Mayor John Tory's Toronto

[adma]

Interesting. With Tory in office, everyone seems to be behaving!

It's almost like "ex-Communists" effortlessly transitioning into democracy post-Perestroika, almost by way of demonstrating even *they* knew the system they'd served was broken...

 

[canmark]

Tory willing to reject marathons, special events to ease traffic

Toronto Mayor John Tory says he is “prepared to take the heat” for saying no to organizers of marathons and other special events if it helps to minimize traffic disruptions.

* **

“People have given me a mandate, if necessary, to say no sometimes,” Mr. Tory said.

“When three worthy groups all want to have their run down Yonge Street in the same month, that’s very nice, but we may have to say to one of them, … ‘Sorry, somebody may have to move to another month, or somebody’s going to have to make the move to another place in the public interest,’ ” he said. “I’m prepared to take the heat for that.”

* * *

“Here’s the bottom line in all of this,” Mr. Tory said. “It is time, in a big city like this, that the public was placed first.”

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

It is time, in a big city like this, that the public was placed first

Which public is he talking about?

AoD

 

[PinkLucy]

^^^ True.

I'm a member of the public and I love what the runs bring to our city, including the economic benefits. There are some areas that see a lot of road closures because of their location (near to natural start/stop areas like Ontario Place, the Ex, City Hall), but the marathon organizers like every other person in Toronto over the past few years, have also been battling with road construction that have impacted these events.

At least he didn't say they could run marathons in a park, which is ridiculous. Some smaller runs, yes (like Harry Rosen, the Zoo run), but that also greatly limits participation numbers.

 

[MetroMan]

Tory willing to reject marathons, special events to ease traffic

I don't see anything wrong in this. We can have 1 or 2 marathons a year, we can have some street festivals but ensure that they happen when and where they won't seriously disrupt the flow of traffic. I don't mind that Tory is willing to say no to an event after careful consideration. He's not crossing his arms and saying no to all marathons and events because he's against them period and doesn't care if they help the city because we have to end the war on cars, blah blah bla. Tory isn't making a Fordesque statement. He's well known for being pro-culture.

 

[TrickyRicky]

^The average Toronto punter who drives everywhere, doesn't organize or participate in charity runs, and lives in that middle belt of semi-urbanized (as defined by our ideas on this forum) areas between St. Clair and Sheppard. In other words, Tory's base.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

^The average Toronto punter who drives everywhere, doesn't organize or participate in charity runs, and lives in that middle belt of semi-urbanized (as defined by our ideas on this forum) areas between St. Clair and Sheppard. In other words, Tory's base.

Ah THAT public. Sarcasm aside, there is merit in taking a look at coordinating road closures for public event. Of course, let's start off with The Indy.

AoD

 

[PinkLucy]

^^ Yes, please

 

[nfitz]

Ah THAT public. Sarcasm aside, there is merit in taking a look at coordinating road closures for public event. Of course, let's start off with The Indy.

Yes, that's the place to start. It has fewer participants than any of the other events.

 

[ham]

Yes, that's the place to start. It has fewer participants than any of the other events.

As a marathon runner I totally get the frustration of the car drivers!!

The problem is not the marathon as it self... its the problem that there are no proper detours
created to get around in the city. For eg. as a person who lives in the burbs:
How do you know how to drive from University Ave to the gardner or don valley when a marathon is going on?
mad:
Traffic during a marathon event is poorly managed and organized

 

[blahblahblah]

Yes, that's the place to start. It has fewer participants than any of the other events.

And look at another sacred cow: Ride for Heart. DVP and the Gardiner. I was once involved with it and was surprised how little it raised. We would be better paying them NOT to run it.

 

[DarnDirtyApe]

These closures also have an impact on other modes of transportation - downtown streetcar and bus routes have to be detoured and end up snarled in traffic, pedestrians can't cross the street or access subway station entrances & exits, and so on.

When I lived near Yonge & Wellesley (west of Yonge) it was a huge pain to get anywhere via TTC when Yonge was closed - both Bloor-Yonge and Wellesley stations have all entrances on the east side of Yonge, so they are totally inaccessible during marathons, Pride, etc.

 

[W. K. Lis]

This member of the "public" wants marathons.

 

[LNahid2000]

When I lived near Yonge & Wellesley (west of Yonge) it was a huge pain to get anywhere via TTC when Yonge was closed - both Bloor-Yonge and Wellesley stations have all entrances on the east side of Yonge, so they are totally inaccessible during marathons, Pride, etc.

Huge pain? You do realize you can just walk underground at Bloor-Yonge right? In fact, you can walk all the way from Park Road (east of Yonge) to Bellair Street (west of Bay) without having to go outside.

 

[nfitz]

Huge pain? You do realize you can just walk underground at Bloor-Yonge right? In fact, you can walk all the way from Park Road (east of Yonge) to Bellair Street (west of Bay) without having to go outside.

That reminds me, I was poking around underground a few times recently, trying to find the entrance to the western end of the Yonge (Line 2) platform. I always kept ending up at the main entrance near the Bay.

The other day I tried just going outside onto the west side of Yonge, just north of Bloor. And right there is the missing entrance I could never find. Walking down the stairs, it's clear there's no entrance into the underground mall.

But was it always that way? I could have sworn there was 20 or so years ago. Is my memory failing me?

Odd that there is nothing but an outside entrance, given where it is.