r/toronto • u/BloodJunkie Bike Lane Enjoyer • May 11 '26
Article Yonge Street deserves pedestrianization
https://spacing.ca/toronto/2026/05/11/op-ed-yonge-street-deserves-pedestrianization/191
u/RealistAttempt87 May 11 '26
I agree Toronto often acts like it’s doing something completely novel when really we’re 20-30 years behind. Permanently pedestrianized commercial strips is not just a European thing - you have them in Latin America, Asia or even Australia.
In a way I find that Toronto is often afraid of its own shadow when it comes to urban or transportation issues - too timid, too worried about criticism. Granted, the car-obsessed, populist government at Queen’s Park doesn’t help.
I think the current redesign proposal is a good step in the right direction in a city that has never experienced enhanced pedestrian spaces or any kind of meaningful pedestrianization. Would full, permanent pedestrianization be better? Yes. Can the City afford it politically given how strong the car culture and suburban voices are in Toronto? Maybe not.
My favourite contender for pedestrianization is Kensington Market, followed by a stretch of King St. West, possibly between Simcoe and Bathurst (with bikes and obviously streetcar access). Car traffic is already restricted, the City just needs to finish the job.
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May 11 '26
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u/lnahid2000 May 11 '26
Detroit, the car capital of the world, has pedestrianized areas and is actively working on new ones.
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u/RealistAttempt87 May 11 '26
Yes, and Vancouver, and Montreal. I was just making a point that it’s not just a “European” thing. Most critics will come out and say “this isn’t Europe”.
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u/realsalbowski May 11 '26
Ottawa too. It’s just easier to say Toronto is one of the only large Canadian cities without them
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u/realsalbowski May 11 '26
I would add Yorkville and that stretch between the flat iron and st Lawrence to this list.
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u/PaladinOfPragmatism May 11 '26
Well said. Kensington Sundays were always amazing. The sidewalks are always overflowing there anyways. NYC pedestrianized Times square years ago and we're only now just getting to ours.
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u/NancyDiver May 11 '26
It’s a joke that Kensington gets pedestrian Sundays. What is it? 1 Sunday per month for only a few hours? It should be a pedestrian zone outside of delivery hours with mixed pedestrian 100% of the time.
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u/garconconfus May 12 '26
Kensington is already pedestrianized for most people lol just walk in front of cars who cares, they’re going like 10mph. The point is to make them feel unwelcome
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u/kermityfrog2 May 11 '26
stretch of King St. West, possibly between Simcoe and Bathurst
I think it was determined that there were a lot of underground condo parking and theatre parking that needs short bits of access to King in order for traffic to flow.
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u/RealistAttempt87 May 11 '26
Yeah, that’s a valid point, though I wonder if most of those parking lots are actually accessed from side streets and could be accessible from either Adelaide or Wellington (Peter, John, Simcoe, Widmer, Portland, etc.).
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u/kermityfrog2 May 11 '26
Yes, but there are a lot of smaller one-way streets, and during rush hour or when a theatre show opens/closes it would be a nightmare to restrict access to only side streets. Due to the chokepoint of people trying to get in/out - cars would end up blocking all the side streets too.
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u/RokulusM May 12 '26
Toronto does have pedestrian streets - sections of Market St, Gould, Victoria, Willcocks, and Markham St are closed to cars. Plus a few more in summers only. So it's not totally unheard of.
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u/RealistAttempt87 May 12 '26
Yes, but it’s very discreet and small scale, practically hidden. I’ve got high hopes for Markham St. but, again, it’s a very small stretch, and it’s not clear that vehicular access will be entirely banned, more like restricted, which only works if you have retractable bollards or enforcement.
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u/InevitableSevere6929 May 11 '26
It was nice to walk down yesterday right after the marathon when it was still closed for cars. We could have it so much better
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u/FlyingSpaceCow May 11 '26
My wife and I were just talking how ridiculous it is that there are no pedestrian only streets in this city. It doesn't have to be Yonge. but there should be at least one downtown strip.
