The Urban Land Institute’s Building Healthy Places Initiative profiled more than 30 approaches to the public realm during the pandemic from around the globe, representing a range of cities—small and large, on different continents, implementing pilot projects or accelerating long-term plans. The examples illuminate how cities can innovate with low-cost, immediately responsive, and creative interventions that promote health and social equity. Several of these examples, spanning four different types of public space projects, are highlighted in this article. The Pandemic and the Public Realm: Global Innovations for Health, Social Equity, and Sustainability is a forthcoming report of ULI

Destination Danforth is part of a suite of ActiveTO programs designed to support the City of Toronto’s restart and recovery response to COVID-19. These programs are part of a period of unprecedented rapid program implementation and therefore deserve careful evaluation.The evaluation of the Destination Danforth Complete Street installation was conducted by Park People and The Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT) in September/October 2020.

To learn more about these temporary traffic safety pop ups, visit https://edmonton.ca/safestreets​.

We are making temporary changes to our streets to help residents physically distance and mitigate the risk of COVID-19 to our communities by:

• Room to Move. Repurposing street space for more walking, rolling, and cycling along Beach Ave.
  
• Pop-up Plazas. Creating pop-up plazas so people can gather outside
• Temporary Patios. Approving temporary patios so people can dine out and businesses can continue to serve customers
• Sidewalk Widening. Making more room for walking and queuing along busy streets
• Room to Queue. Making more room to line up and board buses at some key bus stops
• Slow Streets. Calming traffic to make ‘slow streets’ more comfortable for people walking, rolling, and cycling

These measures also support our ongoing effort to create safer streets, limit the effects of climate change, and increase social connection between residents. We are monitoring the impacts of these initiatives and getting feedback from the public to understand what could become longer term.

The City conducted a web survey & also randomly interviewed people in the street. The “pandemic tracks”, these protected cycle paths installed on major arteries in the city, have garnered a very high level of support to the tune of 80%+, despite demonstrations by businesses in some spots. The pedestrianization of certain commercial arteries for the summer period was also greatly appreciated, shows the same survey – between 74 to 83%.This includes the allowances made so that restaurant owners could enlarge their terraces to enable more outdoor seating. 

This week, Vancouver unveiled their latest pop-up plazas, approved additional patio permits, and rolled out temporary changes to Granville Street.

The COVID-19 Street Rebalancing Guide is for decision-makers and practitioners alike. Drawing on case studies from around the world, it offers strategies and practical guidance on rebalancing streets through three phases of COVID-19 response—from immediate to longer-term—including pedestrian and bike lanes, curbside queuing areas, and temporary patios and parklets. This is a unique opportunity to spark projects with transformative value. Temporary measures can be deployed quickly to address long-standing gaps—demonstrating value, building support for permanent installations, and providing a foundation for more walkable, livable cities across Canada.

Victoria’s downtown business association says it will be a key to keep the dollars tourists usually bring flowing. And that the impact will be far beyond just those with patios.

This new iteration of Slow Streets is driven by community feedback and advocacy, especially from East Oaklanders. While the Oakland Slow Streets program overall continues to receive overwhelming support among community survey respondents, those responding to surveys are more likely to be white, have high incomes and live in North Oakland. Data from Alameda County Public Health Department’s COVID-19 dashboard indicates that East Oaklanders and people of color are more likely to suffer harm from this pandemic. The City of Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) has prioritized collaborative meetings and discussions with community groups, especially those representing residents in East Oakland.

This program is in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and will support local restaurants by providing flexibility to restaurant owners while at the same time ensuring safety standards and measures remain in place. The Patios Everywhere Program is intended to address patios that are outside of the downtown Business Improvement Area (BIA).

Nanaimo councillors agreed to reallocate $25,000 from the city’s downtown event grants budget toward the program.

All of this is in addition to the 50 km of temporary “slow streets” that will be created by July that benefit pedestrians and cyclists. A number of cities around the world have also made ambitious road reallocation changes that either create “slow streets” or establish new bike lanes.

