Earlier this year, I got a tip from Terry Walsh that a new active transportation bridge was built across the Credit River in Mississauga as part of the Nine Creeks Trail. There was also the Jim Tovey Conservation Area which opened on May 30 and was under construction when biking to Niagara Falls last October. With today being nice out, I took the opportunity to check it out. An idea Jun N also had per his blog post. 😉
Having recorded my rides on Strava for the past few years now, I have noticed many Toronto area cyclists had done Wednesday night rides with the Dismount Bike Shop. These rides tend to be roughly 15 to 20 kilometres with the route revealed either the day of the ride or the day prior; often using off-road trails and neighbourhood streets. Since the weather was nice out this evening and I had been curious to try these rides for a while, I finally gave it a shot last night after work.
Next week’s city council meeting has two member motions proposed which the cycling community ought to pay attention to. The first is a proposed land exchange at Donalda Club for a future expansion of the East Don Trail and the second seeks to create a pedestrian streets program for Toronto. Let’s dive in to see what they have to offer.
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| The original East Don Trail ends at Milne Hollow Park |
Over the years, I have read a number of books about cycling and active transportation. These included changes made in various places such as “Streetfight” in New York City and “Building the Cycling City” in the Netherlands, the harms of car dependency such as “Life After Cars”, historical takes like “Wheeling Through Toronto”, and niche topics such as “Frostbike” about winter cycling. However, I hadn’t come across an advocacy focused book until I heard about Carter Lavin’s “If You Want to Win, You’ve Got to Fight” on social media including a video on Tom Babin’s YouTube channel (at the end of this post) which highlighted five advocacy mistakes. Let’s dive in to see what that book’s about.
With the Scarborough Waterfront Project having started construction last fall for the Brimley Road South Trail and the western segment to follow next year, this leaves the Eastern Beaches to Bluffers Park as the last major gap in the Waterfront Trail to fill in. The City of Toronto hosted a public consultation on Monday evening for the Scarborough Bluffs West Project which aims to fill that gap through an environmental assessment. Let’s dive in to see what’s in store.
Last week, members of Toronto’s cycling found out about the eglintonTOday Complete Street project being scrapped because of not just provincial legislation, but also the City’s own refusal to install the bike lanes at the same time as last fall’s resurfacing. There was also a public consultation for the Eglinton and Allen Intersection Study held this evening at Forest Hill Collegiate. Given these developments, Cycle Toronto hosted the Rally and Ride for Eglinton Redux this evening which ended at Forest Hill Collegiate near Chaplin station.
Recently, it was brought to my attention on multiple social media platforms that some new bikeways were installed on Portland Street and Blue Jays Way. Since I had some errands to do nearby anyway, I decided to check them out. I will also mention a few upcoming events given tomorrow marks the start of Bike Month.
On May 11, 2026, the TRCA updated the East Don Trail project website to say work on the Phase 1 trail is expected to be done by early July. However, I was notified by Tom on Strava last weekend that the trail is now fully paved from Taylor Creek all the way to Bermondsey. This morning, I used my day off work to check it out.
On Monday, I was informed by city staff that the eglintonTOday Complete Street Project website was updated to say the project can no longer proceed due to changes in the Highway Traffic Act. Something which Aidan Chamandy of Toronto Today reported on yesterday. With all due respect to the courteous and professional staff within the Cycling and Pedestrian Unit, we need to call out this recent news for what it really is: an outright betrayal of Toronto’s cycling community by the City of Toronto! Let’s go through to explain why that is the case.
The City of Toronto recently announced two public drop-in events for the Eglinton & Allen Intersection Study to review a long list of design options for that intersection. The first will be on Saturday, May 30 (12 – 3 PM) at Fairbank Public School (2335 Dufferin Street) and the second will be on Tuesday, June 2 (6 – 9 PM) at Forest Hill Collegiate Institute (730 Eglinton Avenue West). My initial impression was that most of the options were clearly car oriented. Let’s go through them and give the project the roasting it deserves! 🔥
On April 30, 2026, Simcoe County officially opened the Barrie-Collingwood Rail Trail extension from Stayner to Angus. Before then, there was the 12-kilometre Clearview Collingwood Train Trail which was renamed when the extension opened. With Victoria Day being a nice day – but hot with temperatures exceeding 30’C – I brought my bike on the GO Train to Barrie to check it out.