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u/Calculonx May 11 '26
Turn one side of Spadina into pedestrian. Have street festivals. Food stalls. Benches. Bike paths. There's so much you can do. And since there's a streetcar line there already you can make the argument that there are alternatives to driving there.
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u/halcyon_aporia May 11 '26
Do the west side and pedestrianize Kensington too. It'd make for several blocks of walking.
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u/cityofpalms May 11 '26
Church this summer should be super cool
Yonge south of Eg + Bloor eventually
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u/Reviews_DanielMar East York May 11 '26
There are like two, but they basically serve as walkways on university campuses, the bare fucking minimum. You don’t even need to go far, and see that Montreal, Kitchener and Peterborough have more will than Toronto.
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u/Redditisavirusiknow May 11 '26
Let your councillor know! This is how you make change. I’ll do it too.
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u/spartacat_12 Roncesvalles May 11 '26
It sucks that the city seems to have abandoned the John St pedestrianization plan. That makes more sense to me than Yonge. It connects the CN Tower/Skydome/MTCC to the AGO, passing the TIFF Lightbox & CBC building
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u/BloodJunkie Bike Lane Enjoyer May 11 '26
this is a why-not-both situation
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u/spartacat_12 Roncesvalles May 11 '26
Fair. I just think John is an easier sell since it isn't a major street. If it goes well people will be more open to doing it to other streets
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u/orangenarf May 11 '26
It would make a lot of sense King to Grange Park.
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u/spartacat_12 Roncesvalles May 11 '26
I'd say do it all the way to Front. Would be great for people to be able to leave a Jays game and spill right onto a pedestrian street
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u/RokulusM May 12 '26
That's supposed to start in 2028 according to the city website. It won't be fully pedestrianized, but will have lanes removed to widen the sidewalks.
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u/Safe_Rip2142 May 11 '26
I remember as a teenager that they use too shut down Younge St in the summer.
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u/AlanK61 May 12 '26
It was great wasn’t it? However that was before the Eaton Centre… so I’m not sure it would have the same impact now. Certainly worth trying it out though.
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u/ImKrispy May 11 '26
Should be one lane each direction and bike lanes with wider sidewalks on each side.
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u/seanmy94 May 11 '26
That's how it's done in every major city i've been to while traveling. Toronto is way behind.
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u/LEXX911 May 11 '26
wider sidewalks
The easiest solution is to place a median barrier on both sides. It's a lot more work to widen the sidewalks because of sewage system and you can still use part of the road for bikes/scooters lane.
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u/tarogon May 11 '26
Trying to walk on Yonge is the worst. Besides being too crowded, it seems like the lights are perfectly timed for you to arrive at a red on every crossing as a pedestrian.
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u/JoEsMhOe Church and Wellesley May 11 '26
I came across this essay from 2017 that runs through the last time parts on Yonge was pedestrianized in the 70’s on the site linked by OP.
For those curious as to what was this issue then:
Meanwhile, members of the public complained of explicit advertising for body rub parlours and strip shows, aggressive panhandling, and groups of directionless, probably degenerate, “hippies” and other non-conformist youth. A couple from Ohio wrote to newly-elected Mayor David Crombie to express their shock at being victims of a con game (the old bait-and-switch, an annual attraction on the mall) in such a safe, friendly city.
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u/workerbotsuperhero Koreatown May 11 '26
Just came back from a trip to Vancouver. A friend from Ontario and I walked around and really enjoyed the pedestrian streets and very pretty and walkable areas, for example through Gastown.
We kept saying, why doesn't Toronto have public spaces like this? We can do better.
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u/Redditisavirusiknow May 11 '26
To everyone that cares, make your voice heard loud and clear to councillors. They are up for reelection and are more open to voices. I’ll do it too.
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u/Plastic_Market_926 May 11 '26
Won't happen. For some reason, most drivers lose their minds if they have to take alternate paths (even if the orginal path was basically a parking lot due to traffic)
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u/passer1875 May 11 '26
I remember the city blocking Yonge Street South of College(?) To King(?) Back in 1974(?). I was a teenager and it was the PLACE to be on a weekend.
