As Bike Month continues to pedal along, the City of Toronto has recently launched public consultations for three projects. Two of them are in Scarborough; those being the Alton Towers and Malvern neighbourhood connections. The third is a Phase 2 consultation for the Leaside Bridge to Danforth Avenue Cycling Connections. Let’s review these projects, as well as one recent installation I came across yesterday.
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| Neighbourhood greenway option for Ingleton Boulevard (via City of Toronto) |
Last night, the Toronto Star reported that Councillor Dianne Saxe proposed exempting the Bloor to Dupont stretch of from the TTC's RapidTO Bathurst project. A move which would significantly compromise the project. One thing I learned over the years of doing bike advocacy is that we must NEVER EVER EVER compromise with the car-brains who go up in arms over the slightest inconvenience to their driving privileges. This applies to bike lanes, bus lanes, or creating car-free spaces. This morning while on the subway to work, I sent this note to Councillor Saxe (who happens to be my councillor) and encourage you to do the same. Please copy your city councillor as well if you don't live in University-Rosedale, as well as customize the letter to fit your personal situation.
If you haven't already done so, please sign and share this TTCriders campaign which over 800 people signed on.
While I already stopped by the East Don Trail three weekends ago, the tunnel installation that happened last weekend prompted the need to do another site check. I also hadn’t checked out the portion of the East Don Trail north of Eglinton. Today, I decided to check both Phases 1 and 2 out, as well as see how they could be connected.
Yesterday, more than 100 people took part in the May Critical Mass ride. While a couple of recent Critical Mass rides were controversial with Dave Shellnutt getting ticketed in March and someone getting arrested at the April one (which I didn’t attend due to the Hot Docs festival), this one fortunately didn’t see any ticketing despite the police presence. Let’s look back at how the ride went!
A good-sized crowd filled Glendolyn MacEwen Parkette by the time I got there.
In late November 2021, the City of Toronto started construction of the Glen Road pedestrian bridge crossing Rosedale Valley Road which was originally expected to be completed by November 2023. As with many construction projects in Toronto, these timelines tend to get delayed. Today, I’m pleased to report the fences have finally come down and the bridge is open for pedestrians and cyclists as a quieter alternative to Sherbourne Street!
Earlier this month, I reflected on how Toronto’s car-brain issues go far beyond bikes including with the opposition to proposed RapidTO bus priority lanes on both Bathurst and Dufferin Streets. However, the anti RapidTO push has seen more short turns than the 504 King streetcar which deserve a follow up post on its own! Let’s look at how the current RapidTO proposals came to be, the evolving opposition, and what you can do to show solidarity with transit riders!
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| RapidTO on Eglinton Avenue East |
The last time I checked out the East Don Trail was in October 2024 when I first noticed the completion of the bridge adjacent to the double switchback structure. This effectively left the tunnel as the only major obstacle remaining. Earlier this month, the Urban Toronto forum showed some posts indicating new activity at the tunnel site. I decided to bike over and check things out, as well as highlight a few other updates along the way.
The presence of car-brain – or motonormativity as the experts call it – in Toronto has been quite infuriating as of late. In addition to some new developments surrounding Bill 212, even transit developments and revenue tools are being affected along with a different cycling matter. Let’s look at this mayhem and how we can respond!
Back in 2018, BIKE MINDS was started in Toronto by Matt Pinder and Michelle Kearns as a storytelling series which was consistently popular here. However, there hadn’t been an in-person event since March 2020 because of the pandemic and the fact Matt had moved on to Ottawa which saw its own in person events. Thanks to Dani Griscti of Curbside Cycle and Rachel Wang, last night marked the first in person BIKE MINDS event in five years with the theme “Bikes and Unity” which saw a full house. Amsterdam Brewery and Fiesta Farms sponsored the event with beer and snacks.
Happy Friday, everybody! If you live in Toronto, I need your help!
Further to last month’s blog post calling for an open streets campaign – which got subsequently picked up by CBC – the petition calling on Mayor Olivia Chow and City Council to bring back open streets programs to Toronto by 2026 has just been launched this morning. You can sign the petition here which I encourage you to please share widely with your fellow Torontonians. I also encourage you to e-mail Mayor Chow (mayor_chow@toronto.ca) and your city councillor to show your support if you haven’t already done so.
The month of April brought some good news for Toronto’s cycling community with Justice Paul Schabas having granted an injunction until he can decide on Cycle Toronto’s Charter challenge against the bike lane removal aspects of Bill 212. While that decision may not be made for another few months, there are several public consultations which we need to get involved with. Let’s round them up here! 😊
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| The Leaside-Danforth public consultation from March 2024 |
On Wednesday, Cycle Toronto – along with fellow applicants Eva Stanger-Ross and Narada Kiondo – had their day in court to pursue a Charter challenge against the Ford government’s plans to remove bike lanes. The challenge targets Section 195.6 of the Highway Traffic Act (originally in Bill 212), which requires the removal of bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge, and University. The applicants are represented by Andrew Lewis of Paliaire Roland and Bronwyn Roe of the non-profit Ecojustice, while Greenpeace, For Our Kids Toronto, and the Canadian Public Health Association appeared as intervenors. Both the main and overflow courtrooms were full for the occasion while Justice Paul Schabas presided over the session which focused on Section 7.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.
