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>>Councillor Bradford: Having a strong east-west connection through our city has been something that you know folks
have really dreamed of for decades really and Danforth had all of that potential
but it hadn't yet been realized.
>>Jacquelyn Hayward: Destination Danforth is a project that aims to transform
the street in a way that support more modes of transportation, allows people space to safely cycle
and walk, as well as maintain the vitality of the Danforth.
>>Councillor Fletcher: All of the BIAs have art components with their colours,
there are murals, the traffic boxes have been done there are
beautiful plantings along the bike lane,
we have CafeTO to add it it's just the most beautiful transformation.
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>>Jacquelyn Hayward: The city overall has really been hard hit by the the COVID pandemic and what the
Destination Danforth project has done has been able to provide more space for businesses to
operate on the sidewalk or in the curb lane and really bring people back to the Danforth
because what we heard when the pandemic first started what we
saw is that people just weren't coming out to their local main streets because of the
restrictions in place and as restrictions started to be lifted we were able to transform the street
to make it a more inviting place to be and a safe place to to come out to local business.
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>>Billy Dertilis: I think the the biggest challenge during the pandemic is how do you balance your need to run
a business with the the need of trying to keep everyone safe and healthy and that's been a huge
obstacle for us and it's obviously been a hard time for us to be running a business and to
try and make a go of it from a BIA perspective
I think one of the challenges was in terms of messaging.
What are we saying to people do we our role is to bring foot traffic to the strip
in order to support small business is that an appropriate thing to do
when there's a pandemic going on.
>>Horacio Cafferata: The COVID hit it hit everybody around the world and we
we have to shut down the clinic.
So what's a big big challenge for us as a new business
not really well established but we need to try to keep alive.
I wasn't sure if bringing a bike line will affect the traffic, parking,
how how we will change the downfall dynamics right
and then I was really really surprised that they put a really together the parkings, the bike lanes,
and not only that things they at the end have to add parties on the street and I was really thrilled at
how they can put all together and just even look great, no?
It's a little bit for everybody: patios, bike lanes, parkings.
>>Jennifer Thompson: In a normal in normal times for summer camp for example
we would have 40 kids here in in a week for camp but
this past summer with the restrictions that were put on us
we were only able to have eight campers here in any given week.
So it's definitely been a huge change.
I've been a big fan of Destination Danforth from the beginning.
As soon as I saw the plans I knew that it was going to be a real improvement for the community
having the CafeTO project where restaurants can have their patios now
out in front of their restaurants has been really great for building a European feel and
especially in a time when no one can travel it's nice to have that to see in the neighbourhood.
>>Krishna Gaudel: The pandemic is a major blow to our business like many other
small businesses around the world since the we are in the restaurant industry a lot of people are
feared to coming to the restaurant um because of the virus.
You know the weather has been on and off.
We had a great summer this is definitely a great initiative because since we are not allowed to serve inside
so this is allowing us to serve the guests who you know tend to go out and have to have that dining experience
it's absolutely giving you the option to come and enjoy our beautiful patio
with a lot of planters and flowers and so on it is amazing.
>>Jacquelyn Hayward: One of the key goals of the project was to provide an option for people who choose to bike instead
of take transit if they're commuting into the core and so one of the reasons why the project
was extended to all the way between Broadview and nearing Victoria Park was to really mirror the the
Danforth subway line and provide that alternative to people who can't physically distance on transit
and want another choice.
>>Gerardo Reyes Casarrubias: My ride is about eight kilometers from Roncesvalles so basically it's
all the way from Bloor to Danforth.
This is a good way to to ride your bike keep keep yourself safely distance
and connect the neighbourhoods.
We've been able to work with the Councillor in order to get more bike parking right in front of the studio
because a lot of my staff and students love to be able to bike to the studio it makes it a lot easier for them.
>>Student: Biking to school used to take me two hours but with the new bike lanes it only
takes about 45 minutes now I feel safer on the Danforth away from the cars in the bike lanes.
