St. George Street Revitalization: "Road Diets" in Toronto
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Table of Contents |
Organization
City of TorontoStatus
St. George Street revitalization completed
Other lane conversion projects ongoing.
Overview
The term “road diet” is relatively new, although the actual practice has
been used for many years in cities like Toronto. Typically, three- and
four-lane roads are put on a “diet” to narrow them to two or
three-lanes. Many road diets also involve the addition of separate bicycle lanes and/or
wider sidewalks. Road diets are done for a variety of reasons: to
increase safety, reduce traffic, increase pedestrian and cycling
amenities, create a more aesthetically pleasing community area, or some
combination of these factors.
The goals of the St. George Street revitalization were to calm
traffic on this street that flowed through a campus of the University of
Toronto, to increase pedestrian and cycling amenities, and in general,
to create a more pleasant area.
At a cost of $6 million, four lanes on St. George Street were reduced to
two, sidewalks were widened and greenery was added. Speed and traffic
collisions have decreased even though the number of cars carried on the
road did not.
Contacts
Mr. John Niedra
Director, Transportation Infrastructure Management
City of Toronto
Telephone: (416) 392-5348
E-mail: jniedra@toronto.ca
Mr. Daniel Egan
Manager, Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure
City of Toronto
Telephone: (416) 392-9065
E-mail: degan@toronto.ca
Resources
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Community Context
Policy
Context
Rationale
and Objectives
Actions
Results
Participants
Resources
Timeline
Challenges Lessons Learned
Next Steps
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St. George Street was originally a two-lane boulevard in an
affluent section of the city. During the 1940s, the road was widened to four
lanes and the University of Toronto acquired many of the homes along St. George.
By 1993, this 1.8-kilometre, 14-metre wide stretch of St. George between College
and Bloor Streets, was carrying 7,300 cars per day. Because of its proximity to
a university campus, pedestrian and bicycle traffic was also relatively high.
A section of St. George circa 1994. The
street had fallen into disrepair and was in need of rehabilitation.
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Toronto city staff focused on road construction and
rehabilitation throughout much of the 1980s without much consideration of a
balance among motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, and transit users. Over the next
decade, traffic congestion in Toronto increased substantially. By the mid 1990s,
the city was, as John Niedra says, “Getting a clear message that we needed more
sensible road design.”
Most of Toronto’s downtown roads have an average lifespan of
70-80 years. The city’s road classification policy—which determines the type and
use of roads (expressway, arterial, minor arterial, collector, residential)—sets
the level of service required for each type of road (e.g., road conditions,
vehicle, transit, pedestrian and cyclist traffic, etc.). This policy in turn
helps set the priorities for repaving and rehabilitation.
Staff regularly review major city roads and intersections to see which are
best suited to lane narrowings, and periodically update an inventory of the best
candidates.
After the city was amalgamated in 1997, all transportation
policies, which included the road, cycling and pedestrian network, began to be
harmonized. A separate city bicycle plan was then overlaid atop the road
construction plan, giving staff a more holistic view of how city roads should be
revitalized.
In addition, Toronto was the first city in North America to sign
a pedestrian charter—and incorporate it into its Official Plan—that includes the
principles of accessibility, equity, health and well-being, environmental
sustainability, personal and community safety, and community cohesion and
vitality.
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Although staff had identified St. George as a candidate for
rehabilitation, in 1995 the city was not actively pursuing a road diet for the
street. When a local benefactor, loosely affiliated with the University of
Toronto, challenged the city to revitalize and beautify the street, staff began
a more detailed investigation. As an incentive, the benefactor contributed $1
million of her own personal funds to the project.
Mr. Niedra reports that the St. George road diet was an
opportunity for the city to demonstrate that roads are part of a community (not
merely a conveyance for automobile traffic) and that road and street design can
be sensitive to the needs of all users—pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.
The city’s three objectives were to:
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Public consultation
The city discussed the road narrowing primarily with
the University of Toronto community (the co-proponent and owner of most of the
surrounding buildings), and some discussions were held with adjacent
neighbourhood groups.
