York University Cycling Connections

By

Katz

The York University project was part of the City’s Cycling Network Plan to grow, connect and renew the cycling network around York University. It included the construction of a protected intersection and a kilometre of separated bikeways and multi-use trails. Multi-modal connections were constructed between the campus, neighborhoods, the Finch West Hydro Corridor Trail, and Finch West TTC station.

Starting at the conceptual stage with community consultation in 2018 and reaching substantial completion in 2022, this project represents a significant expansion of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure in the community.

This project is located within a City-designated Neighbourhood Improvement area. These areas have been prioritized by Transportation Services and especially cycling for future investment in order to build a more equitable city.

In 2016, Toronto’s Cycling Network Plan was adopted by City Council, including the ‘York University Cycling Connections’ project.

In 2018, the City began engaging with the community and received a high level of support for the planned project in the York University area. The City project team collaborated with local stakeholders including: Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Smart Commute North Toronto - Vaughan, the Jane/Finch Centre, Downsview Park and York University Transportation Services. Over 60 citywide and local organizations, including community groups and local Business Improvement Associations were invited to participate in the outreach events.

Throughout the project, the team strived to embody the City’s goals to shift towards safer and more sustainable multi-modal transportation design. Using the frameworks of Vision Zero, TransformTO, and Complete Streets, it was determined that a protected intersection would be included. The protected intersection design approach prioritizes safety for all vulnerable road users. Green infrastructure, pedestrian connectivity, accessibility, multi-modal safety features, bike counters, transit priority and other key elements were also integrated from the outset.

The intersection of Evelyn Wiggins Drive and Murray Ross Parkway is the meeting point of two existing multi-use paths on two legs and two new bidirectional cycle tracks on the other two legs. The design and construction of the intersection was anticipated to be complex, with bidirectional facilities on all intersection legs meeting at the southeast corner. The design needed to consider multiple conflicting bicycle turning movements and transit service, as well as pedestrians and trail users from the Finch Hydro Corridor Recreational Trail.

This complex travel paths are now connected via a protected intersection with tightened intersection corner radii, setback bicycle crossings, corner refuge islands, an island transit platform, and forward queuing areas. Many of these treatments, such as green gutters, island transit platforms and directional tactile, were non-standard for the City and the design team worked with multiple departments and stakeholders to reach agreement and address the challenges of implementing new approaches. Since its completion in early 2022, the project has already contributed to learning and advancement in the field. Multiple site visits by consultants and the City, TTC, and other municipalities are informing future implementations of protected intersections and other design and safety features in Toronto and across the country.

The project team made green infrastructure integral to the design early on. While Toronto’s Green Infrastructure Standards were still in development, the team worked collaboratively to implement a green gutter and a bioswale. These features were used as functional separation treatments between the roadway and the on-street bikeway. A project goal was to retain run-off patterns to existing curb and catch basins where possible while minimizing impermeable surfaces. Alta’s team supported the City through construction and lessons learned meetings, providing a test site for the City’s new green infrastructure specifications.

After construction, in June 2022, the City organized two site visits to gather feedback from people who use mobility devices and those with low vision to no vision, including those who use a guide dog or white cane. The goals of the site visits were to:

• learn about the effectiveness of certain accessibility features

• determine how safe and comfortable the participants felt in navigating the area, and

• utilize feedback to inform future designs.

The City gathered feedback on the protected intersection design, street-level separated bikeway, signalization and accessible pedestrian signals, floating bus stop platform, multi-trail connections, and tactile treatments such as unit pavers and directional tactile plates.

One of many lessons learned is that generally less is more, and that accessible design should communicate only what is essential. Other take-aways included that snow clearance on accessibility features must be prioritized to ensure they can be easily detected. Generally, a beveled (sloped) edge was preferable to at-grade unit pavers or tactile markers to indicate a transition between different types of infrastructure, such as sidewalks and multi-use trails.

Lessons learned from these visits will be incorporated into future projects, including refined direction on where different tactile surfaces should be used and the development of a floating bus stop standard.

The City of Toronto has published their findings from the site visits in an extensive report that can be found here

Post-implementation, the team has been observing and monitoring their functionality. The City team is also observing the resiliency of various specified plants over time. In this way, several lessons learned related to drainage, planting, constructability and maintenance were identified and continue to be identified and incorporated into future practice.

Given the complex travel paths, accessibility was always a priority on this project with particular attention being paid to the separation treatments between pedestrian and cycling space and at intersections. The team strived for a design that made it intuitive and easy for all users to move safely through the intersection and find their way to their destination.

Following construction, the City organized two site visits to gather feedback on these design details from residents who use mobility devices and those with low vision to no vision. The goals of the site visits were to learn about the effectiveness of certain accessibility features, determine how safe and comfortable the participants felt in navigating the area, and to utilize feedback to inform future designs. Lessons learned from these visits will be incorporated into future projects. See boxed text above for more.

