





Seven years. Five votes. Three city councils. Two mayors. One point two five million dollars.

That’s what it took to increase traffic volume and safety without decreasing travel time. This is the story of how Toronto redesigned two roads for the better without sacrificing anything. It’s a story told in numbers.

Like many urban centres Toronto used wide one way streets to expedite traffic through downtown. Richmond and Adelaide Streets cut through the heart of Toronto’s business and entertainment districts. One goes east, one goes west with as little stopping as possible. The lights were timed to make them the fastest way through town.

So, it was curious when in December 2011 the city decided to explore a cycling pilot project on the streets. Toronto’s mayor was no friend of cyclists and a mere 400 cyclists traversed these streets during the day.

Seven years.

Designing and implementing a cycle track isn’t as simple as drawing some lines on a map and then painting them on the road. The political and bureaucratic process dictates that there is lots of consultation. Expediting this process often leaves infrastructure open the whims of whomever is in charge. So, the process of finalizing the Adelaide and Richmond cycle tracks included studying everything from the lost revenue of removing parking to the opinions of everyone that felt strongly enough to say something about it.

Five votes.

Every step of the way needed approval from city council at large. One for the initial study. Three more to implement different phases. One last vote to make the project permanent.

A consequence of the project taking more than 7 years is that Toronto had two elections in the interim. Resulting in three city councils and two different mayors taking part in this process. A process that recently ended in a unanimous vote for permanence.

Politically, there is very little that can be agreed on unanimously. But something that everyone agrees upon is safety. And that is what this project was about. It wasn’t about taking a lane of the road from one group of people and giving it to another. It was about making the road safer for everyone. And that is what 7 years of evidence bore out.