Establishing baseline information
Two reports were prepared (fall 1995
and January 1996) that reviewed the current architectural, traffic, engineering
and structural conditions of the street. The final 1996 report was presented
before council for approval.
Architectural expertise
The city retained an architectural firm to
design a new look for the street that would complement the road narrowing. The
architects sought to balance the needs of vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian
traffic, lighting, and the existing campus buildings.
Narrowing road widths
St. George was narrowed from 14 metres in width to
between 9.5 and 12.2 metres, depending on the section of road, and road lanes
were decreased from four to two.
Sidewalks and bicycle lanes
Sidewalks were widened from 1.5 - 2 metres
to 2.5 - 5+ metres. Two bicycle lanes already existed along each side of St.
George and these were extended to an additional section of the street as part of
the project. The bike lanes were narrowed slightly in order to provide
additional pedestrian space, but are still wide enough to maintain cycling
safety.
Pedestrian crossings
Pedestrian crossings were installed at several
places along St. George. Crossings are made of interlocking brick to
differentiate them from the rest of the roadway.
Architectural features and greenery
Benches and water fountains were
added in some areas. Three new rows of trees were planted along St. George that
reinforce the pattern of the exiting trees and add shade and wind protection.
Planters between the sidewalk and the road act as buffers and reduce noise. New
light standards increase visibility and enhance pedestrian safety.
The graphic immediately below depicts the
current conditions. Section C is the new section of St. George with the extended
bicycle lanes. The diagram beneath depicts the previous conditions.
Above: An aerial view of the pedestrian
crossing near the intersection of St. George and Sussex.
Above: Similarly, a pedestrian crossing was
added to connect the urban square at Sidney Smith Hall to street level.
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Speeding reduced
Prior to construction of the first
bicycle lanes in the early 1990s, the Toronto Police reported that they had
regular speed traps on St. George. Dan Egan explained that when a road is
narrowed to provide only one lane in each direction, speed is automatically
reduced because there is no room for motorists to overtake other cars. Drivers
also slow down at pedestrian crossings.
Traffic collisions decreased
During the period 1991 to
1997, there were about 24 vehicle crashes along St. George. The six-year period
following road narrowing saw a decrease of 40% (down to 16 collisions).
Traffic and bicycle volumes
A 1993 traffic count found
that St. George carried about 7,300 cars in peak hours daily (or 16,000 in total
per day). By 2003, virtually the same number of cars travelled on the road
(7,400 in peak hours, 16,000 daily). Dan Egan noted that, in general, downtown
traffic volumes in Toronto have not increased for the past 20 years. By
revitalizing the street and making it more efficient, St. George was able to
carry as much motor traffic as it always had, at lower speeds, while providing
more space for pedestrians and cyclists. After the revitalization of St. George,
bicycle volumes increased 10%--from 1,500 cyclists per day to 1,600.
As a comparison, St. George and four other streets (Davenport,
Gerrard, Sherbourne, and Harbord) were monitored for bicycle and traffic volumes
before and after the roads were narrowed and bicycle lanes added. The average
bicycle volumes on these streets increased by 23% with no overall change to
motor vehicle volumes.
Improved quality of life
Staff from the University of
Toronto said that the addition of greenery and architectural features “created a
welcoming atmosphere.” The university also believes that it can use the area’s
improvements as an advertisement to potential new students, researchers, and
faculty members.
As reported on the University of Toronto Web site, “The St.
George Street project opened people’s eyes to the opportunities to enhance open
spaces elsewhere on the campus. It helped to spread the new way of thinking
about living and learning on the campus to the entire University of Toronto
community and led to a broad awareness of the importance of the campus open
spaces and their ability to improve quality of life.”
Above: Pedestrians enjoy wider sidewalks with
planters and shade trees.
Road used for community events
Since 2001, the city has
closed a section of St. George as part of its annual Car Free Day, freeing up
space to host active transportation events, and has been closed at other times
for other community and city events.
Domino effects. Based on the success of the St. George road
diet, the city narrowed other roads in Toronto including Lansdowne and the
Oriole Parkway (where traffic calming measures were implemented). Dundas Street
East was also narrowed from four lanes to two and bicycle lanes were added.
