We Did It! Together We Built Canada’s First Vision Zero Pop-Up!
In the summer of 2018, we started on a journey that led us to this groundbreaking accomplishment. We at 8 80 Cities were deeply humbled with the task of designing a project that would honour a donation from a Toronto resident whose friend was one of the 46 people killed that year while walking or bicycling.
With support from our partners, and many volunteers and community champions, this August 23-24 we successfully transformed one of Toronto’s busiest commercial thoroughfares into a more vibrant, safe, and human-centric street.
We built a prototype of a ‘vision zero’ street, a street that exemplifies the city’s aspiration to get to zero deaths, a goal we hope every Torontonian, every Canadian, every city resident, no matter where you live, can get behind.
Our message was simple. We know that safer street design saves lives. No death is acceptable on our streets when we know the proven design solutions that can prevent it.
We demonstrated in real-time what those design solutions look and feel like, giving residents the opportunity to experience a more human-centred space. We built a street that was alive, in the fullest sense of the word. We built a street that prioritizes people’s health and well being, a street where you can meet neighbours and friends, a street where local businesses can thrive because people want to stay and linger, a street where a child can ride her bike or walk to school, a street that is good for an 8-year-old and an 80-year old, a street that works for everyone.
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