Tactical Urbansim Hamilton

Location: Hamilton, Ontario. Dense Traffic

With a population of over half a million, Hamilton is the third largest metropolitan area in Ontario and the ninth largest in Canada. However, in a recent attempt to remedy an ever-climbing rate of pedestrian and cyclist deaths, two dedicated groups joined forces with members of the community to maximize awareness by thinking small.

Recognizing that small steps are key in increasing public safety, Street Plans Collaborative teamed up with The Hamilton-Burlington Society of Architects to host a workshop on the potential for tactical urbanism in Hamilton, aiming at highlighting municipal inaction and inspiring residents to become involved in neighborhood improvement. The workshop was an educational way to respectfully bypass government red tape and reduce the amount of control that automobiles held over people in the area.

The mission was simple: two weeks, four thousand dollars, and five intersections in desperate need of intervention. While each of these projects achieved notable success, CNU specifically recognizes the plan for the intersection of Locke and Herkimer Streets, and how its execution sparked action from the local government.

With a church, elementary school, and two businesses placed at its four corners, the intersection sees considerable traffic daily – much of its foot traffic from children, the elderly, and other locals. Despite numerous complaints, the city had done nothing to improve on the intersection’s

Transect Zone(s): T5 center.
Status: Complete
Project or Plan's Scale: Metropolis
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Project team designers: N/A
Project team developers: Street Plans Collaborative and The Hamilton-Burlington Society of Architects

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