>>Mayor Tory: I think the other thing that we maybe
don't fully appreciate yet is that it connected the city up.
You had a connection now by cycle to Bloor.
You had a connection to the east and it created one of the largest continuous
or longest continuous bike lanes in all of North America.
It's really quite an accomplishment for us.
>>Jacquelyn Hayward: Accessibility is always a key consideration when we're designing changes on a street we have been
working on addressing some recent feedback that we've received through removing curbstone's key
locations to allow more accessible access to the curb.
>>Billey Dertilis: I think there's some concern still and some
work to be done with respect to uh accessibility and uh you know a lot of um our neighbours
that for them it's a challenge to walk around things walk walk far distances and you know
now it's true there's a little less room.
In the end I think um that's the biggest issue is how do we ensure that the changes are equitable to everybody
and I don't I think you know I think during this pilot there have been a lot of lessons learned
and uh and I'm hoping that next year they'll come into play.
>>Brian Stevens: There was a community consult done and
then within a week of that conversation the bike lane were implemented it created accessibility issues.
Call to the city and discover that they had a great policy and procedure in place
to deal with concerns so now we have a ramp and it's actually a really creative ramp because it
meets the cyclist's needs by not being an abrupt obstacle it meets our needs because we now
have a flat surface which allows people to come seamlessly onto the sidewalk. It went really well.
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>>Jacquelyn Hayward: Art has been incorporated into the project in a number of ways we wanted to make sure this project
not only transformed the street but also the the entire experience of using the Danforth there are
at least four potentially five murals coming along being installed on major walls along the Danforth
as well as a number of utility box murals along the streetscape and we've also incorporated
mosaics into the design of some buffer zones and artistic curve extensions have been installed
at many locations along the corridor.
>>Shana Hillman: We are all being asked for the first time to
not go out and socialize it's a pretty dark and depressing time but we can lift someone up as they
go about their daily business on the danforth give them something beautiful that element of surprise
and delight that makes it all worthwhile.
>>Eric Kristmanson: It's a large project that we're doing for the Danforth
for inclusivity and showing the ability for the Danforth to survive through trials and
tribulations and everything going on right now.
The neighbourhood has been amazing so involved so much so much so that I've had to put on noise cancelling headphones
and trying to work some days because they've been so overjoyed and lovely
they've been up coming up and talking to me about
what the piece means and what it means to the neighbourhood to see some more colour around.
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>>Jacquelyn Hayward: We're going to be monitoring this project very closely we're looking at
vehicle travel times we're looking at the economic impact we're looking at the the safety performance
to be able to make modifications and really optimize the way that this street is serving
its users we'll be reporting back to Council in fall of 2021 with the results of our evaluations
and any changes that we've made along the way with recommendations on what should be the permanent
design of the Danforth going forward.
Counicllor Fletcher: We want people to come out and walk and be safe
outside and that was what the summer was.
There are bumps and hiccups they're being worked out
but overall my goal is that we work to make this permanent fixture that
people want to visit this area because it is a year-round destination.
>>Horacio Cafferata: I think I want everything to stay here I think it it gives a great atmosphere to the whole neighbourhood.
>>Billy Dertilis: I think it kind of proves that we
can have nice things in Toronto too, you know and if if the legacy of what has happened here is that
the City perhaps relaxes certain rules and lets things happen organically and maybe we should be
paying more attention to the benefits of letting people
enjoy the sidewalk and really have a complete street.
>>Councillor Fletcher: They really talk about it all the time they feel that we've transformed the Danforth
into a true 2020 street because of the art because of the culture that we're creating here because of
the beauty on the street because the businesses have all gotten something out of this has been
a win-win-win situation.
>>Mayor Tory: Destination Danforth has been fabulous because what it has done is
really transformed one of our most beloved and most historic streets.
Destination Danforth is a big win and you know you can fine-tune it, which we'll do, but it's it's a big win and
I think it's made for a better city and for a better Danforth and we all love the Danforth.