Talk of closing a stretch of Bloor St. to most car-traffic on Sundays this summer is getting a rough ride at City Hall.

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam supports a group, Open Streets TO, that is behind a project that could see a stretch of Bloor St. closed on Sundays to let people use the street for recreational purposes.

“It is about turning over the streets on a period of time, generally Sunday mornings when there isn’t a high volume of traffic and encouraging people to come out and use the street in different ways,” Wong-Tam told the Sun on Monday.

A map on the Open Streets TO website shows a possible closure from High Park to almost Pape Ave., but Wong-Tam stressed the route is still being studied.

Wong-Tam asked for a report in 2012 on the feasibility of an open streets project in Toronto.

“Instead of building new community centres or creating brand new park spaces, we’re literally using the roads as paved parks and families are encouraged to come out and spend their time together and obviously use the streets,” Wong-Tam said.

Other cities have embraced the idea, including New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“If New York can do it and Los Angeles can do it and if Thunder Bay can pull one off this summer … I’m really not sure why the City of Toronto would fail,” Wong-Tam said.

But Public Works chairman Denzil Minnan-Wong said he has been approached about the plan and has some doubts.

“I have some significant concerns,” Minnan-Wong said. “Traffic and gridlock is already a problem - this is only going to make it worse.”

Minnan-Wong argued the road closure could hurt businesses along Bloor who rely on motorists.

“Motorists will just decide not to come,” he said.