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| Cycle Toronto's "Rally for Justice" held the day before the April 16 Charter challenge |
WHOSE STREETS? OUR STREETS!
Remember when the City of Toronto closed parts of Bloor and Yonge for Open Streets TO for walking, cycling, and other forms of physical activity? Or the hugely popular ActiveTO weekend closures on Lake Shore West during the COVID-19 pandemic? One thing that has long frustrated me is how despite their popularity, these open street programs didn’t happen at all in 2023 or 2024, while there has been nothing but radio silence on this topic for this year. While Bill 212 and next week's court challenge may have sucked up a lot of the cycling community's oxygen as of late, It’s time to break the silence and get organized on this open streets issue!
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| The last Open Streets TO event held on August 21, 2022 |
While Cycle Toronto’s charter challenge against Bill 212 is less than three weeks away and their injunction request was denied earlier this month, Toronto’s cycling community continues to put pressure on the Ford government to scrap their bike lane removal plans for Bloor, Yonge, and University. To follow up on last week’s direct action by Fridays for Future Toronto, a Critical Mass ride was held last night. Not even the rain could stop more than two hundred people from attending.
With the court challenge against the Ford government’s Bill 212 expected to be held on Wednesday, April 16, Toronto’s cycling community will be hosting a Critical Mass ride on Friday, March 28. Meet 6:00 PM at Bloor and Spadina for 6:30 PM departure. As with other Critical Mass rides, the route is never provided ahead of time. This announcement offers a good opportunity to recap what has been happening with this bill since Doug Ford won his third majority last month.
Originally, Cycle Toronto was planning to host their annual winter cycling tradition – the Coldest Day of the Year Ride – on Saturday, February 15. However, the heavy snow that weekend and uncleared bike lanes at the time made them postpone the ride to today. This year’s ride lived up to its name with -8’C temperatures unlike in past years which saw about 70 people brave the cold from Perth Avenue Parkette to Michael Power Park in Etobicoke.
As was widely expected, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative party secured its third straight majority last night. This is despite him being the least liked premier in the country and all the trouble he caused including the RCMP Greenbelt investigation, the destruction of Ontario Place for a mega spa nobody wants, the crumbling of our health and education systems, and the ripping out of Toronto’s bike lanes. And of course, those $200 pre-election bribe cheques. However, there is a lot more to rant about aside from the outcome itself.
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| Editorial cartoon via Theo Moudakis |
More than 50 centimetres of snow had fallen in Toronto in a series of snowstorms from February 12 to 16; something which the City recently admitted could take as long as three weeks to remove. Since I needed to do my weekly grocery run in Chinatown, I took the Mozzmobile (cargo bike) this morning to see the status of the bike lanes.
Back on October 23, a group from Bike Brampton led by David Laing attended the Rally and Ride for Road Safety at Queen’s Park; some of whom biked all the way from Brampton. To return the favour, Jess Spieker of Friends & Families for Safe Streets organized a group to take the GO Train to Brampton yesterday for Bike Brampton’s delivery of a ghost bike at Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria’s office on Hurontario Street.
Upon reviewing the North York map for the 2025-27 Bike Plan, one of the most significant projects in the pipeline is the Bathurst Complete Street from Bainbridge to Steeles Avenues. A cycling route which also shows up in York Region’s 2022 Transportation Master Plan. Ahead of the public consultation scheduled for Thursday, January 30 (6:00 – 8:30 PM) at Rockford Public School, let’s look at what this project has to offer, as well as what’s needed to further improve connectivity in the area.
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| Bathurst Complete Street rendering - Via City of Toronto |
My last two posts about the September trip to Central Asia focused on Uzbekistan; the first part dealing with Tashkent, Samarkand, and Shahrisabz while the second talked about Bukhara and Khiva. However, the trip also included four days in Almaty, Kazakhstan and another four days in Istanbul on the way back home. Let’s look at what Almaty has to offer, as well as some of the sights in Istanbul we didn’t explore back in December 2019.
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| Helen and I at the top of Shymbulak peak near Almaty |
In Part 1 of my Uzbekistan series, I talked about getting there, as well as the experiences visiting Tashkent, Samarkand, and Shahrisabz. While Samarkand may get the most tourists in that country, a trip there can’t be complete without also visiting Bukhara and Khiva. Those two cities will be the focus of this post, while Almaty is featured in a separate write up.
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| The Ark of Bukhara seen from Bukhara Tower |
Back in September, Helen and I went to Uzbekistan, Almaty (Kazakhstan), and Istanbul. While I did write a post in October explaining some urbanism observations – including the awe-inspiring Tashkent metro – I never got around to writing about the sights themselves. Let’s look back at that trip to see why you may want to consider heading there in the future.
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| A view of Samarkand from Hazrat Khizr Mosque |
Happy New Year, #BikeTO! Hope 2025 has gotten off to a good start for you. With today being 4’C with some light drizzle in the morning which tapered off later, I went to the 13th Annual New Year’s Day Ride hosted by Alex which started at Yonge & Queen’s Quay. It was my second New Year's Day ride after last year’s one.
