G
ganjavih
Guest
Toronto's sidewalks set to undergo extreme makeover
`Street furniture' faces an overhaul
Advertising space to generate debate
Feb. 18, 2006. 01:00 AM
JOHN SPEARS
CITY HALL BUREAU
Get ready to hear a lot about street furniture in the next few months.
It's not a phrase that rolls off the tongue of most people, but the city is gearing up to spend a lot of time talking about street furniture in the coming months — and ultimately, upwards of $100 million to renew it.
If all goes according to plan, however, the money will come from advertisers rather than the coffers of the cash-starved city.
What's street furniture? It's anything that sits on the street — or more usually the sidewalk — and performs some sort of function, public or private.
Think transit shelters, garbage and recycling bins, benches, telephone booths, newspaper vending boxes, light poles and bicycle racks.
Let the mind wander a little further and it could include public toilets, fire hydrants, traffic lights, tree guards, mail boxes, street signs, flower baskets and manhole covers.
There are so many objects scattered across sidewalks that city council is wondering whether they should all be required to fit some broad design standards — and if so, what they should be.
The new street furniture will cost a lot more than a trip to Leon's.
The city has about 3,800 transit shelters, and the latest to be installed cost about $20,000 each. That works out to a potential $76 million for shelters alone, if they're all replaced. Throw in garbage containers, benches, bike racks and a few other items and the cost is likely to soar tens of millions more, spread over a period of years.
The city's current contract to supply transit shelters, held by Viacom, expires in 2007; the garbage bin contract held by Eucan runs to 2009.
Andrew Koropeski of the city's transportation department is overseeing the project.
"We hope to have some kind of consistent design theme, so it's a Toronto theme that ties the city together," Koropeski said.
"But on the other hand, it recognizes that business associations and neighbourhoods want to have an individual identity as well. How that's done, that's all part of this process."
The debate over how much consistency is too much has already started. After hearing a presentation on the project, pedestrian committee member Richard Nelson warned about the dangers of over-design.
"One of the things I like about Toronto is what you might call its texture. Everything looks a little different, the buildings are all of different ages," he said.
Rita Brooks had a different perspective after the same presentation at the committee.
"I think there's a lot of room for creativity within certain parameters," she said. "I like to see things organized and clean, especially if you don't have much space — and we don't."
Since selling advertising space is supposed to cover the cost of the new items, there's likely to be heated debate over how much should be allowed.
Advertisements about the project are set to run in newspapers next week, with public workshops around the city scheduled over the following weeks.
Questionnaires to gather opinions will soon be posted on the city's website, at http://www.toronto.ca/streetfurniture.
`Street furniture' faces an overhaul
Advertising space to generate debate
Feb. 18, 2006. 01:00 AM
JOHN SPEARS
CITY HALL BUREAU
Get ready to hear a lot about street furniture in the next few months.
It's not a phrase that rolls off the tongue of most people, but the city is gearing up to spend a lot of time talking about street furniture in the coming months — and ultimately, upwards of $100 million to renew it.
If all goes according to plan, however, the money will come from advertisers rather than the coffers of the cash-starved city.
What's street furniture? It's anything that sits on the street — or more usually the sidewalk — and performs some sort of function, public or private.
Think transit shelters, garbage and recycling bins, benches, telephone booths, newspaper vending boxes, light poles and bicycle racks.
Let the mind wander a little further and it could include public toilets, fire hydrants, traffic lights, tree guards, mail boxes, street signs, flower baskets and manhole covers.
There are so many objects scattered across sidewalks that city council is wondering whether they should all be required to fit some broad design standards — and if so, what they should be.
The new street furniture will cost a lot more than a trip to Leon's.
The city has about 3,800 transit shelters, and the latest to be installed cost about $20,000 each. That works out to a potential $76 million for shelters alone, if they're all replaced. Throw in garbage containers, benches, bike racks and a few other items and the cost is likely to soar tens of millions more, spread over a period of years.
The city's current contract to supply transit shelters, held by Viacom, expires in 2007; the garbage bin contract held by Eucan runs to 2009.
Andrew Koropeski of the city's transportation department is overseeing the project.
"We hope to have some kind of consistent design theme, so it's a Toronto theme that ties the city together," Koropeski said.
"But on the other hand, it recognizes that business associations and neighbourhoods want to have an individual identity as well. How that's done, that's all part of this process."
The debate over how much consistency is too much has already started. After hearing a presentation on the project, pedestrian committee member Richard Nelson warned about the dangers of over-design.
"One of the things I like about Toronto is what you might call its texture. Everything looks a little different, the buildings are all of different ages," he said.
Rita Brooks had a different perspective after the same presentation at the committee.
"I think there's a lot of room for creativity within certain parameters," she said. "I like to see things organized and clean, especially if you don't have much space — and we don't."
Since selling advertising space is supposed to cover the cost of the new items, there's likely to be heated debate over how much should be allowed.
Advertisements about the project are set to run in newspapers next week, with public workshops around the city scheduled over the following weeks.
Questionnaires to gather opinions will soon be posted on the city's website, at http://www.toronto.ca/streetfurniture.