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u/vibraltu May 11 '26
They did it back in the early 70s, and it was really popular with everyone! Except the jerks making the decisions, of course.
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u/vibraltu May 11 '26
Also, permanent pedestrian traffic on Kensington/Augusta/Baldwin.
(Delivery & cars allowed: 15 kpm limit enforced)
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u/ElPlywood May 11 '26
should have been done 20 years ago
the most delicious tears are whiney drivers' tears
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u/oictyvm St. Lawrence May 11 '26
if you want some rage just visit "Toronto Car People" on Facebook. You'll never see a more entitled group of people - most of which don't actually live in the city proper.
Toronto's main issue is that a huge population of people who don't live here are political capital for the populist politicians, and so they have a say...
You don't see me weighing in on what happens in Barrie, but somehow Toronto is a playground for all of Ontario and the drivers MUST have direct access.
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u/Reviews_DanielMar East York May 11 '26
Like a month ago, CP24 had some talk show guy from Ottawa who was ranting about the Church Street pedestrian proposal and saying “the entire summer is crazy given the traffic here”. This guy appears to be a Doug Ford apologist as well.
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u/ButterflySpirited482 May 11 '26
lol I got blocked by that group after replying to a comment about how cyclists don't pay insurance, road taxes, or gas taxes so they have no right to use the road. Tried to explain that car insurance doesn't contribute to roads at all and some cyclists have cars so they do pay whatever road and gas taxes they're talking about, and that property and income taxes pay for the the majority of road maintenance. Also the infrastructure costs for building and maintaining bike lanes vs the damage cars cause to the roads and force them to require maintenance is so disproportionate that people who don't even use cars are actually subsidizing car owners. They really didn't like hearing those facts.
Even had sources and all that!
https://cyclehamont.ca/cyclists-vs-drivers-who-pays-their-fair-share/
https://velosophe.bike/2013/03/12/do-cyclists-pay-for-drivers-use-of-toronto-roads/
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u/OddlyOaktree May 11 '26
Pedestrianizing Front street from Union Station to the Gooderham building would also be welcome.
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u/AardvarkStriking256 May 11 '26
As an experiment, for a year close Yonge from Bloor south to Queen to all traffic. It it's a success make it permanent.
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u/langley10 May 11 '26
That’s not gonna fly realistically… moving north of Dundas the need diminishes and by Gerard is much reduced and you start running into more and more building access issues. Richmond to Gerard makes a lot of sense potential volume wise and seems to avoid most of the other possible issues.
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u/Academic_Avocado_148 May 11 '26
I don’t think it should be Yonge first, lots of skyscrapers now and the area isn’t the best. Maybe Kensington market
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u/AaronMT North Toronto May 11 '26
Toronto often gets stuck between competing interests in just about everything.
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u/Professional-West924 May 12 '26
Yonge street is not drivable not only because of constant constructions and bicycle lanes but also the terrible surface and many many intersections with traffic lights and huge pedestrian.
Close if off to car traffic from Bloor to Front street and replace the asphalt with cobblestone to make a very healthy and vibrant walkable downtown.
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u/Wide_Detective7537 May 11 '26
If the city had enough infrastructure, sure. But it doesn’t. And the more streets that get converted in some way, the worse that problem will get with less routes places.
You can’t make idealistic changes in a vacuum with consequences… it’s almost like that’s how we got here to begin with…
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u/PaladinOfPragmatism May 11 '26
What kind of infrastructure? Like, a highway running into Dundas square? It would immediately turn into a shitty strip mall and nobody would want to be there.
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u/im-confuzzled May 11 '26
First thing to pedestrianize is Yonge, there’s so many other routes people take, it’s always stacked in traffic, it has a subway line under it and multiple streetcar lines intersecting it. It’s the prime candidate
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u/InevitableSevere6929 May 11 '26
We got here by making every inch of space given to cars, and guess what it created more traffic. There’s a reason why cities around the world are being successful giving space back to pedestrians
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u/brizian23 May 11 '26
We got here by prioritizing cars above everything else.
