It’s Time to Demand Accountability for Eglinton

Two things that have made Torontonians furious at the Ford government lately are the constantly delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT and their war on bikes through Bill 212. Both of these matters intersected yesterday when Toronto Today had reported the bike lanes proposed under eglintonTOday would be paused because of Bill 212. While the article was later corrected to state the City of Toronto’s commitment to do the installation after the LRT opens, the City of Toronto updated the eglintonTOday project website to say installation would not happen in 2025 when the road resurfacing work happens.

By not doing the bike lane installations at the same time as the road resurfacing, this not only represents a missed opportunity for the City of Toronto, but it also raises the possibility of needing to do a new contract for the bike lanes which could then trigger Bill 212 (which limits new bike lanes that remove traffic lanes). There was an exception for projects already under way which – before the latest delay – would have included eglintonTOday.

Given the Eglinton project represents a once in a generation opportunity to establish a major east-west bikeway as Bloor-Danforth had become, it’s essential Toronto’s cycling community demand accountability for the proposed Eglinton bikeway and the long overdue LRT. Here is a sample e-mail I prepared which I encourage you to use, but also customize to emphasize why Eglinton matters to you personally.

I would also encourage the cycling community to organize a community ride along Eglinton as soon as possible to call on the City of Toronto to follow through with this much needed project.

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TO: eglintonTOday@toronto.ca, councillor_nunziata@toronto.ca, councillor_bravo@toronto.ca, councillor_colle8@toronto.ca, councillor_matlow@toronto.ca, mayor_chow@toronto.ca
CC: Your city councillor if he/she is not along the affected part of Eglinton
Subject: Concern RE Potential eglintonTOday Delays

Dear eglintonTOday Team, Mayor Chow, and Councillors Nunziata, Bravo, Colle, and Matlow,

I am writing today to express my deep concern with regard to the ongoing delays with the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and associated eglintonTOday complete street project. While I understand the City of Toronto remains committed to implementing the complete street when the LRT opens, a recent update to the project website indicated that the project will not go ahead this year along with the scheduled road resurfacing.

Bill 212 – which the Ford government passed last fall – sought to limit new bike lanes that would remove traffic lanes but granted exemptions to projects under way. While eglintonTOday would fall under this exemption with the Chaplin to Avenue stretch being installed last fall, I am concerned that latest delay could mean the need for a new contract which could then nullify the exemption and trigger Bill 212. This would represent the loss of a once in a generation opportunity to establish a major east-west bikeway which the 21-kilometre Bloor-Danforth corridor from Victoria Park to Kipling Avenues had become.

I am calling on you to please ensure everything within the City of Toronto’s authority gets done to ensure the installation of the eglintonTOday complete street project from Keele Street to Mount Pleasant Road gets done this year to avoid risking the loss of this game changing opportunity.

Sincerely yours,
(your name and address)