News

The City of Toronto is currently considering reconfiguring Front Street West from Bay Street to York Street to accommodate anticipated increased pedestrian traffic resulting from GO Transit’s expansion.

Ideas coming from the city include:

Toronto. Great news BUT City Council imposed several important conditions that need to be fulfilled by Nov 30th in order for the program to move forward. One of these is that 1000 membership pledges are required by Nov 30th.

The Toronto BIXI team has prepared the attached Q&A. Please have a look and get ready to sign up for BIXI Toronto as soon as memberships become available!

Last week, City Council approved the installation of “No Right Turn on Red” regulations at 5 downtown intersections. Prohibiting right turns on red at these intersections is required in order to install bike boxes and pedestrian scrambles, similar to those already in place at Yonge-Bloor and Yonge-Dundas.

The Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) released their Mid-Campaign Mayoral Candidate Report Card last week. The organization ranked five of the mayoral candidates based on their commitment to the following six categories:

Each month Good News Toronto features a suggested act of kindness in their ongoing Kindness Campaign. This month's campaign is aimed at improving the relationship between cyclists and motorists. Readers are invited to perform a suggested random act of kindness (or one of their choosing) and leave behind the “Kindness Card” provided in the newspaper.

The City of Toronto, in association with the Toronto Entertainment District Business Improvement Area, is undertaking a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) Study to examine potential improvements to the public realm of John Street consistent with concepts outlined in the Toronto Entertainment District Master Plan.

In the 1970s, Toronto enacted a bylaw that made playing street hockey in the street illegal. But, now city staff and councilors are considering getting rid of the bylaw, thanks to a campaign by Matthew Blacket, member of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee and publisher of Spacing Toronto.

“It’s wrong to have bylaws that outlaw ‘the active and healthy lifestyle that our government is actually trying to encourage,’" said Blackett.

On June 22nd, Toronto and East York Community Council voted unanimously to a report authorizing right turn on red prohibitions at four intersections in order to install bike boxes. The report also included a fifth intersection (Bay-Bloor) where right turns on red will be prohibited when the pedestrian scramble is installed. Prohibiting right turns on reds is critical to improving both the safety of cyclists and pedestrians.

On Jun 19-20, pedestrians enjoyed two car-free days on St. Clair Ave. This successful event was organized by the City of Toronto's Public Realm Section. The attached slides show what a great day it was for all involved and here are a couple of quotes from participants:

"This is fostering a real sense of community. We're running into neighbours that we wouldn't otherwise see."

"I live in the neighbourhood, and today I've found shops that I never knew existed."

This week, Spacing published its second article in a two-part series on TCAT's recent Complete Streets Forum. (TCAT reported on the first post in the last TCAT News.)