Redesigning the Martin Goodman Trail Crossing at the Boulevard Club in Downtown Toronto 

... and improving the user experience for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists 

CONTEXT

The Boulevard Club, a private athletic club on the west side of downtown Toronto, crosses a busy portion of the Martin Goodman Trail, a major bicycle and pedestrian trail that runs along the Lake Ontario waterfront. 

THE PROBLEM 

The City isn't able to put in a traffic signal, but the crossing feels dangerous to drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. People walking or biking on the trail don't always realize they're crossing a busy driveway, and drivers are concerned about the potential for collision with trail users. It's stressful for everybody. 

The trail's location immediately adjacent to Lake Shore Boulevard doesn't help. In order to cross it in a car, a driver needs to make a number of decisions at once: gauging not only the different speeds of people walking, running, biking, and rollerblading on the trail, but also whether there is an appropriate break in oncoming traffic on Lake Shore Boulevard... and then needing to cross them both, at once. 

MY ROLE 

As a transportation designer and planner at BA Consulting Group, I was tasked with coming up with a concept for improving the intersection as part of a larger project involving the expansion of the club’s facilities. 

THE REDESIGN PROCESS

I undertook a review of the existing conditions, traffic volumes, and best practices to come up with an initial design. The design evolved through an iterative multi-year process involving input from key stakeholders, review by City staff, and coordination with the architects on the project. 

The redesign incorporates Dutch best practices for bicycle design at driveway crossings (the Dutch are considered international leaders in bicycle design) and improves safety by creating space for a two-stage crossing. Reconstruction of this portion of the trail was completed in fall 2016.

BEFORE 

AFTER 

Here's the trail crossing today. From this photo, you can see how the trail has been changed to create a "two-stage crossing." What that means is that the trail has been shifted away from the road so that there's about one car length on the other side of it. 

This newly created space adjacent to the road means that drivers turning in or out of the club only need to cross one thing at once: the trail or the road. Not both at once. It creates a safer and less stressful crossing for everybody. 

In addition to creating a wiggle in the trail to push it away from the road, the trail crossing has also been raised. This works to slow vehicular traffic and provide an indicator for trail users as well that something is different here and to pay closer attention to what's going on around them.