Living Arts Drive Tactical Urbanism Project
A complete streets pilot project that redesigns the street for the public and business owners
By: City of Mississauga
The Downtown Core Public Realm Strategy team from the Urban Design Section of Development and Design, Planning and Building Department, at the City of Mississauga initiated the Living Arts Drive Tactical Urbanism Pilot Project. By implementing the Pilot with its various design components, the City was able to gauge the public’s reaction towards a Complete Street. A Complete Street is designed, operated, and maintained to enable safe, convenient, and comfortable travel modes for all age groups and abilities.
The selected site was strategically located between both residential and retail units, making it an ideal area to execute the pilot. Based on this pilot, the City of Mississauga is confident that other municipalities can reinterpret this design when designing their own roadways to provide the public and business owners year-round attention. The design illustrates an LID feature, a reduction of vehicular lanes to allow for a protected cycle lane, additional furnishings, enhanced planting, along with areas that can be converted into art popups throughout the cooler seasons.
Additionally, green infrastructure is being highlighted for those who may wish to explore alternatives to public transit during the COVID19 Pandemic; there is the option of a cycle lane. The gathering spaces are an extension of the public realm and incorporate more room for physical distancing. The spaces are flexible to suit the requirements of the municipality. For example, seating can be added or removed and public art can be safely displayed for all to enjoy within an open concept. The design supports economic recovery by giving others the opportunity to carefully hangout and connect within their community. These connections have tangible economic benefits in terms of business networking.
Details
Collaboration: Urban Design approached Arts & Culture about the Tactical Urbanism Pilot Project and inquired about opportunities for collaboration. Public Art had a Downtown Banner Program with no criteria or artist selection defined at that moment. Culture decided to move the Downtown Banner Program to Living Arts Drive and divide the program budget into two streams: 1) new banners and 2) a sculpture repurposing the previous year’s banner installation. A request for proposals was put into place and open to national artists with a “complete streets theme” as the criteria. Typically, Culture does not issue RFPs without offering an honorarium to the artist as it is a lot of work, but by issuing an RFP for the Banner Program, they were able to open the program to emerging artists. Since Public Art handles all fabrication and installation for this project, it is a great first public art opportunity for emerging artists. The functional shade sculpture was made in part from recycled vinyl banner material from a previous City of Mississauga public art project. This up-cycled project is unique in its design and provides a reprieve in the form of shade, seating, and a glimpse into activities taking place if strategically located. Dan Bergeron is a public artist whose work reflects upon issues of personal identity, social relationships, and the spaces that we collectively inhabit. After this Tactical Urbanism Pilot, Dan removed the sculpture and relocated it to Meadowvale Theatre, where it has since become a semi-permanent functional artwork in the lobby for all to enjoy.
Estimated budget: The Pilot Project budget had a limit of $5,000 for purchasing supplies and to cover expenses. Many business units across the City supported the Pilot with their contributions. Sponsors were pursued to provide enhancements to the Pilot project. Planning and Building made the initial contact with sponsors and formal sponsorship agreements were executed by Sponsorship and Corporate Development. We believe that the number represented can be decreased by at least 25% if sponsors and donations are put in place. For each portion of the roadway, we estimate it will cost $30,000-$50,000 for a permanent design to be installed.
Materials and fabrication: The design will take approximately 6 months to plan and 2-2.5 weeks to fully install. The best recommendation is to phase the installation. The materials used to execute the design are; pressure treated wood for the patio deck structures, paint for the crosswalks/dots, the planters in the programmed gathering spaces are Sybertech’s self-watering, the furniture selection is at the discretion of the installer - illustrated are Maglin’s loungers, and the picnic tables are relocated from inventory of the City of Mississauga’s Community Services Parks division. To add an extra level of protection, flexible delineator ports are illustrated on the roadway between the cyclists and vehicles.
Carefully reviewing the plans for the project, Risk Management provided comments requesting a barrier for the programmed parking spaces to protect pedestrians using these areas from oncoming traffic. We acknowledged this comment by adding Sybertech’s planters to highlight to oncoming vehicles to slow down, as well as providing much needed softening and greening to the area. We also included highly visible reflective tape to the planters.
Installation and other services: The selected site was strategically located between both residential and retail units, making it an ideal road to execute the design. Based on this design, the City of Mississauga is confident that other municipalities when redesigning their roadway to provide the public and business owners year-round attention can interpret this drawing. The design illustrates an LID feature, a reduction of vehicular lanes to allow for a protected cycle lane, additional furnishings, enhanced planting, along with areas that can be converted into art pop-ups when the cooler seasons roll around. Not only did this design provide the public a place to enjoy, but also motivated and encouraged other departments at the City of Mississauga to explore the vision of a complete street, and how everyone can benefit from a smart, safe and innovative road design.
Contact
For more information, contact the primary contact for this submission.