Volunteers turn part of Yonge Street into pop-up park as part of car-free event downtown

Volunteers turned a stretch of Yonge Street into a pop-up park on Sunday as part of an event that opens paved areas to people and closes them to cars.

OpenStreetsTO, a non-profit organization, created the temporary park for four hours to provide free outdoor recreational opportunities for city residentsin the heart of downtown.The event itself is also known as OpenStreetsTO.

The organization used donated sod from a Markham farm and had help from the city's parks, forestry and recreation divisionto transform Yonge Street, north of Dundas Street, into a 4,000 square foot green space.

David Simor, a board member of OpenStreetsTO, said the idea isto turn the streets over to people to bring the streets alive.

"There's a lot of people in the city who don't have a lot of access to space in the city to participate in public health, access outdoors to connect to their neighbours and to connect to their friends," he said.

"What the pandemic has taught us is that we need things like OpenStreetsTO to provide those spaces for people to get to meet each other as equals and to get to move their bodies a little."

During the event, Yonge Street was closed in both directions from Bloor to Queen streets, while Bloor Street was closed in both directions from just west of Christie to Yonge streets from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event drew hundreds of people to the closed roads.

People walked, cycled,roller bladed, danced and did yoga. The event was held for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. The organizationbelieves streets can be places for public health and social connection.

In a news release, the organization said: "This program repurposes existing public assets our iconic streets and provides access to free recreation space (on portions of Bloor and Yonge), focusing attention on the importance of physical activity and community."

About thepark, the organization said before the event:"This dedicated play area just north of Yonge and Dundas will demonstrate how Parkland can activate spaces, bring Torontonians together and provide green space.

"The activities, programming and engagement on 4,000 square feet of grass will facilitate important discussions around the challenges and opportunities the city faces in growing and enhancing Toronto's Parkland."

Other installations as part of the event included a Lion Dance and drumming, free yoga, jump rope and dance demonstrations and workshops, fire safety lessons, games, sidewalk chalk and street musicians.

Cheryll Diego, public realm manager for the Downtown Yonge BIA, a sponsor of the event, said the event benefits the community because it provides more space on the street for all kinds of activities and different kinds of road users.

Diego saidit givespeople the chance to walk in the neighbourhood at a more leisurely pace. While walking, people might notice businesses and support those businesses, she said.

"OpenStreets is great. It's not just great for pedestrians, it's also great for the businesses in the neighbourhood," she said.

"As an a business improvement area, we encourage people to explore the neighbourhood. We are hugely supportive of creating complete streets where we support different types of users of different types of abilities and ages."

OpenStreetsTO said the sod, donated by Fairgreen Sod Farms,will be donatedto Ashbridges Bay Park to continue to provide benefits to Toronto.