‘As ugly as ugly can be’ — and still here
Four years after the city said they’d be replaced, temporary concrete barriers remain
Within hours of the deadly van attack on April 23, 2018, the city installed a series of thigh-high concrete barriers around Union Station and other bustling spots in downtown Toronto.
The move to protect pedestrians wasn’t controversial, but the Jersey barriers themselves certainly were. Then-city councillor John Campbell said they made the area look like a “war zone.”
During rush hour, they also created a pedestrian bottleneck at the southwest corner of Bay Street and Front Street, where the barriers are scattered.
Almost immediately, the city described the barriers as temporary. A year later came promises of “smaller, more esthetically pleasing” alternatives that would be easier for pedestrians to navigate. “Installation should begin this year,” a city spokesperson told the Star at the time.
However, more than four years after they appeared, the Jersey barriers remain, including outside Scotiabank Arena and Rogers Centre.
Few people seem to have warmed to their Brutalist design. In the words of Coun. Joe Mihevc, who was appointed in June to represent Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York where Union Station is located, they’re “as ugly as ugly can be.”
“They need to go,” added Mihevc, who isn’t running in this month’s election.
In a statement, the city’s corporate real estate management division said it planned to begin construction on a new barrier system incorporating steel bollards next summer. The estimated completion date is spring 2024.
The city said the project’s complexity, the various stakeholders involved, the pandemic, and rising material and labour costs led to delays.
For critics, it’s not simply a matter of esthetics.
At the southwest corner of Bay and Front, the morass of barriers has become a unique challenge for people with visual impairments or those using wheelchairs and scooters.
Luke Anderson, a disability advocate who uses an electric wheelchair, recalls scrambling to find an entry point to get out of the intersection as the crosswalk timer ticked down.
“There’s a real disconnect between actions taken by the city and how they affect people with disabilities,” he said.
It’s a sentiment shared by Zhixi C. Zhuang, an associate professor in Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Urban and Regional Planning: “Do we actually design our cities based on the diverse needs of people?” she asked
In a nearly 500-page report on “accessible design” released last year, the city said it strives to “support the integration and full participation of individuals of all abilities, indifferent of mobility, sight, hearing or cognitive disabilities, to access their environment.”
Matti Siemiatycki, a geography and planning professor at the University of Toronto, said there are several alternatives to the current barriers that are both more elegant and functional, including bollards, weighted planter boxes, bus stop structures and light fixtures.
Siemiatycki believes the neglected barriers at Union Station are emblematic of a concerning direction Toronto has taken, giving a laundry list of infrastructure the city has failed to maintain, from garbage bins and potholes to water fountains and public washrooms.
“The city, in parts, feels a bit rough around the edges,” he said. The pandemic is partly to blame, he added, but budget decisions seem to have played a role, as well.
Why does Mihevc — a John Tory ally who has more than 25 years of council experience — think it’s taken so long to replace the barriers?
Installing bollards strong enough to stop a vehicle is more complicated than it looks, he said. On top of that: “City hall inertia.”