Road Safety & Vision Zero Plan

[Northern Light]

Some not great news on the Kensington pedestrianization plans, updated August 6/24.

1) Construction is pushed off to Fall '25

2) The interlocking brick which I thought was a huge improvement has been removed from the design in favour of asphalt.
Some pedestrianization is still proposed, but this has really been watered down from what should have been Market Street 2.0

Kensington Market Safe Streets

Required road reconstruction and watermain replacement in Kensington Market presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redesign the streets in a way that puts pedestrians first, while supporting local businesses. After extensive feedback from local stakeholders and the public, the City is...

www.toronto.ca

 

[adys123]

Some not great news on the Kensington pedestrianization plans, updated August 6/24.

1) Construction is pushed off to Fall '25

2) The interlocking brick which I thought was a huge improvement has been removed from the design in favour of asphalt.
Some pedestrianization is still proposed, but this has really been watered down from what should have been Market Street 2.0

Kensington Market Safe Streets

Required road reconstruction and watermain replacement in Kensington Market presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redesign the streets in a way that puts pedestrians first, while supporting local businesses. After extensive feedback from local stakeholders and the public, the City is...

www.toronto.ca

I do find these two lines rather comical:

Asphalt paving in the roadways to provide a smooth surface for pedestrians using mobility devices, allow for a quicker construction, and maintain the existing Kensington Market look; the City is exploring options for a coating or mix of asphalt that would reflect more sunlight to reduce the urban heat island effect

• Who would've expected the asphalt look to be representative of Kensington Market, at this point, why not just leave the weeds growing through the concrete to "maintain the look"...

The City will also pursue a pedestrianisation pilot project following construction. Staff will form and work closely with a local stakeholder committee to consult on, implement and evaluate a temporary pedestrianized zone in the Market. This will allow more time for consultation to determine the best balance for a pedestrianized zone in Kensington Market.

• I do find it rather unfortunate that the pedestrianization pilot is taking place after we spend money to build a non-ideal solution that we'll be stuck with for a long time... instead of happening first to prove that pedestrianization can work well and then implementing the solution that is preferred by most Kensington Market visitors (hopefully with more buy in from the locals)

 

[Northern Light]

I do find these two lines rather comical:

Asphalt paving in the roadways to provide a smooth surface for pedestrians using mobility devices, allow for a quicker construction, and maintain the existing Kensington Market look; the City is exploring options for a coating or mix of asphalt that would reflect more sunlight to reduce the urban heat island effect

• Who would've expected the asphalt look to be representative of Kensington Market, at this point, why not just leave the weeds growing through the concrete to "maintain the look"...

The City will also pursue a pedestrianisation pilot project following construction. Staff will form and work closely with a local stakeholder committee to consult on, implement and evaluate a temporary pedestrianized zone in the Market. This will allow more time for consultation to determine the best balance for a pedestrianized zone in Kensington Market.

• I do find it rather unfortunate that the pedestrianization pilot is taking place after we spend money to build a non-ideal solution that we'll be stuck with for a long time... instead of happening first to prove that pedestrianization can work well and then implementing the solution that is preferred by most Kensington Market visitors (hopefully with more buy in from the locals)

I concur.

This is the unfortunate result of stubborn, ill-informed, businesses and residents throwing up objections and obstacles to this plan. This is exactly what @AlexBozikovic was talking about in his column that I linked to just the other day.

I'm loathe to risk delaying the modest, but real gains this proposal will deliver; but I think people taking the time to voice their objection to this watering down of a good idea, to both the area councillor and area businesses/the BIA is a worthwhile idea.

We should do this right, the first time. I'm fine with a pilot if it makes people happy, but we should do the pilot next year, before any construction and deliver proof-of-concept and then go ahead. But when we do, we should go for best possible, most complete version.

That said, I don't think a pilot is necessary, I think we've seen plenty of examples of this working out well, especially in other cities, but again, on Market Street here as well.

 

[goreckm]

I concur.

This is the unfortunate result of stubborn, ill-informed, businesses and residents throwing up objections and obstacles to this plan. This is exactly what @AlexBozikovic was talking about in this column that I linked to just the other day.

I'm loathe to risk delaying the modest, but real gains this proposal will deliver; but I think people taking the time to voice their objection to this watering down of a good idea, to both the area councillor and area businesses/the BIA is a worthwhile idea.

We should do this right, the first time. I'm fine with a pilot if it makes people happy, but we should do the pilot next year, before any construction and deliver proof-of-concept and then go ahead. But when we do, we should go for best possible, most complete version.

That said, I don't think a pilot is necessary, I think we've seen plenty of examples of this working out well, especially in other cities, but again, on Market Street here as well.

I'm not generally a good is the enemy of perfect kind of guy, but, I think delaying this until after the pilot should be the goal, because, if we can't get Kensington pedestrianized, where can it happen? This will also be a model for opposition on how to kill these proposals. Not doing anything will just increase the pressure, and that's a positive, imo. Even if we need to wait 5 years, it's better than 20 to 30 years when we'll get another chance.