Intensification Area Urban Design Guidelines - City of Barrie

11 Urban Design Guidelines for Barrie’s Intensification Areas - DRAFT
2.2.1 Auto-Oriented Commercial Districts
The Intensification Corridors (including the Intensification
Nodes) can predominantly be described as Auto-Oriented
Commercial Districts. This includes sections of Bayfield
Street, Dunlop Street, Essa Road, and Yonge Street. In
addition, streets within the Urban Growth Centre, including
Bradford Street and streets adjacent to Major Transit Station
Areas, are also Auto-Oriented Commercial Districts.
Bayfield Street, Dunlop Street, Essa Road and Yonge Street
are all wide major Arterial Roads and key transportation
routes between the Urban Growth Centre, Highway 400, and
the Annexed Lands.
The uses along these corridors range from large format
commercial and auto-related uses on Bayfield Street (i.e. the
Georgian Mall) to smaller commercial retail units on Dunlop
Street and Essa Road. Most of these corridors have been
developed within the last 5-10 years and will take longer to
substantially redevelop.
In both cases, the sites are characterized by typically largeformat
or low-rise buildings that are set back significantly
from the street to accommodate an abundance of front and
side-yard surface parking.
The boulevards along these streets are typically very narrow,
with little or no buffer between pedestrian and vehicle traffic.
The boulevards have little landscaping, very few street
trees, and lack basic pedestrian amenities (i.e. seating,
bicycle parking). Often, the main façade of the building
fronts on to the side-yard parking area, providing a blank or
featureless façade adjacent to the street. The frequent curbcuts
associated with the large surface parking areas, and
the general lack of landscaping and pedestrian amenities,
results in a discontinuous, unattractive and uncomfortable
pedestrian environment.
DRAFT
Looking north down Bayfield Street.