Yet Another Cyclist Death in Etobicoke

As if this year wasn’t bad enough for Toronto’s cycling community with five cyclists killed as of July, news broke out that a 26-year-old female cyclist died today resulting from last Saturday's crash at Burnamthorpe just east of Kipling. This sixth cyclist death of 2024 also happens to be fifteen years to the day from when bike messenger Darcy Allan Sheppard was killed by then Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant. Let’s look at the street’s current condition and what the City’s plans are for improving cycling in this part of Etobicoke.

August 2024 West End Site Checks

Over the past few months, the City of Toronto has been very busy installing new bike lanes across the city. Since I had the day off work and had some errands to run before going on vacation in two weeks, I checked out the Portland-Dan Leckie and West Parkdale cycling connections, as well as the progress of the Bloor and St. George protected intersection.

Delays, Delays, and More Delays!

Regardless of whether we get around by walking, cycling, transit, or driving, we can all agree that nothing frustrates us more than delays getting things built. We are also aware that Toronto City Council can push to accelerate certain projects as they see fit. We saw that with the ActiveTO bike lane roll out during the pandemic and last month’s approval of a motion to accelerate construction of a stretch of the Gardiner Expressway, so it gets completed by 2026 instead of 2027. Let’s review four active transportation projects that have been subject to ridiculously long delays which are unacceptable given the record number of cyclist deaths this year.

Protected Intersection Watching and Jays Game

On Wednesday, my employer organized a post work Blue Jays game which I haven’t seen in at least five years. During this time, work on the protected intersection at Bloor and St. George is well under way. This post covers the intersection progress so far, as well as what it’s like biking to the Rogers Centre (or Skydome for you diehards out there). 😉