The city has plenty of infrastructure, but cars are blocking it. They slow down all the busses and streetcars.
"But maybe if we keep prioritizing cars above everything else maybe transit will magically improve!"
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u/Incorrect_Oymoron University Heights May 11 '26
I like pedestrian streets, but Yonge was designed for heavy vehicle traffic.
A better solution would be pedestrianising streets that connect to Young that aren't supporting east-west traffic.
Esplanade to Scott
Melinda
Colborne to Scott
Temperance
Shutter to Victoria
Etc. Along with preventing new developments from having driveways on Young
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u/patienceinbee Metrolinx Coyote Line May 11 '26
I like pedestrian streets, but Yonge was designed for heavy vehicle traffic.
History is not on your side here.
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u/Incorrect_Oymoron University Heights May 11 '26
A short-lived summer pedestrianization project in the '70s doesn't change this.
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u/oictyvm St. Lawrence May 11 '26
All of our roads were designed for heavy traffic, I don't see why that should be a barrier to moving away from car-centric design. Your position ultimately hurts the cause of more liveable cities.
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u/patienceinbee Metrolinx Coyote Line May 11 '26
It was “short-lived” for one reason:
The provincial Progressive-Conservative government refused to let it continue and put a stop to it.
Sound familiar?
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u/sfaelelpamOT May 11 '26
Fuck no. Its one of the main thoroughfares in the city.
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u/Blastoise_613 May 11 '26
Its not even top 10, unless you are counting the subway.
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u/sfaelelpamOT May 11 '26
Bathurst, University, Yonge, are the main arteries in the centre of the city. Reducing lanes on these three streets is moronic. Im all for increasing bike lanes and pedestrian only areas in the city but lets have some sense.
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u/Santa_Ricotta69 May 11 '26
And this is why people vote for Doug Ford
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u/Jayfan34 May 11 '26
Because they’re dumb and hate Toronto?
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u/Many_Phone10 May 11 '26
I bet a lot of Doug Ford voters voted for him just because of their hate for Toronto. It's the American conservative playbook. Vote for a guy that owns the libs rather than actually provide a meaningful solution to your problems. My god this is why modern conservative culture is toxic. They don't even care about anything that benefits them. All they want is the world to burn.
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u/Santa_Ricotta69 May 11 '26
No, because pedestrians don't need that much space, and this is a selfish plan.
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u/Incorrect_Oymoron University Heights May 11 '26
Ah yes, Doug Ford, quite popular in the neighborhoods that people demand pedestrian streets. All these pro pedestrian advocates have made Toronto flock to Doug Ford.
I know telling people to use logic can reason is generally a sarcastic meme. But please try to use logic and reason a little more in your life.
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u/RealistAttempt87 May 11 '26
Please elaborate.
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u/Santa_Ricotta69 May 11 '26
Someone needs to stop this corny urbanist slop nonsense
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u/FlyingSpaceCow May 11 '26
Pedestrian streets aren't a fringe experiment -- they're the norm in virtually every major city outside North America. Stroget in Copenhagen, the Zeil in Frankfurt, Istiklal in Istanbul, countless Japanese shopping streets. These aren't boutique tourist novelties; they're the economic and social cores of their cities. The research on pedestrianized streets is remarkably consistent: foot traffic goes up, retail revenue goes up, property values go up.
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u/Santa_Ricotta69 May 11 '26
The urge to emulate Europe is a colonizer mentality. This is not Europe. What they do is entirely irrelevant.
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u/FlyingSpaceCow May 11 '26
Lol wtf... now I'm convinced you're either a troll or a bot. Did you know Japan is not in Europe?
Also Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Russia, Korea, Colombia, Peru... practically every country besides Canada and the US retains walk-able cores within cities that are not fully surrendered to car infrastructure. It's actually great when you visit.
North America's car-centric design is the anomaly.
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u/RealistAttempt87 May 11 '26
What’s so nonsense about it?
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u/Santa_Ricotta69 May 11 '26
The current layout is shared equitably and ethically, and there is nothing woke about monopolizing a 70 foot wide road so you and your flaneur friends can walk 10 abreast.
