It’s strange times when you want to get out of the house to grocery shop or to “exercise, not socialize” and have others come too close, compromising the Covid Two Meter “Circle of Trust” around you. That was the prime reason I have been talking about Open Streets, where pedestrians, rollers and cyclists can have priority over vehicular traffic. The British are calling these “filtered” streets.
Not everyone owns a vehicle, many people rely on walking, rolling and cycling as their primary way to get to shops and services. And there is oddness about that, most notably from the City of Toronto’s Medical Health Officer who stated “open streets “could have the effect of inducing pedestrian and cyclist usage.” Yes, she said that.
As Globe and Mail noted columnist Alex Bozikovic calls it, not supporting open streets is a “gutless and counterproductive policy“.
We’ve seen Calgary and Winnipeg step up to the plate, and a great demonstration about why sidewalk users need to use road space in Toronto courtesy of the ingenious Daniel Rotsztain.
Vancouver has been reticent to open streets to residents outside of the downtown peninsula, and in response citizens are simply walking on the street. Despite the fact the City has a 140 kilometer network of Greenways/Green Streets that could be looped to provide opportunities to exercise and to get to shops and services with appropriate physical distancing and less worry, the Mayor and City Council appear to have no interest in doing the right thing.
But look at what the Ryerson University Epidemiologists have said to the City of Toronto about the need for Open Streets during these Covid times. They wrote directly to the Toronto Mayor, Councillors and that City’s Medical Health Officer. They get right to the point:
“We are…concerned that people relying on sidewalks for essential transportation are forced to either ignore 2m distancing rules or step into live traffic lanes to give distance. “
“To ensure physical distancing in the City of Toronto, we urge you to reconsider closing lanes of motor vehicle traffic, or parking lanes, for Toronto residents who rely on sidewalks and bicycles for their essential transportation. We urgently need to protect these residents from both COVID-19 and road traffic injury. A network of individual lane closures (including parking lanes) in high density parts of the city will most efficiently achieve the objective and need not entail complete closure of any streets.”
“The Medical Officer of Health and the leadership at the Emergency Operations Centre has reviewed the proposal of opening Yonge Street for pedestrian travel and have concluded that at this point in time, it is not warranted. They observe that residents are following the clear and simple public health instruction to stay home and as a result there is a reduced number of pedestrians using public spaces including sidewalks.”
“In reading this and other comments, we are concerned that walking and bicycling are inherently perceived as casual, optional recreational activities, and that truly essential transportation is assumed to use other modes.”
“We are very concerned that Toronto’s narrow and obstructed sidewalks (4) do not allow these trips to be completed safely while complying with physical distancing of 2m. Even two road users passing will often be unable to achieve 2m distance. In the densest parts of Toronto, it is nearly impossible to avoid arterials completely (and please note, transit is found on arterials). We are therefore concerned that people relying on sidewalks for essential transportation are forced to either ignore 2m distancing rules or step into live traffic lanes to give distance. “
It is time to act to allocate space for physically distant essential travel by bicycle and on sidewalks.”
“In conclusion, we do not write this letter to compromise COVID-19 management objectives of physical distancing. Instead we emphasize the need to ensure physical distancing is achievable for all residents, not only those who have access to personal motor vehicles.”
You can read the full text of the letter by Epidemiologists Anne Harris, PhD, Associate Professor, Ryerson University and Linda Rothman, BScOT, PhD, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University here.
Image: TheWeeklyMinute
I do agree that there is some pro ca, anti ped and cycle classism involved here. Misunderstanding social distancing directives and conflating distancing in cars with distancing on sidewalks leads to some terrible outcomes.
When i see photos of hundreds of cars lined up in florda to apply for benefits, it makes me sick. All of those people could be lined up on lawn chairs on the sidewalk, and it would be better for them, and the environment. That they think that they are safer in cars is just sad.