City must take pedestrian safety seriously

Long before last week’s van attack, everyone knew how deadly the streets of Toronto can be. But in its aftermath, they seem more dangerous than ever.

Clearly, pedestrians in this city should be forgiven for feeling even more vulnerable than usual. Cars, trucks, SUVs and vans have always been agents of “accidental” death; now they have become murder weapons. In a city designed and built around the needs of motorized vehicles, the possibilities are terrifying.

How revealing, then, that the massacre was carried out on a stretch of Yonge St. that functions more as an expressway than an urban artery.

“Can you think of any other area in Toronto where you’d go for a walk along a six-lane highway?” asks local councillor John Filion.

That’s exactly what many of the dead and injured were doing that midday Monday in April when they were cut down. Filion, whose plan to civilize the street would reduce Yonge St.’s six lanes to four, has been thwarted by the mayor and councillors; they worry that such a move would slow traffic.

That, of course, was one of the main objectives of the exercise.

“People are looking for a place that has more of a community feel to it,” Filion argues. “I think that’s vital to the future of the neighbourhood.”

Ironically, as a result of the attack, the neighbourhood does have “more of a community feel to it.” But at what cost?

To be fair, pedestrian safety is difficult to achieve in any city. But in Toronto, it’s been impossible. The number of people killed on city streets increases yearly. As well as issues of engineering, design, speed limits, bylaws and civic attitudes, there’s a lack of political will. Indeed, current leadership makes no effort to hide its commitment to vehicular traffic over all other forms of mobility.

But even if that weren’t the case, it’s unlikely the possibility of such a horrific event could be eliminated. The risk could be reduced, but never fully removed. The closest we come here is along those suburban roads lined with fences and back-lotted housing. For obvious reasons, pedestrians rarely use them. That means they are generally empty. Unfortunately, they are also oppressively sterile and inert. They speak of a planning approach that surrenders the street to the car and relegates residents to their backyards, or the mall. The most enlightened municipalities in the GTA try to avoid them. Certainly, from the perspective of a 21st-century city, they are not an option.

Instead, urban officials opt for barriers, metal bollards, concrete planters and the like. Some work better than others, but for the most part they are also a deadening influence. No one wants Toronto to look like the space around the U.S. Consulate on University Ave., where the streetscape reeks of paranoia.

When the city responds to the rampage by erecting barriers around Union Station and the Rogers Centre, it is acknowledging that, although there’s little it can do, at least it is aware of the public’s need for comfort and reassurance. That’s a good place to start.

Though it will be tough for a city so dependent on the car, Toronto’s only real option is to redesign its streets and public realm in ways that discourage speed. That means narrow roads, traffic calming techniques, short blocks, tight- er corners, improved police enforcement and, most critical, enhanced separation of roads and sidewalks through the strategic placement of parking spots and bicycle lanes. In other words, it will include measures implemented in cities that take pedestrian safety seriously.

However, as the resistance to the Yonge St. changes shows, these are unlikely here.

Ultimately, Torontonians will be left on their own to make sense of the senseless, to heal and carry on with their lives. As has always been the case, it is their strength that enables them to cope with the city and its flaws, whether that means waiting in the cold for a bus that never comes, looking for a home they can afford or living on the edge of a highway.

Sometimes it seems Toronto doesn’t have to worry about realizing its potential because Torontonians have fulfilled theirs. They deserve better than the half-measures the city offers them but, because they are strong, Toronto stands firm.

Christopher Hume is a former Star reporter who is a current freelance columnist based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @HumeC hristopher