TORONTO – Toronto city councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong is throwing up the idea of turning Yonge and Bay streets into one-way corridors to help minimize congestion in the city’s downtown core.
Minnan-Wong is the chair of the public works and infrastructure committee and he wants staff to look at how to make stretches of Bloor to Front streets move more fluidly not just for drivers, but for public transit, cyclists and pedestrians as well.
Global News wanted to find out if one-way streets do in fact work at relieving congestion in large city centres. We spoke to Eric Miller, Director of the Cities Centre at the University of Toronto as well as David Lieberman from the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design.
Q: Do one-way streets help relieve traffic congestion in large downtown city centres?
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Eric Miller: One way streets create more circulation, it’s a no brainer. However, it will help with the sequencing of lights. But you have to look at the neighbourhood and how public transit flows in the area and if it’s actually enhances the flow of traffic.
David Lieberman: It can work extremely well, but it has to be part of a larger integrated road system. Right now, Yonge has virtually limited left and right turns and Bay has taxi and bus lanes with limited turning as well. The key would be to find a way to satisfy both drivers, pedestrians and even cyclists.
Q: Are there examples where one-way streets work in major metropolitan cities?
David Lieberman: One example is New York City’s 8th and 9th Avenue where lanes are designed for better traffic flow, not just for turning but pulling traffic away from congested corners so traffic can make left hand turns.
Eric Miller: Hamilton, Ontario has several one way streets but buses are then forced to go just one direction. What this does sometimes is make people have to walk further to reach certain locations.
Q: Can one-way streets on Yonge and Bay work for Toronto?
Eric Miller: It’s not self evident. You have to take into consideration public transit, cyclists and pedestrians. More study needs to be done in order to fully understand the pros and cons.
David Lieberman: It’s all about having an integrated plan. The city has to consider how the surrounding area will be affected by the change. But other cities have done something similar and they’ve had success.
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