Representatives from a variety of University of Toronto student societies, groups, and services set up shop at the second annual University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) street festival last Tuesday. The event involved the closure of St. George Street to cars, leaving the street open to pedestrians.
The event was set to run from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, but was late getting underway as Toronto Police closed off the street later than planned. Officers were originally scheduled to close St. George Street around 6:00 am, but did not do so until 10:00 am.
“Campus police are not responsible for road closures on our campuses. It is the responsibility of the event organizers to arrange road closures with the City of Toronto and Toronto Police. As the Toronto Police were later than planned, campus police assisted the UTSU to get the event safely underway,” Althea Blackburn-Evans, U of T director of media relations, said regarding the late start.
The UTSU Fest, which is geared towards both new and returning students, was advertised by the UTSU as the largest organized event at U of T. UTSU Fest began in 2004 with the goal of helping students transition to U of T by providing them with information on the university’s various clubs and events.
U of T clubs present at the Street Festival included program-specific clubs such as the Criminology Students’ Association and the Rotman Commerce Students’ Association (RCSA); athletic groups such as table tennis and paintball clubs; student societies such as the Greek Students’ Association and the Egyptian Students’ Association; and various retail vendors. A number of food trucks, including Fidel Gastro’s, Smoke’s Poutinerie, Blue Donkey Greek, and Beaver Tails, were also at the event.
In recent years, the pedestrianization of St. George Street has repeatedly been featured on the UTSU’s agenda. In January 2014, the university and City of Toronto claimed that they had not heard of the UTSU’s plan to pedestrianize St. George Street, citing concerns around safety and increased traffic congestion.
The UTSU did not respond to requests for comment.
A similar plan was successfully executed in the closure of Willcocks Street between St. George Street and Huron Street in 2010, where the street was turned into a public square, now known as Willcocks Commons. The Willcocks Street closure was originally slated to last just one year.
To make the closure of Willcocks Street possible, the university partnered with the City of Toronto to mimic New York City’s closing of Times Square. The concept has also been implemented in other universities, such as Ryerson University, where Gould Street was closed off to create a pedestrian-only space.
