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Avenue Road = Most aesthetic street in Toronto?

James said:
But alas, there's no short, easy answer to that question. We could devote an entire thread to this one discussion.
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How about copying New York City and inviting bids from top international science universities to build a private sector version of MIT (I guess MIT is private sector for that matter) in Toronto? I assume Build Toronto could provide the land and surely even the McGuinty government would allow the establishment of a high quality science and technology university outside of the provincial system. It wouldn't cost anything aside from the land and foregone property taxes.
 
pman said:
How about copying New York City and inviting bids from top international science universities to build a private sector version of MIT (I guess MIT is private sector for that matter) in Toronto? I assume Build Toronto could provide the land and surely even the McGuinty government would allow the establishment of a high quality science and technology university outside of the provincial system. It wouldn't cost anything aside from the land and foregone property taxes.
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Well, I think we're definitely on the right track with the increased awareness of PPP projects (public-private partnerships). This is already a major factor in future development in the city for everything from public transit to hospitals to the waterfront, etc.
 
adma said:
The big trouble with Avenue Road was that they widened it into a speedway around 1960, which leaves a lot of older structures bordering it looking rather compressed and frightened...
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From this link at BlogTO...

In the late 1950s, Avenue Road was widened to accommodate growing vehicular traffic in Toronto. Widespread efforts to make the city more car-friendly had commenced in the early '40s, but it was still possible to add lanes here on account of the relatively low density north of Davenport Road. They made due to the south as well, but walk by the Church of Redeemer today and you'll notice just how close it gets to the roadway. There's no room to spare.​

In the 1950's, the BAY streetcar would go up and down Avenue Road to reach St. Clair Avenue. When they got rid of the streetcar right-of-way during the 1930's (as a "make work project"), the city was turning more to the single-occupant automobile. Until today. Avenue Road was widened between Bloor Street and St. Clair Avenue to accommodate the automobile. With the return of the streetcar right-of-way on St. Clair Avenue, it is time to narrow Avenue Road and return it to the pedestrian, as it was.

2014319-ave-north-dav-1938.jpg

Avenue Road looking north from Davenport, 1938

2014319-ave-widening-south-st-clair-1959.jpg

Avenue Road widening south of St. Clair, 1959

2014319-ave-dupont-1959-north.jpg

Avenue Road and Dupont looking north, 1959

2014319-ave-road-widened-de-le-salle-1960.jpg

Avenue Road south of De La Salle College post-widening, 1960

2014319-ave-looking-north-dav-1960.jpg

Avenue Road looking north of Davenport, 1960
 
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Just horrible what they did back then. Good news is that it leaves lots of room to put in an LRT ROW.
 
Towered said:
Just horrible what they did back then. Good news is that it leaves lots of room to put in an LRT ROW.
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Putting in a right-of-way down the middle of Avenue Road and Davenport leading to a streetcar down Bay Street could provide a quicker and cheaper "relief line" for Line 1 Yonge Subway... and the return of the BAY streetcar between the Earlscourt loop and either City Hall or the Docks.

ttc-2568-bay-1950.jpg

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From link.
 
Community group calls on city to widen sidewalks and reduce speeds on Avenue Road

Avenue Road Safety Coalition wants a pilot project set up by end of year

September 29, 2020

A community group is calling on the city to make a stretch of Avenue Road immediately safer for pedestrians.

The Avenue Road Safety Coalition, made up of residents' associations and school parent councils, wants the city to set up a pilot project by the end of the year that would widen sidewalks on Avenue Road between St. Clair Avenue West and Bloor Street West.

According to the coalition, a 2.1-kilometre stretch of Avenue Road is a six-lane street that is hostile to pedestrians and cyclists. The coalition wants the speed limit lowered to 40 kilometres per hour. The sidewalks on this stretch are "dangerously narrow," the coalition says.

 

Too fast, too furious? Local residents want the city to slow speeding traffic on Avenue Road by turning part of it into a park​


July 14, 2021

The plan from James Brown and Kim Storey, who also designed Yonge-Dundas Square and the pedestrian-friendly overhaul of St. George Street, would reduce the space allocated to traffic lanes from 20 metres to about 13.3 metres, creating 2.6 hectares of new public space and accommodating 580 new trees. The street would be reduced from six to four traffic lanes in an asymmetrical design, creating sidewalks 3.5 metres wide on the west side, and 8.2 metres on the east.

The broader sidewalks on the east would allow for generous pedestrian space dotted with terraces, public art and a double line of trees. The architects say the effect would be a “linear park” that would connect to nearby green spaces like Ramsden Park and the proposed Green Line, and be “transformative at a civic scale.”

The current version of the Avenue concept doesn’t include bike lanes. Brown and Storey, who worked on the plan pro bono, said the proposal has the potential to accommodate cycling paths, but for the moment their work was “focused on maximizing the pedestrian/public realm.”

Brown and Storey noted that like other north-south arterials in Toronto, Avenue Road was widened in the 1950s to provide as much space to cars as possible, taking space from other road users and requiring the removal of trees, verges, front gardens and sidewalks.

They said they hope their new vision “shows how a return of balance to the space for pedestrians and vehicles would revitalize a key boulevard in the city,” and serves as a model for reviving other north-south streets.
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www.thestar.com

Too fast, too furious? Local residents want the city to slow speeding traffic on Avenue Road by turning part of it into a park

Narrow sidewalks and six lanes of heavy traffic have turned the thoroughfare into a “hostile environment” for those not in a car, says a local residen...
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

Outline - Read & annotate without distractions

Outline is a free service for reading and annotating news articles. We remove the clutter so you can analyze and comment on the content.
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The death of an 18-year-old cyclist on Avenue Road last month has given new urgency to a plan to revamp the busy thoroughfare, safety advocates and local politicians say.

The plan, which doesn't have an endorsement — or funding — from city council, would see traffic lanes reduced from six to four on Avenue Road between Bloor Street and St. Clair, sidewalks widened dramatically, with trees, benches and public art added as well.

"The narrow sidewalks in places are so narrow that they're essentially a mountain pathway," said Albert Koehl, co-ordinator of the Avenue Road Safety Coalition, a community group that sponsored the new street plan.

"The city's own studies show that about 85 per cent of people exceed the speed limit. And if you look at parts of the road, it really looks like a motorway. It's six lanes," Koehl said.

Cyclist Miguel Escanan was killed in August when he was hit by a truck on Avenue Road just north of Bloor Street.

The plan, conceived by Toronto's Brown and Storey Architects Inc., also contains an option to add bike lanes, Koehl said, but "our priority was getting wider sidewalks."

As for the possibility of complaints from motorists, Koehl said the safety plan shouldn't surprise anyone.

"The irony is that our plan that we've proposed is completely consistent with the city's plans about getting people to walk and cycle more, getting people out of cars," he said.

The Brown and Storey plan goes to a virtual public meeting on Monday evening.
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Id prefer a slightly more classical design for this stretch of avenue road. It's nice, but I dont think such a bold contemporary design suits this stretch. Especially not the plain lamp posts.
 
AlbertC said:
https://www.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/x5u8kd
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Hmmm, seems like a popular move based on your link.

My first instinct is that that is a lot visual clutter to weed through for a motorist or a cyclist.

I'm always a fan of keeping signage/instruction lean/intuitive wherever practical.

If this is helpful, great! I just wonder about confusion creating as many problems as rules solve.
 
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