A Walkabout on the Port Lands - The Shipping Channel, North side

On Friday, July 18th I began a series of walks further south on the Port Lands than my last¹ walkabout (December 2013). The timing of these new walks is related to City of Toronto Planning's Design Charrette - coming up this Wednesday and Thursday.

The Charrette

The 2-day, mini Charrette, co-hosted by Waterfront Toronto and TRCA is much shorter than recommended² - so I'm going to try and engage with the community during the two days, via Twitter and this Blog.

A "Charrette" is a design-based collaborative community planning method that the school of New Urbanism has developed. A way of wrangling a massive number of elements in an intensive series of feedback loops over a few days involving the people of the area and stakeholders relevant the study area plus a team of planners, architects and other specialists that creates a feasible plan at the end of the exercise.

To quote from Planning's Shipping Channel Charrette PDF (released to the Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) and the Landowner and User Advisory Committee (LUAC):

"The two-day charrette being hosted by the City of Toronto City Planning Division, with Waterfront Toronto and the TRCA, will occur on July 23rd and 24th, 2014. The charrette will focus on defining and establishing a cohesive vision and priorities for the Ship Channel and its surrounds, and for improving public access for the South Ship Channel lands."

We will meet first to formulate a broad outline of the constraints and possibilities talking into account everything - the land, the history of the place, the existing archeology, the economic and political elements and so on. Next we will walk (and boat!) the site - and then formulate a second understanding of a future morphing out of the present. The team of specialists will then create plans on all kinds of scales, that talk to the first round of feedback - within the constraints and the goals. Then back out in groups to tackle select issues - and then back to the team to feed all our ideas back to the whole group. Then the planners, architects and communication specialists will craft some more - ideas, plans, drawings, media.

After the two days of intensive work the Planners will then present a overview of the outcomes in a 2 hour meeting on the evening of the second day.

Social Tools Engagement

At certain points in the process key ideas will come into conflict and (hopefully) be resolved, compromises will happen (hopefully) and in the end we will have a do-able plan that everyone can like - and is do-able in the physical, economic and political world.

At these crisis points in the process I will out reach to get your informed opinion and try to feed your ideas into the process. This use of the social tools is new to the Charrette process - we'll see how it goes.

The Pre Charrette Walks

The specific intention of this set of pre-walks is to trace a walking path around the Shipping Channel - and to discover what use the land around it is presently being put to; and what potential future uses can be gleaned from a process of actually touching the place, documenting the act, and writing about it. This with-in my bias for development that creates Complete Streets and Liveable Cities.

Shipping Channel Panorama - North-side below Don Roadway looking south at City of Toronto Transportation Services salt storage facility.

Below is a map with several video and images at the placemarks - a synopsis of my walkabout so far.

Shipping Channel Walkabout - pre-Charrette discovery

View Shipping Channel Walkabout - pre-Charrette discovery in a larger map

References:

¹ Ward 30 Bikes - Tuesday, February 4, 2014 | Queen St., Logan, Port Lands, South of Eastern, Dundas/Carlaw Corridor - a walk-about to discover North-South Cycling Opportunities - Learning through reading, walk-abouts and writing: Bouchette Street, Logan Avenue & Carlaw Avenue --- Commissioners to Dundas | http://ward30bikes.blogspot.ca/2014/02/queen-st-logan-port-lands-south-of.html

² Youtube - Congress4NewUrbanism | CNU 20 - Charrettes and the Next Generation of Public Involvement | http://youtu.be/RNzKI9n-i58

CNU 20 - Charrettes and the Next Generation of Public Involvement


Under the Video:

Published on May 29, 2012

Are the days of the seven-day charrette behind us? Shrinking budgets, social media, tea party obstruction... it's time to take another look at charrettes and public involvement.

Limited project budgets are challenging everyone. The web has also made it possible for the public, as well as consultants, to participate from a distance. This technology can save money, but what are the costs to shared learning and the building of relationships? How can these high-tech tools be leveraged to increase the number and diversity of people that are engaged in planning projects while still maintaining the advantages of face-to-face meetings?

This session will present the latest tools, techniques and the trade-offs of social media and web-based participation tools within the context of the face-to-face public design charrette format.

Hazel Borys, Managing Principal, PlaceMakers
Ben Brown, Consultant, PlaceMakers LLC
Andrés Duany, Principal, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company
Bill Lennertz, Executive Director, National Charrette Institute
Gianni Longo, Principal, ACP Visioning & Planning

Resources:

Port Lands Acceleration Initiative: Home | http://www.portlandsconsultation.ca/

Port Lands Planning Framework: Land Use Direction | http://portlandsconsultation.ca/sites/all/themes/portlands/files/PLPFLand%20UseDirection_Jun5(sm).pdf

National Charrette Institute (NCI) | http://www.charretteinstitute.org/about-nci.html

Top Port Lands Map Image via: Port Lands Acceleration Initiative: Home | Port Lands Planning Framework | http://www.portlandsconsultation.ca/node/17



mh

@CycleToronto @Ward30Bikes Advocacy works - Flagperson on East side Crossing, Leslie/LSB to end of the Leslie reconstruction

Thanks @PaulaFletcher30 - Thanks @TTCLeslieBarns - Thanks Pomerleau construction.



7am to 7pm Monday to Friday until December (living wage and time and-a-half on holidays - and he lives in this neighbourhood).

A hellish job - buy this person a coffee and donuts every morning you commute to work safely with this person's assistance!

I've noticed an incredible increase in cycling on Queen Street this weekend. Just after the closure of Queen at Leslie; and now with World Pride (@WP14TO); and the coming exodus to the northern lakes.

Bike your hood!

