{"id":20724,"date":"2011-06-21T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T13:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=20724"},"modified":"2011-06-21T11:42:54","modified_gmt":"2011-06-21T15:42:54","slug":"meet-torontos-new-bike-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/06\/21\/meet-torontos-new-bike-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Toronto&#8217;s New Bike Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"cycling\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4033\/4660924768_37925c0ebe_z.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"483\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Well, folks here it is. After publicly musing about a downtown separated bike lane network shortly after the 2010 municipal election, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (also Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee) has released a 42-page report detailing the plans for the proposed network [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.toronto.ca\/legdocs\/mmis\/2011\/pw\/bgrd\/backgroundfile-38906.pdf\">PDF<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>During a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/metromorning\/episodes\/2011\/06\/16\/connecting-bike-lanes\/\">recent interview<\/a> with CBC\u2019s Matt Galloway, Minnan-Wong spoke about the need for a continuous bicycle network in the downtown core. He spoke about how his plan created a \u201csquare\u201d of separated lanes, so that you could travel all around the downtown core without having to leave the separated network if you didn\u2019t want to. Sounds nice, right?<\/p>\n<p>So, what\u2019s the plan? <em><a href=\"http:\/\/torontoist.com\/2011\/06\/a_look_at_rob_fords_bike_plan.php\">Torontoist<\/a><\/em> has a nice summary, while the <a href=\"http:\/\/bikeunion.to\/news\/2011\/06\/16\/statement-2011-bikeway-network-report\">Toronto Cyclists Union<\/a> released a statement detailing their concerns, but briefly here\u2019s the gist: We can expect to see bike lanes on the Bloor Street Viaduct separated with bollards, then Sherbourne and Wellesley in 2012 with bi-directional lanes (cyclists share a two-way lane on one side of the street, like Vancouver\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/vancouver.ca\/engsvcs\/transport\/cycling\/separated\/index.htm\">Hornby Street<\/a>). Separated lanes originally proposed for Harbord\/Hoskin and St. George\/Beverly are not recommended to go forward. Separated lanes on either Richmond or Adelaide are going to be looked into, with the feasibility of lanes on Peter and Simcoe included in that assessment.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Remember the \u201csquare\u201d? Usually squares need four sides.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t get me wrong. The construction of separated bike lanes on Sherbourne and Wellesley are a step in the right direction, but they do not create a new route in the downtown core, and therefore cannot be viewed as a new connection in an expanded network. Separated lanes on Richmond would provide a much needed east-west connection in an area of downtown that is vastly underserved by bicycle infrastructure\u2014however, this connection has been mused about for years.<\/p>\n<p>At the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.toronto.ca\/involved\/projects\/john\/index.htm\">John St. Corridor Improvement<\/a> Open House I recently attended at Metro Hall, Minnan-Wong mentioned the possibility of running a \u201ctrial\u201d on Richmond, which could potentially speed up the implementation of lanes on Richmond.<\/p>\n<p>The plan attempts, but comes up short in solving one of the greatest deficiencies in the cycling network in Toronto\u2014that of poor connectivity and discontinuous routes. Many times bicycle lanes start and stop out of nowhere, sometimes reappearing a block later or just dumping cyclists out into busy traffic.<\/p>\n<p>One example of a connection that needs to be strengthened that the report recognizes is between Hoskin and Wellesley, where the bike lane is interrupted by Queen\u2019s Park. Or there\u2019s the end of the bicycle lane at the west edge of Harbord where it hits Ossington, which could use a bike box to help with cyclists turning left. There dozens of other areas in the city with similar disconnects.<\/p>\n<p>In order to ensure safe travel across heavily trafficked downtown areas, cyclists should be able to get from one end of the city to the other without leaving a bike lane, whether painted or separated.<\/p>\n<p>Bloor\/Danforth could have provided this. As noted by the Toronto Cyclists Union, a major blow in the report is the recommendation to stop the Environmental Assessment of a bikeway along Bloor\/Danforth and rescind bike lanes for Bloor Street West in order to focus energy and resources into this new bike plan. A Bloor\/Danforth bikeway would act as a crucial backbone in a cycling network that desperately needs a backbone, connecting one side of the city to the other and was also supported by the Annex Residents Association in their own cycling report [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theara.org\/minutes_docs\/AdoptedAnnex%20Bicycle%20Policy_14022011.pdf\">PDF<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>What is definitely disappointing to read, however, is the musing of the removal of bicycle lanes in a report that is purportedly about the creation of a cycling network. The two lanes (which, I might add, city staff said have not negatively affected either traffic flow or parking) are located on Pharmacy Avenue and on Birchmount Road, and the removal will cost $120,000 and $90,000, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>This leads to an obvious question: Why, in a so-called age of fiscal restraint and budget woes, are we contemplating spending $210,000 on the removal of bike lanes that have no adverse traffic effects? Perhaps because certain <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/martinreis\/5064399649\/\">councillors<\/a> have certain beefs. City staff will be asking for direction on this from City Council when the bike plan is debated in July. One can only hope that reason will prevail.<\/p>\n<p>Recognizing the need for separated lanes is a step in the right direction. But let&#8217;s not make it one step forward, two steps back.<\/p>\n<p><em>photo from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/torontohistory\/\">Toronto History<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well, folks here it is. After publicly musing about a downtown separated bike lane network shortly after the 2010 municipal election, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (also Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee) has released a 42-page report detailing the plans for the proposed network [PDF]. During a recent interview with CBC\u2019s Matt Galloway, Minnan-Wong<a href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/06\/21\/meet-torontos-new-bike-plan\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"sr-only\">&#8220;Meet Toronto&#8217;s New Bike Plan&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4097,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[662,1411,8653,11965,307,976,756,17750,408,4550,17751,1371,1899,2510,416,16777,5597,316,1682,19,224,391,54],"class_list":["post-20724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bikes","category-politics","tag-adelaide","tag-annex-residents-association","tag-bicycle-infrastructure","tag-bloor-street-viaduct","tag-cbc","tag-chair","tag-city-council","tag-continuous-bicycle-network","tag-councillor","tag-denzil-minnan-wong","tag-downtown-separated-bike-lane-network","tag-energy","tag-matt-galloway","tag-metro-hall","tag-pdf","tag-pharmacy-avenue","tag-public-works-and-infrastructure-committee","tag-queen","tag-richmond","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-cyclists-union","tag-usd","tag-vancouver"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Meet Toronto&#039;s New Bike Plan - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/06\/21\/meet-torontos-new-bike-plan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet Toronto&#039;s New Bike Plan - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Well, folks here it is. After publicly musing about a downtown separated bike lane network shortly after the 2010 municipal election, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (also Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee) has released a 42-page report detailing the plans for the proposed network [PDF]. 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