The city has unveiled a series of new initiatives aimed at boosting business along King Street amid concerns that some restaurants and bars are suffering as a result of the King Street pilot.

Mayor John Tory has announced that the city will launch a new promotional program for King Street restaurants called “King Street Eats” that will run from Feb. 19 to March 29 and be similar in design to the city’s annual “Winterlicious” program.

Tory says that the city has also identified 15 locations for new public spaces and two locations for new parkettes along King Street’s curb lane and will be seeking submissions on how to best utilize those spaces, which range in size from 15 to 140 metres long.

The ultimate goal, Tory said, is to have the street come alive with extended patios, art installations and other attractions that will bring pedestrians to King.

The hope is to have those installations set up by mid-April and remain in place as long as the pilot project is in effect.

In the interim, Tory said that the city will be setting up warming stations, commissioning ice sculptures and bringing in fire performers to make sure that the space remains vibrant during the winter months.

He said that the combined cost of all the changes will be “infinitesimal.”

“King Street is open for business and we intend to act to get past the confusion so we can get things going for business that are temporarily hurting in some instances,” Tory said at a press conference on Tuesday morning. “This area of town is more easily accessible by transit than ever before.”

The King Street pilot was launched in November with the goal of speeding up streetcars along the previously traffic-clogged corridor by removing on-street parking spaces and restricting the movement of vehicles.

Data released last month revealed that streetcar times have improved by up to two-and-a-half minutes on average since the launch of the pilot, though some businesses have complained about a drop off in customers and have even threatened legal action.

Restaurant employee Carla Carbone told CTV News Toronto says she’s losing out because of the slump caused by the pilot project.

“I’m not getting as many hours or I’m getting sent home early. And when I am here - there’s just not as many people in the door.”

Tito Mayghn, a coffee shop worker, told CTV News Toronto he’s observed fewer people walking along King Street since the pilot project began.

“You don’t have as much traffic on the street so people don’t come by and buy coffee as they used to before.”

In fact, a recent survey of retailers and restaurants in the area suggested their sales are down anywhere between five and fifty per cent since the pilot project began.

Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Tory conceded that there has been an “adjustment” for businesses in the wake of the changes going into effect but he said he remains committed to the principal behind the pilot and wants to work with businesses to negate any negative effect.

“We can’t go back to a situation where the streetcars move more slowly than people walking down the sidewalk. That was ridiculous and is ridiculous,” he said.

Businesses will have first crack at new public spaces

Businesses whose property fronts one of the new public spaces along King Street will be given priority should they want to use it for an extended patio, Tory said.

For the spaces that remain, the city will choose ideas submitted by members of the public through a competition that has been dubbed “Everyone is King.”

Tory said that is his hope that the finished project will be similar to what King Street looked like when it was partly closed for the first weekend of the Toronto International Film Festival over the last four years.

“A lot of people will remember fondly the time that TIFF was on and we had the street closed and used some of that space for outdoor cafes and so on. We are now inviting the very same businesses to take advantage of that opportunity all-year-long and have all sorts of other creative uses that we are inviting the people to tell us about,” he said. “I think that is very exciting. You know, change is often challenging but that doesn’t mean you don’t do it. If we are going to make this into a 21st century city that works for everybody we are going to have to go through some changes.”

But some business owners asked that the city relax the pilot rules on evenings and weekends, allowing on-street parking and vehicles to travel more than one block before being forced to turn.

Ford calls for an end to pilot

While Tory and other city officials have contended that more time is needed to study the full effect of the changes along King Street, some opponents of the pilot have called for it to be halted immediately.

In an interview with CP24 on Tuesday afternoon, Doug Ford – who has stated his intention to run for mayor -- said that Tory is not taking the impact on businesses seriously.

“I thought he was joking at the beginning when he said he was going to have ice sculptures and fire jugglers down on King Street,” Ford said. “This is a serious issue and I think the mayor is out of touch with the restaurant owners and businesses on King Street. I have personally talked to these people and they are hurting. They are in a real tough spot financially and they are just trying to survive.”

Ford said that some restaurants and bars on King Street have been “absolutely devastated” by the changes. He said that all-told the businesses have lost “hundreds of thousands” since the pilot went into effect.

Meanwhile in a statement posted to Twitter Coun. Michael Ford, who is Doug Ford’s nephew, echoed his uncle’s concerns.