City staff’s 46 actions for making Toronto a great walking city, are presented in a staff action to council.
Highlights from the report…
The aim of the Walking Strategy is to build a physical and cultural environment that supports and encourages walking, including vibrant streets, parks, public squares and neighbourhoods where people will choose to walk more often. By envisioning a city where high-quality walking environments are seamlessly integrated with public transit, cycling and other sustainable modes of travel,...
Below are the section headings with one some points from each section, the complete staff report can be downloaded from the link at the end of this post.
1. LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT FOR WALKING
1-4 Produce annual Walking Strategy progress reports which will record
achievements and identify future priorities and resources.
1-5 Organize an annual Walking / Public Realm Forum, beginning in the fall 2009, to
engage City staff and Council, external stakeholders and Toronto residents in an
ongoing dialogue about actions to make Toronto a great walking city.
2. PROMOTING A CULTURE OF WALKING
2-1 Organize an annual, city-wide Walking Festival in partnership with City
divisions, external agencies and community walking groups.
2-2 Create and maintain a Walking Website that provides access to information on all
City walking policies, programs and services and encourages Toronto residents
and visitors to walk more often.
3. INTEGRATING NETWORKS FOR WALKING
Improve the sidewalk network throughout Toronto:
3-1 Construct new sidewalks – during road reconstruction and resurfacing, or when
applicable, through the development review process – on both sides of the street in
all areas where they are missing.
3-2 Review current practices and policies for constructing new sidewalks where they are missing on existing local streets.
4. DESIGNING STREETS FOR PEDESTRIANS
Give priority to the needs of pedestrians in all planning decisions:
4-11 Develop a reference manual of pedestrian-related design standards and guidelines
to be consistently applied in appropriate studies and processes including
development review, Avenue Studies, Environmental Assessments, Community
Improvement Plans, Transit Projects and Transportation Impact Studies.
4-12 Revise the Guidelines for Transportation Impact Studies — currently required as
part of the development review process for large new developments — to include
a more comprehensive study of the impact of proposed developments on
pedestrian activity.
5. CREATING SPACES AND PLACES FOR PEOPLE
Design Gathering Places for Pedestrians
5-1 Develop, implement and evaluate a variety of pedestrian street design options
including full-time and occasional pedestrian streets.
5-2 Investigate innovative street designs such as shared-streets, where appropriate, so
that neighbourhood streets can serve as important community places while
providing local transportation access.
5-3 Support regular, community-led pedestrian street events by developing a “howto”
guide and promotional materials.
6. FOCUS ON PRIORITY AND TOWER RENEWAL NEIGHBOURHOODS
6-1 Demonstrate small-scale pedestrian projects within the Priority and Tower
Renewal neighbourhoods and develop a case study approach that may be used in
other Toronto neighbourhoods.
6-2 Undertake pilot projects to improve walkability in the Priority and Tower
Renewal neighbourhoods by conducting a community-based survey and audit of
neighbourhood walking conditions followed by the implementation of a range of
pedestrian infrastructure improvements, services and programs.
The Toronto Walking Strategy PDF file at city site [link]
