There are three consultations in November which Torontonians are encouraged to participate in. These include the 2025-27 Cycling Network Plan, the Micromobility Strategy, and the 2024 Budget. Let’s look at what these consultations offer, as well as some suggestions on what we should advocate.
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| The Bloor bike lane upgrades at Bedford Road when they were under construction in October |
Today marked the first time I visited Queen’s Park in more than 20 years to witness the debate for MPP Joel Harden’s Bill 40 (a.k.a. Moving Ontarians Safely Act). This is the latest attempt in a decade to enact legislation to hold drivers accountable when they kill or seriously injure vulnerable road users such as pedestrians or cyclists. Ahead of this bill, MPP Harden biked from Ottawa to Toronto to hear about road safety concerns from residents along the way. You can read Jun’s blog post about the Safety Ride here, while I wrote a previous piece about the bill and other measures we need to fight for at Queen’s Park.
A year ago today, Toronto City Council experienced a big turnover with nine new councillors taking office which helped make City Council more progressive overall. Only one of these councillors – Amber Morley – was successful in defeating the incumbent and is now Deputy Mayor for Etobicoke. I spoke with Amber on Monday, November 6 to discuss her first year in office, the Bloor bike lanes, and other issues facing her community and city.
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| Councillor Amber Morley's swearing in photo (via Amber Morley) |
On Wednesday, November 15, the City of Toronto and Queen’s Park were scheduled to face off in Divisional Court over yet another instance of interference by the Ford government in Toronto’s affairs; the case of the Mid-Humber Gap. This much-needed improvement to the Humber River trail from St. Phillips Road to Cardell Avenue was approved by Toronto City Council in July 2022. It would allow for a continuous ride from the waterfront to Steeles Avenue in western Toronto, as well as build out the larger Loop Trail along with the Finch Hydro Corridor, Don River, and Martin Goodman Trails.
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| Rendering of the Mid-Humber Gap (via City of Toronto) |
Back in September, the City of Toronto started installing the Bloor West Complete Street Extension from Runnymede to Aberfoyle, which will be further extended to Six Points next year. Community Bikeways (TCBC) hosted a celebration ride on Sunday, October 22 – you can read Jun N’s post here – which Councillor Amber Morley attended. However, there has been some backlash with over 10,000 people signing a petition opposing them and Ontario Premier Doug Ford calling for their removal; claiming only one cyclist bikes on them annually. Given this backlash, Community Bikeways, The Biking Lawyer, and other road safety advocates organized today’s Bloor Bike Lanes Rally which brought in 250 to 300 riders.
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| Photo from TCBC's Bloor West Celebration Ride |
During my conversation with Nancy Smith Lea in late August, she brought up TCAT’s push for community bike hubs to expand cycling culture beyond downtown. One of these programs – Scarborough Cycles – was established in 2015 and now operates three bike hubs at AccessPoint on Danforth, Birchmount Bluffs Neighbourhood Centre, and at 3939 Lawrence Ave E in partnership with Toronto Community Housing. I spoke with Marvin Macaraig to learn more about Scarborough Cycles and some of the advocacy happening in Scarborough.
Back in June, I did my initial review of the Finch West LRT construction from Finch West to Jane and Finch stations to find out what people who bike can expect along the corridor. However, that only represented about two of the ten kilometres which will be affected by this new transit project. For my day off today, I checked out the full corridor to see what has changed since June including the Highway 400 interchange.
