Amid growing concern about traffic deaths, the recent conversation in Toronto has often focused on what the city has done wrong in designing its streets.

But a new report from the Ryerson City Building Institute sheds light on what it says Toronto has done right.

The report, called Toronto’s Great Streets, highlights five corridors that have been redesigned in the past decade in order to better accommodate pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, and the needs of the local community.

With the city’s population set to increase by 35 per cent and double in the downtown core by 2041, Claire Nelischer, lead author of the report, said Toronto needs to get creative about how it allocates road space.

“We can’t double the number of cars on our streets,” she said. “We need to figure out a way to make our streets more balanced.”

Nelischer said there’s no one standard approach to making a great modern street.

Not all corridors can accommodate dedicated space for all types of road users, and “we sometimes have to make really difficult decisions around who and what to prioritize,” she said. She emphasized the need to strike a balance between keeping vehicles moving and creating spaces welcoming enough that people want to stay and linger.

Some of the redesigns the report praises have been controversial, particularly the St. Clair Ave. transit right-of-way, and Nelischer acknowledged none of the featured projects are perfect.

But she said that with council facing big decisions in the coming years about the future of corridors like King St., Yonge St., and Eglinton Ave., the city needs to “take a minute to reflect back on what works. ”

Harbord St.

In 2014, the city upgraded the Harbord bike lanes, plugging a gap between Borden St. and Spadina Ave. to create a continuous cycling route from Ossington Ave. to Queen’s Park.

Although the city never followed through on a plan to physically separate the bike lanes from car traffic, the new infrastructure has proven popular, and at peak times cyclists make up 40 per cent of vehicular traffic on the street.

To allay local business owners’ concerns, the loss of on-street parking spaces to make way for the bike lanes was offset by the addition of new spots on nearby side streets.

Local businesses are thriving under the new conditions. The report states commercial vacancy rates have remained around zero since the bike lanes were improved.

Harbord “is no longer a thoroughfare for cars. Visitors are better able to look around, stop and shop,” says the report.

Roncesvalles Ave.

A reconfiguration completed in 2011 removed one traffic lane in each direction, widened sidewalks, and created Toronto’s first streetcar platforms that also double as cycling lanes.

Curb bump outs have reduced crossing distances for pedestrians, and the overall design has made “vehicle movement slower and safer” without increasing congestion, says the report.

The public space was also beautified, with the addition of 85 trees and new street lighting helping to draw customers to Roncesvalles’ many independent businesses.

The reconfiguration, which was originally budged at $1.7 million, wasn’t pain-free, however.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Construction problems delayed completion of the work by months, and during the two-year overhaul local businesses complained of significant disruptions and lost revenue.

St. Clair Ave. W.

A five-year reconstruction completed in 2010 created a 6.8-kilometre dedicated right-of-way for the 512 streetcar.

The project cost $106 million including utility work, up from an initial estimate of $48 million. A TTC report found poor oversight led to delays and budget overruns, and businesses and residents complained about the lengthy construction period.

But the CBI report asserts the outcome has been “a street that’s great for moving through on transit and strolling around on foot, with a distinct identity that reinforces the area as a desirable, transit-oriented neighbourhood.”

In addition to cutting round trip streetcar travel times by 14 per cent, the right-of-way appears to have catalyzed development, with 632 new residential units approved in the area between Bathurst St. and Oakwood Ave. alone, according to the CBI.

Although five pedestrians have been killed by streetcars on St. Clair since the right-of-way was installed, the report states overall collisions between pedestrians and vehicles fell 48 per cent between 2000 and 2011.

Queens Quay

Another project that has been criticized as too costly, the revamp of Queens Quay to create a “public waterfront promenade” was completed in 2015. At a cost of $128.9 million, it was over budget by $35.7 million.

The new design includes a multi-use trail, wide pedestrian sidewalks, a streetcar right-of-way, and one lane of car traffic in each direction, a mix the CBI calls a “prime example of complete streets design principles” that aim to give equal consideration to all road users.

The new trail forms part of a continuous 22-kilometre cycling path, and biking rates have skyrocketed to the point that as many as 6,000 riders now use the route every day.

The report notes “insufficient delineation” between cycling and pedestrian spaces has caused some confusion, but actual collisions appear to be rare.

Market St.

The short stretch between Front St. E. and the Esplanade features removable bollards on its west side that allow for summer patio enclosures to be replaced by parking spots in colder months.

A unique “paving palette” and even a “decorative trench drain” nod to St. Lawrence Market’s heritage, while tactile pavers help guide the visually impaired.

The street has been narrowed from 8.5 metres to six metres, and the curbs have been removed. That compels drivers to slow down and has created what the report describes as a “safe shared space for cars and people” that’s flexible enough to change with the seasons.

Have your say