ActiveTO Major Road Closures are recurring short-term closures of major streets adjacent to highly utilized trails that aim to provide more space for walking and cycling. These closures provide space for thousands of people to be active, contributing to the overall well-being of residents.
ActiveTO Major Road Closures are typically held on weekends and public holidays. They are open to pedestrians and people cycling and closed to vehicles. Residents planning to use ActiveTO routes are asked to access them by bike or as a pedestrian as there is no available on-site parking and limited nearby parking. Roads within High Park are also closed to vehicle traffic on weekends and public holidays. More information about access to High Park is available on the City’s High Park webpage.
Residents and visitors can also explore the many paths, ravines, and hydro corridors with trails throughout Toronto that continue to be open and available every day for fresh air and exercise. Maps and details are available for paths and trails across the city, including The Meadoway, which spans 16 kilometres and connects parks and greenspaces in Scarborough.
The most recent available data for 2021 ActiveTO Weekends was released on June 30.
Depending on roadway construction and detours, the following major roads were closed to vehicles on most weekends between May and October 2020:
Verified data counts from summer weekends in May, June, July and August showed that the most popular location was along Lake Shore Boulevard West where an average of 18,000 cyclists and 4,000 pedestrians used the space each weekend in the summer. Typical closures were on Lake Shore Boulevard West (between Windermere Avenue and Stadium Road), Lake Shore Boulevard East (between Leslie Street and Woodbine Avenue) and Bayview Avenue (between Front Street East and Rosedale Valley Road and including River Street from Gerrard Street East to Bayview Avenue). The program expanded to include Yonge Street, as part of Open Streets, for two Sundays in September.
Data counts were initially made available in June and released again in September.
The City partnered with Park People and Clean Air Partnership – The Centre for Active Transportation to undertake a public survey of people utilizing the Major Road Closures to better understand participation in this program.
The public intercept surveys helped to further explore the impact of Major Road Closures on physical activity levels, mental health, and cycling adoption. Intercept surveys were conducted in two locations (Lake Shore Boulevard East and Lake Shore Boulevard West) on September 20, 2020, and 359 responses were collected.
Key findings included:
View the intercept survey evaluation summary and survey evaluation report.