Sorry about the super-late notice, but I thought I’d post this notice from Tovi Heilbronn, who first brought together a group of cyclists to discuss waterfront cycling issues back on February 14th.
Tonight is the second meeting. Here is what it’s all about:
Building on the momentum from our first meeting in February, I would like to invite you to the next round of discussion and planning about Lake Ontario Park and what this means to the cycling community. I encourage you all to get active and be heard, since the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. (the ‘builder’ of the Park) is quite open to our suggestions at this time.
WHEN: Thursday, April 5, 7-9 PM
WHERE: Pandarvis Room, International Student Centre @ 33 St. George St., just north of CollegeThe idea is to discuss how we, as cyclists, envision the waterfront as a recreation destination. Aside from the obvious issue of cycling access and connectivity to the (eastern) waterfront, which is also up for discussion, here’s a recap of some suggestions from our first meeting:
(1) Trail construction that naturally encourages users moving at different speeds to separate themselves (e.g. using different colour/material for different bands of each lane)
(2) Trail wide enough to *comfortably* accommodate multiple types of users in both directions (i.e. wider than many existing trails)
(3) Ensuring distance between dog off-leash areas and the trail to minimize collisions (ie. don’t have trail running through the middle of a field)
(4) A trail layout that has unobstructed sight lines
(5) Appropriate road width and smooth road surfaces to accommodate road cyclists (typically doing time trial training), even for relocated roads that may not, technically, be inside the new park perimeterFor more info about Lake Ontario Park, these documents should do the trick:
http://www.towaterfront.ca/dbdocs//45b1277ce7719.pdf
http://www.towaterfront.ca/dbdocs//45b7b7d904644.pdf
There is more information on this park, at the TWRC website.
Getting to the waterfront via bicycle is a serious issue, especially considering all the grand plans to incorporate cyclist needs in the waterfront revitalization.
A recent Toronto Star article announced new bike lanes will soon be coming to Yonge street.
The project calls for bike lanes on the west side of Yonge from Front to the lake, and on the east side from the Esplanade to the lake. Work on the project, which goes to city council for approval next month, could begin in summer, pending design approval, and be finished later this year.
Installing bike lanes that are not on the City’s Official Bike Plan gives some of us hope that one day we might see a continuous east-west bike lane on Bloor.
Kudos to Councillor Pam McConnell for supporting this initiative.