We are - by Jennifer Keesmaat's account at Congress4NewUrbanism - Buffalo 2014 (CNU22) - 30,000 daily commuters!

We are a new demographic. We Ride!


Please engage in this.

We are in the midst of a complex, multidimensional cultural revolution in transportation and city building.

Your participation right now will speed the evolution towards good neighbourhoods, sustainable economies, sustainable lifestyles and sustainable identities.

How to make the intersection of Leslie Street and Lake Shore Boulevard a Complete Street - after the Leslie Street reconstruction is finished - remains @Ward30Bikes penultimate concern.

Not just about this Grand Boulevard / Neighborhood intersection - but about these motorways that divide all the neighbourhoods of the The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) that circle the Great Lakes.


Michael Holloway
Captain, Ward 30 Bikes

References:

Congress4NewUrbanism Keynote - Buffalo 2014 (CNU22)


Note how Tregoning accents statistics; and Keesmaat accents buy-in. They compliment each-other.

Listen carefully.



mh

@CycleToronto: Write PWIC before June 18th in Support of Dixon Ave Bike Lanes

Cycle Toronto
- safe streets, a healthy city, a vibrant voice -

Thursday, June 12th

Dear _________,

Please e-mail the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) today to help make the proposed bike lane on Dixon Avenue a reality, and improve cycling in Toronto's east end!

The next PWIC meeting takes place on June 18th, and the Dixon Ave staff report is one of the items being voted on. If PWIC adopts the report, it will go to Council on July 8th. Adding a lane on Dixon will provide a valuable neighbourhood connection between Woodbine Avenue and Kingston Road. Ward 32 Spokes and Cycle Toronto fully support the staff report - it's recommendations are strong and will make a very positive contribution to cycling in our community.

Please e-mail pwic@toronto.ca with your support for the item before June 17th at 4pm.

When writing your email, don’t hesitate to include your personal story. Consider including your mailing address, as messages from local and Toronto residents carry more weight.

Finally include item number PW32.5 in the subject line, and cc: info@cycleto.ca and ward32@cycleto.ca.

Summary of the Staff Report:

Currently, Dixon Ave. is westbound only between Lockwood to Kingston and eastbound only between Lockwood and Woodbine. See the map of the area.

- Between the westbound only section of Dixon (Kingston to Lockwood), the report recommends an eastbound contra-flow bike lane located on the south side of the street next to on-street parking. *Cyclists travelling westbound will continue to use the shared traffic lane as they do now.

- Between the eastbound only section of Dixon (Lockwood to Woodbine) the report recommends a westbound contra-flow bike lane on the north side of the street, away from the on street parking. *Cyclists travelling eastbound will continue to use the shared traffic lane as they do now.

- No changes are recommended to on street parking along the entire length of Dixon Avenue.

The installation of these two sections of contra-flow bike lane will allow cyclists to use Dixon Avenue as a two way street. These small additions to the area’s cycling infrastructure will provide valuable neighbourhood connections for cyclists of all ages who wish to avoid cycling on busy arterial roadways and major intersections.

Relevant Resources:

1) The PWIC agenda item for Dixon (PW32.5)
2) Staff presentation boards to Public Open House on the Dixon Avenue Bicycle Lane (PDF)
3) Background on “contra-flow” bike lanes


If you have any questions, please email ward32@cycleto.ca

 ---

My Letter to PWIC: 

(Use this as a template replacing my story about Dixon Ave - with your story about Dixon Ave).

TO: pwic@toronto.ca
Cc: info@cycleto.ca, ward_30@cycleto.ca, ward32@cycleto.ca
Subject Line: PW32.5 - Contra-flow Bicycle Lanes on Dixon Avenue

Public Works and Infrastructure Committee Members and Chair,

I am writing in support of an item the Committee is to consider at your meeting scheduled for June 18, 2014 - a Transportation Staff recommendation for the installation of contra-flow bicycle lanes on Dixon Avenue, from Kingston Road to Woodbine Avenue.

I am a year 'round utility and recreational cyclist. I have never had a drivers license and I do not own a motor vehicle. As a resident of Ward 30 nearby Dundas Street on Jones Avenue, the Dundas Bike Lanes are a very important transportation route for me. When I reach Kingston Road on the Dundas Bike Lane eastbound, I am forced (due to the traffic calming one-ways on Dixon), to either turn south or north on Kingston Road - a busy and fast moving Avenue with no Bicycle Infrastructure.

Annoyingly, the south bound route forces me to travel back on my easterly route in a south-westerly direction - back to Queen and Kingston Rd. - at which point I then take Queen Street East (a fast moving, busy Avenue) back eastbound over to Lockwood; then left off Queen back up northbound onto the On-Street Connection that is Dixon Avenue (which notably - gets me to Norway Avenue and Woodbine Avenue - another On-Street route on my path east - that I often take all the way over to Scarborough Road and beyond - all the way on quiet residential streets!).

The northern route around the Dixon Avenue barrier on the other hand, is on a section of Kingston Road that is marked by a steep upward incline, and a curve in the roadway at which point, simultaneously, motor vehicle traffic is travelling at a high rate of speed, accelerating and merging - and where I feel like the parked cars along the south side of the Avenue there create a pinch-point for cyclists between the parking zone and the motor vehicle traffic there. A dangerous stretch to be sure.

Thus I urge the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee to accept the Staff Report and send this recommendation for the installation of contra-flow bicycle lanes on Dixon Avenue from Kingston Road to Woodbine Avenue to City Council for a vote.


Sincerely,
Michael Holloway
# Jones Avenue,
Leslieville, Toronto

---

Use this as a template replacing my story about Dixon Ave with your story about Dixon Ave..



mh