Since 2024, Councillor Lily Cheng and Peter Low have hosted a community bike ride from Willowdale to Downtown. While the prior two rides were held in September, this year’s ride was moved to May because this year is an election year. This morning, about 125 cyclists gathered at Avondale Park, while Helen and Mozzie came along as well.
Last night, I got to check out the yongeTOmorrow public consultation before the presentation started. With today marking Earth Day, I though I would mark the occasion by not just recapping that particular consultation, but also highlighting a couple of other initiatives aimed at making our streets safer and more inviting for people instead of cars.
Four years ago, Community Bikeways hosted their first ride along the Loop Trail; a 72 km loop along the Martin Goodman, Humber River, Finch Hydro Corridor, and Don River Trails. At the time, I only made it to Finch West Station. The group has since held another ride in Fall 2025 – you can read Jun’s recap here – and now one held today. About fifty people braved the cold, hail, snow, rain, sunshine, and obstacles for today’s ride to advocate for the need to close the gaps along this trail.
If you have been advocating for safe streets for a while, chances are you have heard of “The War on Cars” podcast hosted by Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear from New York City. The podcast got its name from former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford who frequently used that term to discredit streetcars and cyclists. Last year, Gordon & Goodyear put out a book called “Life After Cars” and after waiting a few months on hold from the library, I finally got to check out a copy last week. Let’s dive in to see what it has to offer.
In 2019 and 2020, the City of Toronto held three public meetings regarding the yongeTOmorrow project from College to Queen Streets, while the corresponding environmental assessment was approved by City Council in February 2021. Five years after that approval, yet ANOTHER public consultation has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 21 (5:30 – 8:30 PM) at the Central YMCA (20 Grosvenor Street) and feedback will be collected until Tuesday, May 5. Let’s take a look at what has changed since the previous round of consultations including the timeframe and design.
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| All images from this post are from the City of Toronto |
Today was a beautiful Good Friday to be outside with highs of 20’C expected. Since I haven’t checked the East Don Trail since December and there was some other construction happening along the Lower Don Trail, I took out Raccoon – my Brodie gravel bike – for its first ride of the year!
On Monday, March 23, more than 250 people took part in a virtual meeting regarding the Eglinton-Allen Intersection Study. While the meeting only briefly covered the eglintonTOday project which many cyclists are interested in, it thoroughly explained some of the interim measures taken to divert traffic away from nearby residential streets, as well as the intersection redesign process. Given the next Infrastructure and Environment Committee meeting is scheduled for April 7, 2026 which will debate that intersection, let’s recap what happened from that meeting and where we go from here.
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| All images are from the City of Toronto's Eglinton-Allen March 2026 presentation slide deck |
On Sunday evening, a cyclist was seriously injured at Eglinton & Oakwood. Something which prompted renewed calls asking when will the long promised eglintonTOday Complete Street from Keele to Mt. Pleasant be installed? Especially given the Eglinton Crosstown LRT opened last month. Given this unfortunate development, it’s time to put the spotlight back on Eglinton to find out where things stand and issue a call to action.
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| Cycle Toronto's Rally and Ride for Eglinton from September 2025 |
For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you would have noticed I am fiercely opposed to Doug Ford. Especially when his government went after bike lanes in Fall 2024 with Bill 212. Ever since he won his third majority last February, he has become even more unhinged with at least ten different controversial announcements within the past month alone which begs the following question. What will it take to stop Doug Ford?
On Wednesday, the Toronto Parking Authority presented Bike Share Toronto’s 2026 annual operating plan. Several media outlets mainly reported on the new e-bike design, but there are several other things in store for the next four years. Let’s pedal along!
Toronto hosted two bike shows this past weekend: those being the Toronto Bicycle Show and E-Bike Expo and Gremlins’ Vintage MTB Show. The former returned to the CNE after being held at the International Centre near Pearson Airport in recent years, while the latter was next to Blood Brothers Brewery on Geary Avenue. I went to both shows yesterday morning and here are my thoughts.