Recognition
The project received local media attention
during construction and immediately following the revitalization. Even 10 years
after the project was initially envisioned, St. George continues to receive
media attention (e.g., NOW Toronto, Oct. 28-Nov. 3, 2004,
www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2004-10-28/news_insight.php).
St. George was highlighted as a best practice in Road Diets:
Losing width and gaining respect by Dan Burden and Peter Pagerwey (see Walkable
Communities Inc. link below).
In June 2004, Parsons Brinckerhoff, an engineering firm in Portland, Oregon,
began conducting an international study of similar road diets. St. George Street
is part of the study—which includes similar projects in New Zealand, the United
States, and Canada. The study’s author also wrote a book on road diets—Handbook
for Livable Streets: Setting Trends by Applying the Road Diet—available at
Parsons Brinckerhoff, www.pbworld.com.
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City of Toronto
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University of Toronto
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Staff
The city took a multi-disciplinary approach to the
project, and staff members from the University of Toronto and several city
departments were involved, including: transportation, planning, urban design,
forestry, and public works.
Detailed design
Urban design and engineering support
were outsourced to private-sector firms, with staff support. Functional design,
such as safety aspects and ensuring that stakeholder concerns were met, was done
by city staff.
Budget
The project budget was $6 million, split among
the budgets of the City of Toronto’s Public Works and Planning departments, the
University of Toronto’s Campus and Facilities Planning department, a private
benefactor who contributed $1 million, and a grant from the Canada Ontario
Infrastructure Works Program.
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$1 million for repair needs, conventional pavement, sidewalk
and curb reconstruction.
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$5 million for enhancements (premium paving materials, road
alterations and drainage adjustments, pedestrian scale lighting, boulevard
treatments, landscaping and plantings—200 trees)
Champions
As mentioned earlier, a private citizen
donated funds to this project and challenged the city to have a vision for the
area. This spurred the city to act on a street that had already been identified
for rehabilitation.
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1994. St. George Street identified as a key artery for lane
conversion. Consultations with a private benefactor and the University of
Toronto begin.
Fall 1995. Architectural, traffic, engineering and structural reports completed
and presented to Toronto city council.
January 1996. Final report and recommendations completed, presented before city
council and approved.
1996 to summer 1997. Construction began and was finished by the summer of 1997.
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Financial investment
Road diets are not complicated
reconstruction projects, but do require adequate funding. The St. George road
diet would not likely have been as extensive had it not been for the additional
funds from a private benefactor.
Maintenance
There was some initial confusion over maintenance responsibilities.
Maintenance is now divided between the university and the city. For example, the
university maintains the greenspace features (trees, shrubs, grass verges, and
planters), while the city is responsible for the roads, bicycle lanes and
sidewalks. In 2004 and early 2005, underground utility work to replace cables
and adjacent construction of new university buildings had loosened the brick
pedestrian paving and damaged the road asphalt. Several sections of St. George
will need work in the immediate future.
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Choose candidates carefully
Most cities do not have the
financial resources to narrow each road that is tagged as a road diet candidate.
In the case of St. George, the contribution of private funds and the high number
of pedestrians and cyclists already using the area made the decision easier.
Integrated policies
The city integrated its road
classification policy with its road, pedestrian and bicycle networks, and
overlaid its road construction plan with the bicycle lane plan. This gives city
staff an opportunity to view the “big picture” before making decisions on road
narrowings.
Land owners are critical partners
In the case of St.
George, the University of Toronto owns the land around the campus and there
were, therefore, no constraints or conflicts regarding property lines.
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Occasionally, road reconstruction comes as a result of citizen input or
complaint. In general, however, the road classification policy allows city
planners to proceed with road rehabilitations as they come due for renewal.
The St. George Street revitalization also marked a beginning for the
University of Toronto to initiate a St. George Master Plan, which sets out the
policy framework for planning the campus buildings and grounds. It includes
policies for landscape design, revitalizing other open spaces, landmark
features, streetscapes and pedestrian networks.
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Images are courtesy the City of Toronto and Brown and Storey.
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