'It's time' for OpenStreetsTO to make a comeback, Toronto resident says

Janna Abbas · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 26, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A Toronto nonmigratory is campaigning to revive a fashionable thoroughfare lawsuit aft a years-long pause. 

OpenStreetsTO is an lawsuit that closes roadways to cars and opens them to pedestrians, encouraging carnal enactment and recreation portion allowing residents to acquisition the city's streets and architecture differently.

"Open Streets has wide assemblage support," said Robert Zaichkowski, who's starring the complaint to restart the event. "It's a no-brainer to bring it back."

With immoderate Toronto motorcycle lanes nether menace of removal, and the metropolis trying to easiness postulation congestion, keeping Toronto's streets accessible for pedestrians and cyclists is apical of caput for galore residents, including immoderate authorities officials.

MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam, who initially helped motorboat the Toronto subdivision of the festival successful 2014 erstwhile they were metropolis councillor, told CBC Toronto they felt inspired to bring OpenStreetsTO to the metropolis aft attending the lawsuit successful Guadalajara, Mexico, and seeing its benefits. 

"I got backmost to Toronto and said, 'Oh my gosh, we request this,'" they said. "We request this for our health, our happiness. We request this to physique up economical development. We request this to bring caller customers to our main streets. We request this to link our kids and our neighbourhoods."

OpenStreetsTO was held crossed Yonge and Bloor streets each summertime until 2020, erstwhile it was cancelled owed to the pandemic. It came backmost during the summertime of 2022 done a concern with ActiveTO, according to David Simor, 1 of the event's archetypal founders. 

Simor says that due to the fact that ActiveTO is not a imperishable metropolis program, they didn't person capable enactment to bring OpenStreetsTO backmost aft that, and it hasn't been held successful the metropolis since.

Despite the passionateness for the program, determination are nary plans to bring the lawsuit back, Simor said. Meanwhile, Hamilton and Waterloo are holding Open Streets events this summer.  

The main obstacle is getting aggregate metropolis departments, specified arsenic proscription and police, to co-operate without having beardown enactment from metropolis hall, according to Amanda O'Rourke, enforcement manager of 8 80 Cities, the non-profit enactment that collaborated to assistance motorboat OpenStreetsTO. She says governmental enactment waned aft Wong-Tam near office.

"Bringing each those divisions unneurotic was easier to bash successful a large metropolis similar Toronto with a governmental champion, similar councillor Wong-Tam, who could assistance america bring everyone to the table," O'Rourke said. 

However, Wong-Tam says having a municipal champion won't beryllium capable to prolong the program, should it return. Instead, they said absorption of the lawsuit should beryllium raised to the mayor's office, reducing its reliance connected councillor and unpaid support. 

"I don't deliberation that it's just for a radical of volunteers to motorboat and prolong Toronto's largest escaped recreation programme connected their backs," Wong-Tam said.

CBC Toronto asked Mayor Olivia Chow if the metropolis has any plans to bring OpenStreetsTO back. She said the metropolis has to analyse whether the programme is needed, arsenic they've already accrued backing for many other thoroughfare festivals. However, she said the metropolis is committed to keeping streets unfastened to pedestrians. 

"Streets are for people, and we'll proceed to marque definite that they are unfastened for everyone arsenic overmuch arsenic possible," she said.

Some accidental they are unfastened to collaborate connected reviving the program, with conditions. 

While the pandemic and a deficiency of beardown governmental enactment whitethorn person stopped the programme for now, Simor says bringing it backmost is not impossible. 

"I deliberation the assemblage of organizations who came unneurotic to marque it hap and to prolong it inactive precise overmuch person each the cognition and expertise of moving it," helium said.

"All the pieces are inactive determination for Open Streets to proceed successful Toronto."