waterfront and provides a good relationship to adjacent development and land uses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And what kind of bridge was built to achieve these lofty city-building and connector goals? The bridge that ended up being built is \u2026 crappy. It has (unprotected) bike lanes for cyclists. But for pedestrians \u2013 on a prime walking route \u2013 there\u2019s just a thoughtless, characterless cramped sidewalk, exposed to traffic. Fortunately the bridge is fairly short, but it certainly doesn\u2019t invite crossing. It was clearly designed as if vehicles were the priority, and pedestrians were an afterthought.<\/p>\n

\"Strachan<\/a><\/p>\n

Imagine if, instead, the sidewalks were wide and separated from the street by a barrier. Imagine if there was a lookout point so people could look towards the spectacular view of downtown from the middle of the bridge, or, on the other side, up the tracks towards Liberty Village. It would be appealing. People would want<\/em> to walk south from King or north from Liberty Village along Strachan, even just to check out the bridge. All it would have needed was an extra metre of sidewalk and a low barrier separating it from traffic.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that there are now new pedestrian and cycling bridges not far on either side of the Strachan Avenue Overpass (the Fort York pedestrian and cycling bridge<\/a> and the King-Liberty Pedestrian\/Cycle Bridge<\/a>), but they do not link up the core Strachan corridor, and for pedestrians in particular they would be significant detours. Just because there\u2019s a pedestrian bridge somewhere nearby doesn\u2019t mean that bridges with vehicular lanes shouldn’t also be attractive for walking.<\/p>\n

In a city where we need to encourage walking \u2013 especially now that the pandemic has reinforced the value of being able to walk to more destinations near the area where we live \u2013 we need to have a completely different approach to how we conceive of bridges for vehicles. They need to be multi-modal by default, with space that is both safe and attractive for pedestrians and cyclists as well as vehicles. They need to be seen as infrastructure that will encourage people to walk across them \u2013 even as actual destinations for walking in themselves.<\/p>\n

After all, inherent in most bridges is a view \u2013 in Toronto, often spectacular vistas over ravines. Bridges should be viewing platforms, places people want to walk across in order not just to get to the other side, but to enjoy the spectacular view that is best appreciated by those moving slowly on foot.<\/p>\n

To achieve this goal, all new and rebuilt vehicular bridges in Toronto should, by policy, have:<\/p>\n