Taking the Laneway to School in Leslieville

Written by Katrina Afonso

Leslieville Laneway Comes to Life

Launched in the fall of 2020, the Laneway Park-ing project is focused on improving daily life in two Toronto laneways in Leslieville and the Garden District. Incorporating feedback and ideas from a number of site visits, neighbourhood consultations, and public meetings, The Laneway Project presented the master plan to community members in early February. Next steps include securing permits and beginning construction on some high-impact and colourful interventions. Let's take a closer look at the plan for the Leslieville project site.

This east-end laneway connects residential streets to Morse Street Junior Public School, and provides kids with a safer walking route than nearby Queen Street East. Visit the laneway during the day and chances are you'll see backpacks and skipping ropes and elementary school students running to make the bell. Sounds of children playing and laughing ring out through this Toronto alley, giving it a special personality. After speaking with community members, it became clear that this public space needed to be kid-friendly and safer for families.

With community needs and wants top of mind, the Leslieville Park-ing Master Plan features a colourful road mural, more wall and electrical-box art, increased lighting, and new planter gardens to spruce up the space.

The planned road mural will act as a traffic calming tool to help keep parents and kids safer on their way to school, and will also brighten the alley aesthetics to make the walk or bicycle ride more playful and engaging. From interactive trompe l'oeil images to neighbourhood history and road games, there's a real opportunity here to make this laneway stand out fondly in future childhood memories. Next steps will include finalizing plans with the City’s Transportation Services department, finding the perfect road mural paint, and working with artists and neighbours to decide on art themes.

Adding lighting to improve visibility helps keep a laneway safe at all hours, so neighbours can feel good about using the space even at night. In the city, dark spaces can feel hidden and threatening. As part of our master plan for this Leslieville laneway, a number of new LED lights will be added to help illuminate the space uniformly for a safer community. The light fixtures will be installed on adjacent private properties, by request and with permission from homeowners.

Like a new porch light, the highly efficient lighting will be connected directly to property owners' electrical supply, and costs just pennies per year to keep lit. The fixtures will have a hooded cover to direct light down into the alley and away from nearby residential windows so as to minimize unwanted light pollution. Next steps include contracting and scheduling light fixture installation.

Plans for new planter gardens include selecting greenery that is self-sustaining and hardy enough to thrive in the often-neglected laneway setting. Locally-native plants and flowers will add a touch of nature and invite beneficial pollinators to the area. The planters will be custom made and help camouflage a nearby dumpster bin. Next steps include securing any required permits and beginning construction.

In addition to these exciting improvements, as part of this project we will also be installing a metal safety grate to block access to an open set of private stairs in the lane, painting a new electrical box mural, and adding a large wall mural as a “cap” to the corner of a neighbourhood building. The murals will be created by emerging artists with mentorship from art lead Monica Wickeler, and will be designed and installed over the course of April and May 2021.

We look forward to continuing to work with community members to bring this community vision to life!