Walking

On June 16th, 2010 Waterloo City Council approved a Transportation Master Plan that features a Complete Streets policy as its "cornerstone" component. "As a result, Active Transportation becomes an integral part of the municipal transportation system." (The City of Waterloo Transportation Master Plan, "A City that is truly accessible to all", June 2010, pg 26). Read the full plan here.

What does “complete street” mean? Spacing Toronto’s Andrew Walsh attended TCAT's Complete Streets Forum and spoke with Barbara McCann from the National Complete Streets Coalition and New York City's Assistant Commissioner for Planning and Sustainability Andy Wiley-Schwartz and learned about the history of the Complete Streets movement and the potential for Toronto.

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:

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."

TCAT has been invited to present its current research on community-based walkability audits at the upcoming Walk21 Conference in the Netherlands. This research, commissioned by the City of Toronto, teases out issues relevant to community-based walkability audit tools - tools administered by community members, without the need for formal training.

Walk and Roll Peel, a joint initiative between Peel, Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, launched this month.

The website contains many resources on walking and cycling, everything from planning a recreational ride to research on active transportation to a greenhouse gas emissions calculator to help you figure out your emissions reductions from walking or biking.

Visit the website for:

One of TCAT's goals for last month's Complete Streets Forum was for the City of Toronto to adopt a complete streets policy. As such we were quite pleased that Gary Welsh, General Manager of Transportation Services and many other senior transportation staff attended the Forum. Mr. Welsh was quoted in the Toronto Star the day after the Forum that he will take a serious look at adopting a complete streets policy in Toronto.

Thanks to the Friends of Fort York for keeping us updated on major projects happening in the Fort York area, including the Fort York Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge which TCAT has supported and provided comment on. Here is an excerpt from the group's most recent newsletter:

Jane’s Walks just keep getting bigger and better. This year 60 cities worldwide are taking part. There are lots to choose from in each city. TCAT’s pick: Leslieville Lures – Connecting To Our Port Lands guided by TCAT Steering Committee member Neluka Leanage and Paul Young: Saturday May 1, 2010 @ 10 a.m. Meet at the north-west corner of Leslie St and Lakeshore Boulevard East (just south of the Tim Horton’s).

There are several exciting and ambitious active transportation reports going forward to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) next week. Some, but not all, will require a strong show of community support in order to be approved at PWIC on Apr 20th and by City Council on May 11-12. Please email your support for these motions by April 19th at 12:00 noon to Candy Davidovits, Committee Administrator at cdavidov@toronto.ca or 416-392-8032.