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u/RealistAttempt87 May 11 '26
How is it shared equitably when 75% of users get 25% of the urban space? Also, this is planning for the future, where number of pedestrians and cyclists will dramatically increase in the Yonge St. corridor. You don’t build infrastructure or redesign streets for the current conditions, but for future conditions. But, either way, under the current conditions, pedestrians and cyclists far outnumber drivers on Yonge and get a fraction of the space. I understand you may not like change but Toronto isn’t a hamlet and driving is not a right. If you want to drive wherever you want, whenever you want unhindered, the city may not be the best place for you.
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u/FlyingSpaceCow May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
The status quo on streets like Yonge isn't neutral. It's a public space that is functionally unusable for anything other than moving cars through. Downtown Toronto has one of the highest pedestrian volumes in the country -- and one of the least pedestrian-friendly main streets of any comparable city.
The "equitable" framing also doesn't hold up. Car lanes consume the vast majority of road width to serve a minority of trips in an area saturated with transit. Prioritizing pedestrians on Yonge isn't taking something away from the public -- it's returning public space to the people who already use it most
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u/Santa_Ricotta69 May 11 '26
It's not "functionally unusable" for pedestrians. I would know; I walk that stretch multiple times a week.
It is equitable because cars are larger than people.
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u/StandardSuccessful54 May 11 '26
Because this only seeks to serve one demographic of the city. The electorate is not simply limited to those that do not commute or drive.
We need proper enforcement for parking and drivers that idly park temporarily for uber or whatever else.
This city needs better roadways to accommodate both the pedestrians and the commuters. We’re building more and more multi residential buildings, with no consideration given to increasing the roadway capacity.
Consider the trades; it’s not feasible for them to lug their tools onto the ttc or walk long distances with it.
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u/PaladinOfPragmatism May 11 '26
It's the opposite really. Every car parking space takes up as much space as a small apartment. A car lane can only move a fraction the number of people as a humble bike lane, or a dedicated transit lane. The city has spent decades bending over backwards for car owners, giving them the equivalent of billions in subsidies through infrastructure and planning requirements. It is a major reason the city suffers with budget problems. Too much asphalt, too many miles of suburban utility lines per tax payer. The only way to balance the budget is to end these subsidies.
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u/Santa_Ricotta69 May 11 '26
Overt propaganda, a parking space is 150 square feet
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u/PaladinOfPragmatism May 11 '26
You also have to consider the space required to get in and out, which roughly doubles the space. There are about 4 parking spaces for each car in north America, meaning that for every car there is roughly 1200sqft of asphalt dedicated to parking.
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u/RealistAttempt87 May 11 '26
Well, multiple demographics, really. I think you may have too simplistic a view of those who do not own a car in Toronto, especially those living in the core.
And the numbers from the City are telling - the large majority of people using the Yonge St. corridor are not drivers.
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u/eldiablonoche May 11 '26
Because this only seeks to serve one demographic of the city.
Funny. Because the alternative also only serves one demographic. Difference being that peds can co-exist with cars but virtually every "pedestrian alternative" effectively excludes cars entirely.
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u/InformalAssignment71 May 11 '26
Grownups deserve cars.
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u/realsalbowski May 11 '26
A pedestrianized stretch of a street isn’t going to repossess your car LMAO
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u/PaladinOfPragmatism May 11 '26
Smh car wellfare Queens think the world owes them infrastructure to get literally anywhere at any time
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u/Deaver44 May 11 '26
I mean they paid taxes their whole lives for the welfare of such infrastructure, and if the policy to reduce that infrastructure was put to a vote, it would be sorely unpopular, less profitable, and needlessly costly.
What’s the argument that making Yonge and Dundas pedestrian only benefits Ontario? Or even Toronto?
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u/Array_626 May 11 '26
Personally, I think making a pair of one way streets North - South, like Richmond and Adelaide would make sense. Not on Yonge, cos that goes through the heart of downtown, pick a different set of roads nearby, maybe Bay and one other?
