Looking at those overhead shots, and can't stop noticing how the stretch of Queen from Yonge to York St. should be pedestrianized, with a transit mall for the streetcar of course. You've got NPS, Old City hall, & Eaton Centre all in a row. Existing buildings to the south already got most service access via Richmond or York. And most importantly, with the current closure, traffic patterns have already adjusted making it an easier political hurdle. James St was already pegged for future pedestrianization which would go well with a pedestrianized stretch of Queen. Hell, I'd even say pedestrianize Bay St. from Albert to Richmond and NPS could grow into its surroundings à la Dam Square in Amsterdam. One can only dream...
As discussed by me just a few posts up, I support pedestrianization. It is do-able, from Yonge to Bay, and from York to University, without too much complication.
However, Bay to York is not on, unless you shutter most/all of the City Hall parking garage, which is over 2,000 spaces, and grosses in the range of 8M-10M annually.
The capacity of its Queen St. Entrance cannot easily be replaced, if at all, anywhere else.
That section could still be improved by removing the south side entrance to the parking garage, widening and properly streetscaping the south side sidewalk and other improvements. If through traffic were eliminated, such that cars only accessed that section to access City Hall garage, traffic would be considerably lighter than today.
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PS to everyone above championing this idea (pedestrianization/transit mall).........NOW is the time to be emailing the Mayor about this. Not in 5 years. It would be a 3 year process just to design/plan the changes, then tender, then construct, once Metrolinx is out of the way.
If the project holds to schedule........the decision on what to do with Queen should be made this year (2024).
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