Lower Yonge Street Environmental Assessment Study
Toronto
The City of Toronto is moving forward to redesign a portion of lower Yonge Street from Queen Street to Carlton/College Street by cutting vehicular lanes and giving the added space to pedestrians and cyclists. Ken Greenberg is part of a team led by Steer Davies Gleave to conduct an Environmental Assessment Study to evaluate options for this redesign. This is the fastest growing area of the city, the downtown population has increased by 18 per cent since 2006, four times faster that the city as a whole and with a substantial and growing number of residents, workers and visitors pedestrian congestion on Yonge Street is causing concern. According to Ward 27 councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam . “The sidewalks are so narrow... we have more pedestrians than we have motor vehicles [on Yonge], yet pedestrians have the least amount of public space to use. It’s not a true representation of what I call the ‘democratization of the street.’ We want to be able to reallocate some of the space, so those who are using the sidewalk will have the chance to use it more safely and more comfortably.” Infrastructure planning transportation
The study is a planning process that the city will use to collect information, evaluate alternatives and engage stakeholders about potential changes to the transportation network and the public realm. Th e study will identify options to redesign Yonge Street, their impacts on pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, and their financial implications. It will also include a plan for implementing any changes. “The goals are all about enhancing the public realm on Yonge Street. The functional street design study will build on a 2011 study by KPMB Architects and Greenberg Consultants Inc.— commissioned by community members, the Downtown Yonge BIA and Ryerson University—as well as work of the BIA such as its 2009 Streetscape Guidelines, 2011 Public Realm Strategy and Celebrate Yonge.