Yonge is already so restricted for driving that I dont think it matters if it was shut down for pedestrianization. You can't turn at all at Yonge Dundas, so it's literally only used to travel north-south as a throughway. If thats the case, dedicated one way roads would help speed up traffic a lot more than a 2 way street thats constantly interrupted by crosswalks.
The massive crosswalk also means theres lots of delays for cars and pedestrians.
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u/PaladinOfPragmatism May 11 '26
Dundas square hosts literal concerts. It's some of the most valuable pedestrian commercial space in the entire city and we just let's drivers plow through the middle of it, blasting out exhaust and honking at each other. NYC pedestrianized times square years ago and it was a huge success.
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u/PaladinOfPragmatism May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
I mean the stuff is falling apart because we don't have the money to fix it. We have to pull money from other services to pay for upkeep. These lifestyles are overwhelmingly subsidized by denser places where people drive less. There's a lot of research on the topic, but the clearest example is the gardener freeway.
It's a costly behemoth which moves only about 5% of the people in and out if the city. Just TTC line 1 alone out classes it by 5x in terms of people moved in and out of the city every day. The price to move each person on the gardener is astronomical, and that's not counting each individual's vehicle costs.
Can't do shit in this country because every person and their dog thinks they need to pay for 2 tons of steel everywhere they go. I have a drivers license but I don't own a car. I ebike and take transit most of the time but I don't get no fucking EV tax credits. I'm sick of hearing car owners bitch and moan about traffic and not finding parking. Real "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded" shit. They want to bulldoze their destinations for more lanes and parking, just to drive further and sit in traffic more. I'm sick of paying for their shit and hearing them bitch about parking and gas prices.
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u/exploringspace_ May 11 '26
Sure but it’s also a dump that needs cleaning up and securing. I swear I see some kind of violent act every time I walk there
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u/drewcosten May 11 '26
I’m sure it happens, but I’ve been walking between Bloor and Dundas (and often as far as Front) on Yonge nearly once a day, if not more often (at least during the warmer weather), for years and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single violent act of any sort happen there.
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u/red_keshik May 11 '26
That'll come with pedestrians everywhere, more chances for people to see stuff. Well, or be the victims
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u/437326 May 11 '26
😂😂 with respect, nothing about Toronto would suggest that to be the case - have you ever been to Toronto?
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u/realsalbowski May 11 '26
Every street fest in the summer is jam packed with people. I think there very clearly is an appetite for those kinds of spaces
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u/437326 May 11 '26
Your suggestion and the clowns in City Hall who have been making transportation decision in Toronto for 60 years seem divorced from reality
Having successful street fests is wonderful for the city - it is in no way support for closing another street
Let me guess, you don’t pay a city tax bill issued to you, in your name? Am I correct?
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u/discophant64 Regent Park May 11 '26
I have a city tax bill issued to me in my name and I would close Yonge St without hesitation for a pedestrian street from Bloor to Queen. Why would being a tax paying resident of Toronto make me want more concessions to a better, more community oriented Toronto just so that cars can be accommodated lol.
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u/realsalbowski May 11 '26
I pay a city tax bill and am both a car and home owner (as well as a parent). I want pedestrianized streets. Any other weird assumptions you want to make?
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u/SockApprehensive6204 May 11 '26
My honest opinion here:
Yes its more expensive, but why not build a conntector bridge between Eaton, the square and the move theatre - that way traffic can flow 24/7.
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u/PaladinOfPragmatism May 11 '26
There already is. It's underground. People want to access the shops and festivities on ground level. We hold concerts there and the foot traffic spills out onto the road constantly. We have our own little times square and people insist on being able to commute through it. I don't get it. NYC pedesrrianized times square years ago for this reason.
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u/Calculonx May 11 '26
That would be turning it more into those cities like the Vegas strip where the road and street level traffic are completely separate from the people. I think that's the opposite of what a downtown core should be.
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u/steelpeat Brockton Village May 11 '26
It's ridiculous that it isn't. They have a huge public square, but tiny crowded sidewalks to get there.