Want an idea what downtown London’s new so-called “flex street” might look like?

Hop a train to Toronto.

The city is proposing to turn a four-block stretch of Dundas Street downtown into Dundas Place, a $16-million “flexible” streetscape where curbs and sidewalks will give way to a flat, open area with pedestrian and car traffic separated by bollards, or metal posts, that can be raised to separate people and traffic or lowered to create a seamless surface for events on the streetscape.

Toronto has unveiled that new look in front of Union Station, a showpiece location, with the years-long reconstruction of that stretch of Front Street now open in time for the Toronto Pan Am Games.

The one-block flex streetscape, with the busy railway station on one side and the Fairmont Royal York hotel on the other, could be a harbinger of downtown London’s new look.

“One of the major objectives is to give people opportunity to pause and linger,” said Harold Madi, Toronto’s director of urban design.

“We wanted to create a welcoming mat for the city. This is the most important hub for visitors to the city,” he said.

Front Street was being rebuilt, anyway. Adding flex-street features added $10 million to the total cost.

London planning director John Fleming said he’s not surprised Canada’s largest city embraced the flex concept, commonly found in Europe.

London, however, won’t just mimick Toronto’s take on the idea, he said.

“London’s version of a flex street needs to be authentic to London, it needs to be original and not just transplanted from another city,” he said.

“It needs to reflect our image as a city, it has to be ours.”

Dundas Place will extend from the Thames River to Wellington Road. The plan is now going through a $1.3- million environmental assessment and a consulting firm is considering a design, said Fleming.

The flex street does away with curbs and sidewalks, creating one large expanse that can be used for festivals and concerts, making the streetscape a gathering spot.

“It will transform Dundas Street into a place people want to be immersed in, to come back to time and again and experience it in different ways,” said Fleming.

The design also encourages “connections” to other pubic spaces in the core.

The Toronto model now features several food booths and a picnic-table area in front of Union Station.

“It ebbs and flows, according to demand,” said Madi.

Toronto also uses a flex streetscape design at its St. Lawrence Market and plans it for a stretch of Yonge Street near the Eaton Centre, he said.

“It is a shared street, and different in that it is flexible for one-off events,” said Madi.