Excessive Park will proceed to be closed to automobiles on weekends and holidays whereas metropolis workers develop a plan to finally ban non-public vehicles from the landmark greenspace sooner or later.
The Toronto metropolis council accredited the plan in a heated debate with 18 votes in favour and seven in opposition to. The modifications will likely be minor within the quick time period, however the metropolis workers will work on bodily alterations to make sure that vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists can safely share the house.
Councilor Gord Perks, who proposed the profitable movement, mentioned that it’ll take a number of years to realize a totally car-free Excessive Park.
“I’m grateful to Toronto residents and guests who took half within the Metropolis’s intensive public consultations on the Excessive Park Motion Technique. Whereas there’s nonetheless a substantial amount of work, we should do, this is a vital step in the fitting course,” mentioned Perks. “Working to realize a car-free Excessive Park aligns with the Metropolis’s commitments to Imaginative and prescient Zero, improved city design and reaching our local weather change objectives.”
Highlights of the technique accredited by Metropolis Council, the implementation of which can start this summer time, embody:
- Everlasting closure of West Street and parts of Colborne Lodge Drive seven days per week, offering over 1.7 kilometres of recent car-free house for park customers.
- Automobile-free weekends all through the park. Entry to the Spring Street car parking zone will stay.
- Enhancements to transit and a brand new shuttle service serving the park’s inside locations.
- Modifications to parking, together with the addition of accessible and family-priority areas and exploration of paid parking.
- Enhancements to biking infrastructure, together with separated bike lanes in some areas and a leisure biking pilot to check devoted, early morning biking hours in partnership with biking teams.
- Re-naturalization alternatives and public realm enhancements, together with sidewalk widening, improved pedestrian crossing areas and wayfinding and signage enhancements.
The primary stage of labor will embody new pavement markings and non permanent visitors management measures, akin to boundaries and signage, to point modifications to the journey community.
“When Excessive Park was deeded to the town, there have been no vehicles” @gordperks is talking concerning the numerous modifications to the park configuration and must proceed adapting to our wants. He additionally mentions that individuals with disabilities are advocating for making car-free. 👏🏼 #VisionZero https://t.co/s2QIiwBKwc pic.twitter.com/Ykzb1cEv3z
— Cycle Toronto (@CycleToronto) May 11, 2023
Councilor Perks argued that his opponents reside prior to now, the place folks might freely drive anyplace they wished, whereas now, too many guests attempt to entry the cherished west finish inexperienced house.
Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie mentioned the plan affords stability.
“The Metropolis’s technique for Excessive Park balances the numerous makes use of the general public has for this beloved park,” she mentioned. “Over the previous two years, workers have engaged in intensive consultations to make sure these viewpoints are heard and included. Now, it’s time to start out implementing the primary section of those vital modifications, which can refine how folks transfer round and entry Excessive Park.”
The town workers additionally talked about {that a} car parking zone on the fringe of the park remains to be open, and WheelTrans automobiles will proceed to entry the roads by means of the park all week. They’re exploring shuttle choices to help folks’s mobility after non-public automobiles are prohibited.
Metropolis council rejected the workers proposal to permit automobiles solely on Sundays as a substitute of the present weekend ban.
Metropolis Councilor Stephen Holyday, representing Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre, labeled the plan “one other instance of struggle on the automobile.” Ward 7 metropolis councilor Anthony Perruzza tried to steer his colleagues to open the park to automobiles seven days per week however was unsuccessful.
Perruzza mentioned, “I like slipping into his Spandex, feeling tight throughout.” He argued that any restrictions on drivers in Excessive Park are ideologically pushed and represent “hate for vehicles.”
The Excessive Park Motion Technique Council choice is offered on the Metropolis’s web site.