Downtown Toronto is facing a crisis of a lack of recreational spaces. As our city grows, the spaces available for safe, accessible, outdoor exercise are shrinking. Central Tech Stadium (CTS) represents one of the only full-sized, rubberized 400m tracks in the downtown core. While the City of Toronto has accessible sidewalks, roads, bike paths and surfaces made for slower running, there isn't much for interval training. Built on public school board land, Central Tech Stadium is a vital community asset. The partnership between Razer Management Inc, TDSB, Central Technical High School and the City of Toronto original was  built on a firm commitment to preserve the historic community use of Central Technical School's grounds. It was explicitly intended to remain free and widely available to local residents outside of school hours.

The Changes:

Recent policy changes now require permits for organized group sessions. To add to this new rule change, for weekdays, individual interval training is now only permitted between the hours of 6:30AM to 8AM and 8:30PM to 10PM. However, on weekdays, the track is only open to the public from 6:30Am to 8:30AM and 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. By prohibiting structured training to these hours, athletes and community members are effectively left with just a 90-minute window each evening to do their exercise or complete their workouts, since majority only have free time in the evenings. This also creates a high traffic zone with everyone trying to fit in their runs during this time. View some of the changes on the website below (as well as onsite signage):

https://centraltechstadium.com/central-tech-stadium-facility/

Why This Matters to Every Community Member:

Safety From Traffic - With Toronto’s roads becoming increasingly congested, the track offers a completely vehicle-free environment for everyone, including speed walkers, joggers, sprinters and distance runners. 

Physical Health and Injury Prevention - Concrete sidewalks and uneven asphalt are brutal on joints. A rubberized track is an essential piece of preventative health infrastructure for everyday runners and aging community members alike.

Preventing Sidewalk Overcrowding - By providing an accessible track, we take massive groups of runners off busy downtown sidewalks, reducing friction between pedestrians and runners on public walkways.

Supporting Local Youth and Adult Athletics Development - Local schools, clubs, and athletes rely on this space to foster the next generation of Canadian athletic talent, whether that's youth development athletes or national/international level competitive athletes. Several Olympic and national team athletes have already expressed their concerns on this matter

The conversation 

The conversation should shift towards awareness on staying off designating training areas. When kids, parents and friends cross the track at random points, it creates avoidable safety hazards for themselves and others. Establishing and consistently using designated entry and exit points would go a long way in keeping the space safe, organized, and functional for its intended use as well as increasing staff presence in high traffic times.

 Additionally, community access should not be reduced in favour of policies that prioritize field bookings while restricting the primary purpose of a track: running, fitness and athletic development.

We call on Central Tech Stadium management to:

- Restore meaningful access for track athletes and community members during public hours by solving the problem rather than banning organized exercise.

- Increase staffing and supervision during busy hours to improve safety and manage conflicts between different facility users.

- Add Designated Pedestrian Crosswalks Zones - Paint or mark high-visibility crossing zones on the track so soccer players and parents cross only at specific, predictable points.

- Install Field-Exit Safety Signage - Install clear signs facing inside the turf reminding players and kids to look both ways for fast-moving runners before stepping onto the track.

- Install Physical Boundary Barriers - Use lightweight stanchions or high-visibility mesh fencing along the turf edge during peak hours to prevent kids from wandering into the outer lanes.

- Clear Team Staging Areas - Move team benches, player bags, and spectator seating completely off the track perimeter to eliminate natural congregation bottlenecks.

- Having designated sprint zones for sprinters - Such as the westside of the track where there is less traffic and no exit/entry points for the field. 

______

Toronto already faces a shortage of accessible track facilities. Restricting one of the city's most important community tracks removes opportunities for participation, development, for current and future generations as well making exercise inaccessible for all community members. 

Sign below to support fair and equitable access to Central Tech Stadium for all athletes and community members.