Let’s be clear. The merchants of King St – and me among them – are pro transit. Period. I live and work in the area, and have for more than 30 years.

Pro-transit opinion notwithstanding, the King St. pilot project is a disaster that is killing hundreds of businesses, adversely affecting King St., the Entertainment District and much of the downtown core. It can be fixed, quickly and quite easily, but the political will must collide with common sense.

Full credit to Toronto Mayor John Tory, who visited my restaurant and the adjoining establishments to hear from merchants on the impact of the study. We told him what I am saying here: it’s a disaster but can be fixed.

Toronto City Councillor Joe Cressy published an opinion piece in the Toronto Star this week. “King St. was broken,” he said, “it wasn’t working for anybody.”

“The pilot is working, as evidenced by early data showing improved streetcar reliability and travel times … as the local city councillor, I will not support going back to the past.”

King St. was not broken. It was a vibrant and important part of the residential and cultural fabric of our community. Go visit King St. today and it is a wasteland. No vibrancy, no pedestrians, no culture … and soon to be inhabited by “Closed” and “For Sale” signs.

“Commuters from east to west use King St. to get to and from work in the Financial District, or at the rapidly increasing number of tech startups in the Entertainment District — an area that also attracts thousands to its dynamic shops, theatres and restaurants,” Cressy wrote. Yet it is exactly these shops, theatres and restaurants that are being driven out of business by this short-sighted and poorly executed pilot project that turns King St. into an urban freeway for streetcars.

The improved streetcar reliability and travel times Cressy talks about are arguable. Data differs but even city reports show the most significant improvement is a 2.6-minute (approx. 140 seconds) improvement in average travel time through the pilot area. Barely long enough for Councillor Cressy to develop his flawed thesis.

Toronto Star reporters Ben Spurr and Tamar Harris rode the TTC's King streetcar along the pilot project route and drove a car on corresponding streets to see if travel times have changed during the morning rush hours. (Toronto Star)

Lastly, I was under the impression that the purpose of a pilot project is to determine if the plan was effective. Barely a month in, Cressy has already decided he is in favour. I guess there is no point in letting the facts get in the way of a good story.

Our proposal is quick, inexpensive and simple. We propose keeping the King St. traffic restrictions, but limiting them to rush hours. Cars could therefore return to King St. after 7 p.m. on weekdays, on weekends, and statutory holidays. Concerns expressed by city staffers that this would confuse drivers are spurious. It could be accomplished simply with lit street lights not unlike what currently exists on Jarvis, which allows traffic to flow into the core in the morning and out of the core in the afternoon rush hour.

The City of Toronto has chosen the worst time, in the worst way in the worst season to implement the pilot project. Their goal is clearly to move people through King St., not to King St. For years King St. was a destination, now it is a thoroughfare.

The goal of the King St. Pilot project was said to be to balance three important principles: to move people more effectively on transit, to support business and economic prosperity and to improve public space. In its current form, the competing principles seem to be decidedly tilted away from the economic well-being of merchants and biases efficiency over convenience. The casual stickiness of pedestrians walking and stopping at stores, restaurants and other merchants is lost.

Additionally, the TTC has eliminated a number of stops along King St., forcing passengers to walk further to enter and disembark streetcars, further reducing pedestrian traffic and affecting areas businesses. The TTC appears to believe that if they didn’t have to pick up and drop off people, they could run their system more effectively.

The dubious benefits of faster street car traffic on King St. notwithstanding, the collateral damage of the increased traffic of the more than 20,000 cars the TTC alleges are displaced from King St to adjoining streets has turned Adelaide, Queen, Wellington and Front Sts. into a gridlock standstill. Anyone who has tried to navigate the area can attest that much of the time, no matter how close you are you can’t get there from here.

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Along with the other merchants of King St. and the Toronto Entertainment District we ask that Mayor Tory and Toronto council to consider a simple, reasonable and cost-effective alternative.

Put lights on King St. that restricts vehicle traffic during rush hours, but return King St. to its former vibrant self after 7 p.m., on weekends and statutory holidays. It’s smart, fair, reasonable and helps meet the goals of the King St. pilot project.

Fred Luk is proprietor of “Fred’s Not Here” and “The Red Tomato” restaurants on King St. West in Toronto.