Today marks the longstanding annual winter cycling tradition called the “Coldest Day of the Year” Ride. However, the Alex Pretti Solidarity Ride held on January 31 was more deserving of that title with today ended up being a balmy 5’C. Even so, over 60 cyclists took part while Helen and Mozzie came along as well. This year’s route started at Sugar Beach Park headed southeast to the Tommy Thompson Park entrance before returning to Sugar Beach.
Almost three weeks after the big snowstorm, there were still some parts of the Bloor bike lane that were blocked by snow including the eastbound lane in Koreatown. Since I had to do some errands in The Annex and Chinatown this morning, I helped Albert Koehl and some other TCBC volunteers with the bike lane clearing in Koreatown.
On Sunday, January 25, Toronto had a record-breaking snowfall with 46 cm reported at Pearson Airport and higher accumulations downtown. Seventeen days later, there are STILL a lot of bike lanes that have not been cleared! Since I had the day off today, I went to the east end to do some errands and get some takeout while reporting on the bike lane conditions along the way. Having above zero temperatures also helped.
After fifteen years of construction and more than $13 billion spent, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT has finally opened to the public today! Since I haven’t rode a transit line on its opening day before, I did just that for Eglinton a.k.a. Line 5.
For far too long, Canada had studied the idea of high-speed rail; something which prompted a parody ad from Rick Mercer years ago. However, this latest round is the most serious one yet with actual funding, a contractor awarded called Cadence, and a new crown corporation called Alto which runs separately from VIA Rail. I attended a public consultation last night at St. Lawrence Market North which is also happening this afternoon (11 AM – 3 PM) and evening (5 – 9 PM) to learn more about the project, as well as how it could impact those who bike. Donna and Arthur with Toronto Centre Cyclists were also present to help ensure the interests of cyclists were represented.
On Saturday, January 24, 37-year-old Alex Pretti was killed by ICE officers in Minneapolis, making it the second ICE killing after Renee Nicole Good. Since Alex happened to be a cyclist, Angry Catfish of Minneapolis organized a memorial ride in Alex’s honour, while over 100 other cities around the world held their own rides in solidarity. Toronto’s ride saw over 60 people take part which started at Christie Pits Park and ended with a moment of silence in front of the US consulate on University Avenue.
Tomorrow marks the last day you can join the NDP in order to be able to vote for their next leader in March. This race is a critical time given the NDP’s worst performance ever last April and – for full disclosure – was the first time I didn’t vote for that party. A sentiment many other lifelong NDP supporters shared. There are five official candidates in this race who are the following:
I will briefly go over these candidates and explain why I chose to support Avi Lewis.
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| A screen grab from the January 10 debate with Avi Lewis, Tony McQuail, Rob Ashton, Heather McPherson, and Tanille Johnston. Mike Layton and MPP Doly Begun (left) moderated the debate. |
With Toronto’s next municipal election nine months away, we need to take a serious look at what’s at stake. There are many people dunking on current Mayor Olivia Chow whether it’s for record breaking property tax hikes – 9.5% in 2024 – or not being bold enough on things such as housing and countering Doug Ford’s attacks on bike lanes. For the record, I wished she could have been more supportive on open streets. While there is a need to hold Mayor Chow and the rest of city council accountable, we also need to be careful to not put in someone who could be even worse.
Case in point is Brad Bradford.
Last month, Toronto City Council approved Councillor Parthi Kandavel’s member motion MM35.26 to advance the West Scarborough Rail Trail (WSRT) proposal to at least 10% functional design by a 20-1 vote with Councillor Burnside being the lone vote against. To celebrate the occasion, Misha Perozak and the Scarborough Junction Community hosted a temporary art installation at the GECO Rail Bridge next to Warden station.
Happy New Year!
Ever since I started biking in Toronto in 2012, I have had the opportunity to check out many trails in Toronto and across Ontario. However, I never got the chance to do a proper comparison of them. Thanks to some inspiration from a recent video Andrew (a.k.a. Cardiac Cyclist) shared of his favourite trails from 2025, I felt it’s time to do my own trail grading with a focus on rail trails.
