Dundas Place opens today: Here are 5 cool things about London's first flex street

Dundas Place, the city's first flex street,will open Monday.

The two-year, $16-millionproject has transformed Dundas Streetfrom Ridout Street to Wellington Streetfrom a commercial corridor to a new streetscape aimed at bringing people together.

"When we merge pedestrians, cyclists and motorists in a pleasantenvironment, we makea lively city," said Jim Yanchula, the city's manager of downtown projects and business relations.

"You've never seen a street like this in London."

Here are five cool things to know about the flex street:

1. 'Beautiful flat city floor' accessible to pedestrians

Yanchula describes Dundas Place as a "beautiful, flat city floor" created so that all road users can move with ease.

"It's flat, so people in wheelchairs, people with baby strollers or people with a delivery cart can move from one side to the other, without any need for special ramps or anything like that."

Yanchula adds thatpeople with visual impairments will still be able toidentify when they've strayed too far from the pedestrian zone through a change in the texture of the paving.

2. Pebble seating

"These are especially appealing to our little people, because I know kids like to be able to put their feet on the ground too," Yanchula notedof the pebble-shaped seating in front of the London Public Library.

The pebble seats were specifically put in front of the library because of the many children whovisit the central branch, Yanchula said.

Theseats, along with others at the corner of Dundas and Richmond Streets, are some of the few fixed elements along Dundas Place. Most other elements are removable allowing the city to widen the spaceduring big events.

3. 'Mighty' trees

There are many different kinds of newly planted trees along Dundas Place.

"We are the Forest City, and we've got a goal of increasing our trees. Wewanted Dundas Place to be part of that effort," Yanchula said.

"The tree pits go far beyond under the ground and are held up by a grid network of heavy duty synthetic plastic cubes where dirt is," Yanchula explained.

"There's a nice area of earth for the tree so it can actuallygrow in, instead of being in a tiny concrete coffin."

4. Lighting system for entertainment

Yanchula says the block between Talbot and Richmond Streets is made special by the connection the streethas with Market Lane.

"We wanted to fully link Dundas Place with the energy that surrounds Covent Garden Market."

Yanchula says upgrading Market Lane was not part of the initial plan, but once that stretch of Dundas was completed, the city realized Market Lane wasn't flexible and decided to give it the Dundas Place treatment.

There are also four light pillars right at the beginning of the flex street on Ridout Street. Yanchula says they are meant to be a welcoming feature.

"They mean you've come to a special part of the city after you cross the bridge."

5. Removable objects

"A flex street is meant to be flexible in its use and in the elements that are on it," Yanchula said.

He notes that many of the objects on the street including seats, planters andsome lightingare able to be removed at any given time to allow for more options on activatesalong the street.

For example, if there's an event happening outside of Budweiser Gardens, the bollards, which draw the line between pedestrians and cars along the south side of the street, can be removed for street festivals so pedestrians have more space, he says.

While most people will notice the obvious changes on the street, Yanchula notes that the majority of the work was done underground as sewageand telecommunication systems were modernized.

To mark the completion of the project, Mayor Ed Holder along with community members will lay the final brick on Dundas Place Monday at 2 p.m.