Local resident helps manage dangerous intersection in Toronto using leaves

Dec 1 2017, 4:39 am

Talk about civic engagement in its truest form.

Toronto resident Dave Meslin shared his local neighbourhood project, which involved using chalk and leaves. Meslin, author of Local Motion: The Art of Civic Engagement in Toronto, describes himself as “passionate about public space, and creative activism.”

And after seeing how dangerous an intersection was near his home, Meslin got creative with a temporary solution.

“Last week I got together with some neighbours and we temporarily re-designed a dangerous intersection near our homes,” he shared in a post. “Using only chalk and leaves (and maintaining all existing road widths at 28 feet) we revealed a surplus surface area of 2,000 square feet which could be transformed into a parkette, new sidewalks, and much shorter/safer crossings.”

The three photos shared included a before, after and what he labelled as “future fantasy.”

The post was liked over a thousand times, and shared more than 300 times.

On Twitter, Meslin said that the intersection actually has three stop signs, but no one knows where to stop.

“With our white lines, I finally saw people stopping for the first time,” he said. “It was safer than ever.”

Hopefully someone at the City of Toronto catches Meslin’s creative solution, and work on the future fantasy intersection.

Although one Twitter user said it best:

See also
DH Toronto StaffDH Toronto Staff

+ News
+ Urbanized
ADVERTISEMENT