With LRT construction planned to start on King St in 2024 Open Streets will need to find a new location. Where should Open Streets operate in 2025 and beyond? How do other cities choose where to put their Open Streets programs? Which of the proposed ideas are most appealing to the general public?
Project Description:
At Council’s direction, the City’s first Open Streets Temporary Linear Urban Park on King Street East was held in June 2023. King Street was closed to motor-vehicle traffic from John Street to Gage Avenue, approximately four kilometres in length. The event ran from 10:00am to 2:00pm and was attended by an estimated 15,000 individuals. In 2024 the event will run on 2 Sundays. With LRT construction planned to start on King St in 2024 Open Streets will need to find a new location. The project will involve:
Explore the 7 proposed Open Street scenarios for future scale up (contained in the official Council report on OSH)
Using community engagement techniques (eg. workshop and surveys) rank the options or add others
Do a deep dive on the highest ranked scenarios
Determine the best routes, number of events, etc, since when LRT construction occurs the event has to move from King
Explore how other cities determine where to put their Open Streets events
City Staff: Juby Lee, Project Manager, Sustainable Mobility, Planning & Economic Development
Instructor: Randy Kay, Darina Vasek, Rachel Johnson
Course: Semester in Residence
Students: TBD