Significant signal phasing and infrastructure modifications were implemented to provide priority and safer crossings for people on bikes, pedestrians, and transit users. Both intersections were redesigned with the addition of bike signal heads, bicycle detection, and other features to allow for intuitive crossings but also unique phasing strategies.

Phasing innovations included leading pedestrian intervals and a fully protected right-turn phase with transit signal priority at the southwest protected corner of Keele Street and Murray Ross Parkway.

The eastbound right turn at the intersection is a relatively high-volume transit turn with a bidirectional bikeway crossing. The intention for the fully protected right turn was to protect pedestrians and people on bikes from turning vehicles, including transit vehicles. Transit signal priority was implemented to offset the transit delay impacts of fully protecting the turn. This intersection has a multitude of other needs including fire pre-emption to facilitate vehicular movement from the fire hall located at the intersection. Leading Bicycle Interval (LBI) was not yet City policy at the time of this project, but will be a future improvement.

Transit was a priority in the project design with TTC being a key stakeholder throughout the design and implementation process. The design of the geometric elements such as offset crossings and floating bus stop were carefully considered in parallel with the design of the signal infrastructure and phasing. The design’s fully protected right turn phase allows people on bikes their own phase in the bidirectional crossing, in turn benefiting transit operators.

The interactions of users at the transit stops and ways to provide more comfortable, safe, accessible and intuitive access for all was prioritized on this project. This implementation is the first example of a protected intersection with an island transit stop in Toronto. The island boulevard transit stop maintains flow for people cycling while providing a curb-adjacent waiting area for transit passengers.

Staff from the TTC, City of Toronto, and representatives from consulting firms met at Keele Street to test bus turning sightlines using several different transit vehicles within the project’s area, including the protected corners. Information was gathered to ensure that the safety, comfort and operational goals were being met.

The project was delivered by a near all-women engineering team from both the City and Alta. It was delivered by the City of Toronto via a unique model of high-priority cycling implementation without bundling with resurfacing or reconstruction works. The City built this infrastructure during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic where typical items such as providing a site office and site meetings were a challenge.

This project is continuing to inform design guidance and implementation decisions by the City team. The intersection is being monitored through the winter to assess potential maintenance challenges and how it may influence future decisions regarding geometric design and material selection.

Protected intersections and corners are becoming more popular as a design approach in Ontario and Canada. This project represents the first implementation in Toronto along with integrated green infrastructure, accessibility, transit priority, and other innovative features. This project was possible thanks to a concerted effort by the project team to engage with and bring in the right partners in the community, and in partnership with consulting firms, interdepartmental City staff and TTC.

The first implementation of any new approach is always a challenge, but built examples and the lessons learned from these projects help to expand the knowledgebase within the transportation profession. Through this success, this project has proven to be a significant contribution to the field of transportation engineering and its shift towards a more equitable and accessible multi-modal sustainable future.

This project was designed and built by the City of Toronto Transportation Services Project Design and Management’s Cycling and Pedestrian Projects unit in partnership with Alta Planning + Design Canada, Inc., and in association with J.L. Richards & Associates, Fotenn Consultants, Accessibility Simplified, True North Safety Group, Urban Systems, Moon-Matz, Cohen & Master Tree & Shrub Services, T2 Utility Engineers, Golder Associates, and Lawson Consulting. The contractors were Sanscon Construction Ltd. in association with TM3 Inc.

Becky Katz is the Manager of the Cycling and Pedestrian Projects unit at the City of Toronto. Her engineering career has been focused on collaborating with communities on the planning and design of high-quality public spaces and multi-modal transportation infrastructure. Before moving to Toronto in 2019, Becky led the City of Atlanta’s cycling infrastructure team.

Kanchan Maharaj, P.Eng., is a Senior Engineer in the Cycling & Pedestrian Projects unit at the City of Toronto and was one of the Project Managers on this project as well as being involved in the development of the City’s Cycling Network Plan. She has over 25 years of Canadian and international engineering, construction, policy, and planning experience in the public and private sector and has volunteered and worked with many equity-focused organizations throughout her career.

Kate Whitfield, P.Eng., MCIP, RPP, RSP1 is a Principal with Alta Planning + Design, Canada Inc. She is both a Professional Engineer and a Professional Planner, leading the Canadian operations of Alta out of the headquarters in Ottawa. Her first on-site construction project was in Moncton, New Brunswick while studying engineering at UNB. Alta’s lead role on this project meant provided Kate with the opportunity to be on-site again on a regular basis through the construction process.

Nataliya Pekar was an Engineer with Alta during the course of this project from the design phase through construction phase. She is now a Senior Project Manager with the City of Toronto in the Cycling and Pedestrian projects group.