The first phase of the Halifax Mobility Response plan began with the widening of sidewalks in high traffic areas, traffic signal modification and the implementation of temporary loading spaces for businesses in downtown Halifax and Dartmouth. Slow Street Implementation: Approximately 20 streets will be designated as ‘slow streets’. They will be open to local traffic only, to reduce vehicle volumes and to create a space for residents to walk, roll and cycle while adhering to physical distancing guidelines. Shape Your City Halifax project page has been created to provide residents with an opportunity to share suggestions

Streets for Pandemic Response and Recovery includes an introduction to using streets for recovery and response (pdf) and detailed implementation information about the following street strategies:

• Lanes for Biking & Rolling (pdf)
• Sidewalk Extensions (pdf)
• Transit Lanes (pdf)
• Slow Streets (pdf)
• Pick-Up & Delivery Zones (pdf)
• Outdoor Dining (pdf)
• Markets (pdf)
  Note: Individual PDFs coming soon

The movement to take back Montreal’s streets for pedestrians during this time of social distancing is spreading rapidly across the city. From full-on car-free zones to family streets to superblocks, Montreal, like many cities around the world, is reimagining the use of public space during this pandemic at an unprecedented pace.

Categories being tracked include: are bicycle shops an essential service; are beg buttons disabled; partial closures; closed streets; distance and transit-oriented development.

These sections of road are a part of the planned East-West Cycling Corridor connection as proposed in the Active Transportation Master Plan. The City is working to implement permanent protected bike lanes on these streets in line with the Brampton 2040 Vision and the Streets for People Term of Council Priority.

To enable physical distancing for residents who live in the dense surrounding areas, the City is closing the Queen Elizabeth Driveway to motor vehicle traffic, daily from 8am-8pm, from April 18 to 26, 2020.

After weeks of lobbying, and examples set in Montreal and other cities, officials are moving to “pedestrianize” some of Ottawa’s streets for people out on essential trips. That should include bikes and all sorts of active transportation.

Studying pinch points, the City is studying the situation and acting to “ensure people have safe spaces to walk and cycle – away from motor vehicles while also allowing social distancing to occur,”

The City of Ottawa tells CTV News Ottawa that traffic, pedestrian and cycling signals have been adjusted to reflect the decrease in vehicular traffic on the roads.

Two busy roadways in Edmonton’s river valley will open to pedestrians and cyclists Thursday to allow them to meet COVID-19 physical distancing requirements. The city will be also deactivating beg buttons at 56 intersections in the city’s core so pedestrians don’t have to press a frequently-touched button to cross the street.

These interventions will free up space inside Beacon Hill Park and in constricted areas along Dallas Road so local residents can stay active, while also maintaining physical distance. City staff will be out in public spaces to engage with residents about playground and recreation facility closures and to encourage physical distancing.

Montrealers need access to green space, but are encouraged to go to parks in their own neighbourhoods, not travelling across the city to visit other parks. Parking lots in Mount Royal Park were closed this week to limit traffic, and Île Notre-Dame has also been closed altogether. These types of measures will continue, and even more will be put in place in other, popular destinations like the Lachine Canal, which has been extremely crowded.

City officials say they want to make it easier for pedestrians to follow physical distancing guidelines of at least two metres from others. The city hopes closing some streets and bridges to cars will provide more space for people walking and biking at these locations. Parks, green spaces, trails and pathways remain open for walk-through only. The city says it will be actively monitoring outdoor spaces

The City of Winnipeg is opening up its annual active transportation routes for pedestrians and cyclists, though the routes will be monitored to ensure Winnipeggers are practising physical distancing to fight the spread of COVID-19. Routes will limit vehicle traffic to one block from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day until May 3

Four streets have limited motor vehicle traffic to just one block throughout the designated area and are normally in place only on Sundays from June to September.