City Council made it official Wednesday with a vote that will see curb-lane patios (CafeTO) become a permanent feature of Toronto’s commercial streets. It’s part of an agenda inspired by the opportunity to close streets and add bicycle lanes during the Covid ordeal. No doubt opinion is divided.
But most of these new uses of City streets — like bike lanes on Yonge St — were unthinkable as recently as three years ago. And when John Tory was first elected mayor seven years ago, he declared himself to be “a new sheriff in town” who would tow cars and trucks that dared park outside a business or coffee shop. He even pondered the use of lightning strike forklift trucks to move cars. That may have been extreme but now painted pavement and bollards have pushed delivery trucks into traffic lanes.
