Friday’s headlines

4 comments

1. Looks like The Sun took the wind out of that stoner councillor’s reasoning to lower all speed limits in Toronto. Even the Ontario Safety League thinks he is bonkers.

2. I don’t entirely disagree with what Councillor Saundercook is saying. I think the speed limit on some inner city streets is posted at a level that compromises pedestrian (and cycling) safety, with the road I’m living on being a prime example. That said, there should also be a flip-side to this initiative — ensuring that motorists who need to travel longer distances within the city are able to use routes that aren’t your basic neighborhood streets. Yes, we need to reduce our reliance on the automobile — and because of where I live and work, I’m often able to go months without using mine. But not everybody is in the same boat. Compared to cities of similar populations in Europe, Toronto is way too spread out. And transit service to the northwest and northeast corners of the city is horrible.

3. I watched this film at street films. I was linked from a thursday or friday posting. There are fantastic vids about bike stations in Berkeley, Sao Paulo and then I found this one from Paris….I think everyone should watch it…it offers ideas to solve several of the issues we have faced in the past couple of weeks…bike vs car, vehicle speeds. etc.. please link this for all to see.

   http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/rethinking-streets-in-paris/

4. Paris is also the city where they have “buried” or are “burying” their cross town freeway. Not buried as in “gotten rid of” — but as in “placed underground”. For some reason, the urban planners there seem to recognize that just getting rid of traffic capacity is not the answer.