Monday, April 03, 2006
Car Free Sunday
After the sad and strange story of a man committing suicide at a Tim Horton's near Yonge and Bloor, a false alarm near Yonge and Lawrence led to the bomb squad being called in. This led to crowds coming out to see the little robot roll out of the trailer.
Actually that's a photo of a police officer rolling out of the trailer. The robot is still waiting in the back; and waiting patiently he is.
You can tell how concerned the crowd was about something serious happening. There were more photographers than there were police officers. Entire families were outside hanging around on the sidewalk watching everything happen. (Who's that in the trench coat?)
How does this have anything to do with bikes, you may be asking? Well, with Yonge Street closed off, I had the chance to crank at full speed up and down this wide open major street with the wind blowing over my helmetless head and no cars to worry about. I feel somewhat callous that my enjoyment was indirectly related to what was probably a very sad story, but there is almost always a positive side to every occassion.
What are the chances of adding Yonge Street to Car Free Sundays?
Actually that's a photo of a police officer rolling out of the trailer. The robot is still waiting in the back; and waiting patiently he is.
You can tell how concerned the crowd was about something serious happening. There were more photographers than there were police officers. Entire families were outside hanging around on the sidewalk watching everything happen. (Who's that in the trench coat?)
How does this have anything to do with bikes, you may be asking? Well, with Yonge Street closed off, I had the chance to crank at full speed up and down this wide open major street with the wind blowing over my helmetless head and no cars to worry about. I feel somewhat callous that my enjoyment was indirectly related to what was probably a very sad story, but there is almost always a positive side to every occassion.
What are the chances of adding Yonge Street to Car Free Sundays?
Darren J 4/03/2006 09:01:00 a.m.
5 Comments:
How big of a stretch did they have closed off of Yonge?
Near Lawrence, they only closed off about 2 blocks from what I could see, but it meant that there were almost no cars to the north for about 500 metres. Maybe they were limiting the traffic into the area from York Mills.
I think I know who the person in the Trench Coat is:
Closeup photo
Closeup photo
err...I dunno why my name disappeared. I posted the closeup pic. :)
Apparently, back in the 1970s they would close down Yonge during the summer. Spacing wrote about it http://spacing.ca/ped-history.htm.
For example, in the early 1970s, local businesses strongly supported the Yonge Street Mall, which stretched from King north to College.
Of course, judging by the picture, you might have had to weave in between tables.
For example, in the early 1970s, local businesses strongly supported the Yonge Street Mall, which stretched from King north to College.
Of course, judging by the picture, you might have had to weave in between tables.