Main Streets of Markham: Making a Regional Road Into a Community Spine

Regional Road 7 (Highway 7) was once a major highway connecting small communities to Southern Ontario. It has now become an urban traffic artery as a result of the creation of the parallel major highway 407 and increasing residential development. This section that runs through Markham, Ontario, traverses the longest axis of the community. The objective of this collaborative project with the City of Markham and Susan Speigel Architects is to fully understand the new role that this Regional Road 7 is playing on Markham, by conducting extensive research along the route and surrounding neighborhoods. This research will include photo-documentation of the varying conditions that exist along the route, resident interviews and precedent research to identify examples of other regional roads and/or highways that have become “main streets” in communities as they’ve grown up around them. The research component of this project will support a “design charrette” in February/March 2012, which will bring together between 80-100 students from around the world to propose design solutions and interventions for the case study community of Markham, Ontario. The Municipality of Markham is currently in a massive growth phase with new development happening across the city. The results of this project will provide a vision for developing the hearts of these new neighbourhoods, and help to make Markham more sustainable as it grows.