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Hipster Duck said:
Ha ha. I hear you. Urbanists do have the tendency to get up in arms about anything that makes driving a little easier - even if it has no effect on transit or pedestrians.
As for the "ugliness" or "visual clutter" of road signs, well, that would be just a bit ironic given that we live in Toronto ;)
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Agreed.

With the ham-handed way that things are done around here, they'd post big signs right in front of a beautiful facade.
 
m32%20funny%20sign.jpg
 
I would like to see road numbers on the main arterial roads of Toronto. Just do not override the provincial numbered roads, which some of the regions did. So highway 5 would be designated as city road 5 in Toronto (Dundas Street West until it reaches Kipling, Bloor Street West eastward, Bloor Street East, and Danforth Road). Also, number other roads as continuation of the regional roads around us. In case of duplicates, we can either select or create a number for the road.
 
W. K. Lis said:
I would like to see road numbers on the main arterial roads of Toronto. Just do not override the provincial numbered roads, which some of the regions did. So highway 5 would be designated as city road 5 in Toronto (Dundas Street West until it reaches Kipling, Bloor Street West eastward, Bloor Street East, and Danforth Road). Also, number other roads as continuation of the regional roads around us. In case of duplicates, we can either select or create a number for the road.
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Personally I don't see any need for numbers, but what you're suggesting does make some sense. Number Lake Shore 2 again, Dundas 5, Yonge 11. But those street names stand for themselves in my opinion.
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
Personally I don't see any need for numbers, but what you're suggesting does make some sense. Number Lake Shore 2 again, Dundas 5, Yonge 11. But those street names stand for themselves in my opinion.
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The names don't mean much for a tourist or visitor. Also, numbers can be understood in just about any language. Be a first time visitor to Montreal and don't speak French. It would be easier to have the directions using numbered roads for the major streets.
 
Here's a list of all former highways that completely disappeared in what is now the GTA (*sections still exist outside the GTA):

2
2A
5*
5A/109
7B (x2)
11*
11A
11B
24*
25
27
47
49
50
51 (1st incarnation)
122
136

Special points if you know what all the highway numbers referred to and their basic routes. (Extra extra for the more obscure ones)
 
So your idea is to add another layer of names, which nobody would use, to help make things easier?

Imagine being a tourist looking for 5A and 11A, now go and ask someone on the street where that is. Or you could ask for Avenue Rd and St. Clair, which nearly anyone would know. Which subway station would you want?

More importantly, if you can't remember street names (a very very basic function), what makes you confident you could remember numbers?
 
W. K. Lis said:
So Carlton and College, Wilson and York Mills, Bloor and Danforth, Spadina Avenue and Spadina Road, etc. are not confusing to tourists?
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Cities are built for the residents. Not to simplify life for Tourists. Look at London and Paris. These are not designed as tourist friendly cities; the roads aren't in a grid, particularily in London, and the street names change every 2 blocks. But it doesn't seem to deter the tourists.
 
Thinking that numbers are easier to remember than names is insane. It would take an incredible psycho-social change to get people to switch from referring to streets by name to number. For example, who calls the 401 the McDonald-Cartier or the Highway of Heroes? No one does because it's general consensus that 401 is its popular name. It's not like our street names are in an entirely different alphabet. Most people understand english or at least our alphabet to some level, so there should be nothing to worry about.

Also, as mentioned, most global tourist destinations are way harder to navigate and don't use anything but names. In fact, in London it's very common for one road to have many different names along its route. Just looking at the road that lines where the old City Wall was, and you'll find nearly half a dozen road names. Last time I checked, London was doing just fine.
 
A Sunday drive today reminded me of how unsystematically awful the signage re county/regional roads is--esp. of the big-green-signboard "turn here" type. A real case of contracting-out-signage-to any-old-yokel...
 
I'd argue that numbering streets could make the city less tourist friendly, or at least less brandable. Look at New York, Calgary and Edmonton, three cities where most of the streets are numbered. What are the most well known streets in those cities? Wall St, Broadway, Stephen Ave, Jasper Ave - not numbered streets.
 
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