PATH is downtown Toronto's underground walkway linking 28 kilometres of shopping, services and entertainment. Follow PATH and you'll reach your downtown destination easily in weatherproof comfort.
PATH provides an important contribution to the economic viability of the city's downtown core. The system facilitates pedestrian linkages to public transit, accommodating more than 100,000 daily commuters, and thousands of additional tourists and residents on route to sports and cultural events. Its underground location provides pedestrians with a safe haven from the winter cold and snow, and the summer heat.
PATH facts:
According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex with 28 km (17 miles) of shopping arcades. It has 371,600 sq. metres (4 million sq. ft) of retail space. In fact, the retail space connected to PATH rivals the West Edmonton Mall in size.
The approximate 1,200 shops and services, such as photocopy shops and shoe repairs, found in PATH, employ about 5,000 people. Once a year, businesses in PATH host the world's largest underground sidewalk sale.
More than 50 buildings/office towers are connected through PATH. Twenty parking garages, five subway stations, two major department stores, six major hotels, and a railway terminal are also accessible through PATH. It also provides links to some of Toronto's major tourist and entertainment attractions such as: the Hockey Hall of Fame, Roy Thomson Hall, Air Canada Centre, Rogers Centre, and the CN Tower. City Hall and Metro Hall are also connected through PATH.
There are more than 125 grade level access points and 60 decision points where a pedestrian has to decide between turning left or right, or continuing straight on. The average size of a connecting link is 20 metres (66 ft.) long by 6 metres (20 ft.) wide.
The building furthest north on the PATH network is the Toronto Coach Terminal at Dundas and Bay Streets. The building furthest south that can be accessed through PATH is the Toronto Convention Centre's Convention South Building. PATH does not follow the grid patterns of the streets above.
The first underground path in Toronto originated in 1900 when the T Eaton Co. joined its main store at 178 Yonge St. and its bargain annex by tunnels. By 1917 there were five tunnels in the downtown core. With the opening of Union Station in 1927, an underground tunnel was built to connect it to the Royal York Hotel (now known as the Fairmont Royal York). The real growth of PATH began in the 1970s when a tunnel was built to connect the Richmond-Adelaide and Sheraton Centres.
In 1987, City Council adopted the recommendation that the City become the co-ordinating agency of PATH and pay for the system-wide costs of designing a signage program.
In 1988, design firms Gottschalk, Ash International, and Keith Muller Ltd. were retained in by the City of Toronto to apply the design concept for PATH.
PATH's name and logo are registered to the City of Toronto. The City co-ordinates and facilitates the directional signage, maps and identity markers throughout the system.
Each segment of the walkway system is owned and controlled by the owner of the property through which it runs. There are about 35 corporations involved.
In the early 1990s, signage for PATH was developed to provide pedestrians with better ease of use and functionality. The signage enhances PATH's visibility and identity, ultimately increasing its use, attracting more people to downtown Toronto, and drawing more businesses there.
Each letter in PATH is a different colour, each representing a direction. The P is red and represents south. The orange A directs pedestrians to the west, while the blue T directs them to the north. The H is yellow and points to the east.
Signage includes a symbol for people with disabilities whenever there is a flight of stairs ahead.
The following story appeared on CP24 today, December 20, 2011 and explains plans for future expansion of the PATH.
Via CP24 - With condos sprouting up all over the place and more people living and working in Toronto's downtown, the city is drafting a plan to expand its PATH system to the waterfront.
The proposal calls for a new pedestrian walkway to link the Air Canada Centre and WaterPark Place at Bay and Harbour streets by 2015, according to a Globe and Mail report.
That extension may not go underground, however.
Because the topography drops close to Lake Ontario and the Gardiner Expressway leaves little room for above-ground tunnels, the extension may consist of a pedestrian bridge to cross over Lake Shore Boulevard but under the Gardiner, said Michel Trocmé, a partner in Urban Strategies Inc. who helped to develop the draft plan, during an interview with the Globe and Mail.
With 28 kilometres of underground walkways to escape the cold, heat or rain, Toronto's PATH system is the world's longest underground shopping complex.
The system features almost 1,200 stores and links subway stations, office towers, food courts and tourist attractions such as the Hockey Hall of Fame, Rogers Centre and CN Tower.
About 100,000 daily commuters generate nearly $1.5 billion in sales revenue each year, the Globe and Mail reported.
The plan also proposes an extension linking Union Station and a waterfront development east of Yonge Street, and extending the system west from Yonge Street towards University Avenue, the newspaper reported.
City council is expected to vote on the draft plan, which cost $200,000 to develop, in 2012, according to the Globe and Mail.
A funding plan hasn't been arranged.
The plan also calls for clear signage and entrances to dismiss any confusion or to make people aware of the PATH system.
Posted via email from Markham Real Estate Today with Asif Khan
