Roads: Traffic catch all

[TheTigerMaster]

The more I go to events like Taste of the Danforth, Buskerfest and Open Streets TO, the more I'm convinced that Yonge Street needs to become a pedestrian mall. Today it was amazing to see how packed Yonge was for Buskerfest, despite the heavy rain and it being a weekday. I never would have expected to see so many people on Yonge at 2 PM on a rainy Thursday afternoon.

 

[ehlow]

The more I go to events like Taste of the Danforth, Buskerfest and Open Streets TO, the more I'm convinced that Yonge Street needs to become a pedestrian mall. Today it was amazing to see how packed Yonge was for Buskerfest, despite the heavy rain and it being a weekday. I never would have expected to see so many people on Yonge at 2 PM on a rainy Thursday afternoon.

There's no doubt there's enough pedestrian traffic to justify it, and they vastly outnumber the amount of cars on Yonge.

I would probably just do Queen to College to start. I'd do it cheap & fast like NYC did with Broadway. Just throw chairs, tables and planters on there.

Maybe O'Keefe lane just south of Dundas Square could become a Melbourne style laneway:

 

[ehlow]

The more I go to events like Taste of the Danforth, Buskerfest and Open Streets TO, the more I'm convinced that Yonge Street needs to become a pedestrian mall. Today it was amazing to see how packed Yonge was for Buskerfest, despite the heavy rain and it being a weekday. I never would have expected to see so many people on Yonge at 2 PM on a rainy Thursday afternoon.

Speaking of which http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/reimagining-yonge-street-with-the-nxt-prize-1.2743730

 

[lead82]

Speaking of which http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/reimagining-yonge-street-with-the-nxt-prize-1.2743730

That would be a good start. The pedestrian friendliness should go from Queen all the way up to Bloor (from the lake would be even better). There is a lot of development happening between College and Bloor, so if we are remaking the street, lets fix it up until Bloor. Ideally I would just close down Yonge for traffic and just allow deliveries, passive use, cycling and wide sidewalk and two rows of big shady trees.

I doubt it will go anywhere. Car lobby is too strong here, and planners have no cloud to implement this. I'm still waiting for the John St. improvements.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Toronto traffic is gridlocked and transit is lacking. Here’s how three other cities have solved both

From London to Singapore, cities have pulled in tons of cash that can support infrastructure by charging drivers to go through its city centres.

www.thestar.com

Paywall free: https://archive.ph/2FCel

My solution to Toronto’s gridlock? I don’t drive nor take transit during rush hour. I bikeshare if I need to go somewhere. I walk to the grocery shop. I work from home. Not everyone can do this, but I’m glad I’ve found a solution that works, especially on those rare occasions where I need to drive to clients in Toronto during the day and see just how bad it is.

As for my ideas for the city's solution to gridlock? Dramatic increase in parking enforcement in rush hour corridors, with court seizure and auction of any commercial vehicles parked in no-parking zone, including Amazon drivers hopped up on curbs or sidewalks. No more restaurants taking curb lanes or bike lanes. $10,000 a day fee for condo developments that block lanes or bike lanes. Remove parking on major roads permanently across much of the city - build Green Ps to compensate. I expect storefront retailers have no idea how many of their customers walk rather than drive to their stores - but we had storefronts long before we had private cars, so the business is still there.