Rally and Ride for Eglinton Redux

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.

Dozens of cyclists already gathered when I arrived at Eglinton & Holly for the start of the ride. About fifty people came out altogether by the time the ride started, though unfortunately some police officers also showed up given tensions over Sunday’s tacking of a cyclist on Queen’s Quay by a few police officers.

Cycle Toronto’s Michael Longfield reminded us even though the province deserves the blame, the City also had a role by choosing not to install the bike lanes last fall when they had the chance. Even so, he remained optimistic that the future of Eglinton has bike lanes despite the recent news.

Graham Pressey of Marlee for Kids promoted this Saturday’s Belt Line Bike Ride, as well as reminded us some of the options for the Eglinton and Allen Intersection don’t prioritize children, people with strollers, or people using wheelchairs.

Jess Spieker of Friends and Families for Safe Streets brought out the facts including 670 crashes at Eglinton and Allen over the past 12 years and over 6000 crashes on Eglinton from Chaplin to Keele during that time including eight deaths. She said making Eglinton for cars would not make drivers feel safer given the vast majority of those injured are motorists.

After Michael wrapped things up by reminding us to be respectful unlike the so-called “Balance on Bloor” over concerns from city staff about “angry cyclists storming the consultation”, we started heading west on Eglinton.

Regrouping at Duplex.

I tried to record a video of the ride, but since we didn’t cork intersections ourselves, I couldn’t get everyone in one shot. This is the best one I took at Oriole Parkway.

There’s Chris with his recumbent and Tom.

The police officers did eventually cork off some of the intersections for the rest of the ride which ended at Chaplin Station for those who had to leave. Those who wanted to continue to Forest Hill Collegiate were led by Ben Singer through the Beltline.

Those living in the area would have gotten these pamphlets in their mailboxes.

One thing I always like about these consultations to see the sticky notes to see where people stand. I chucked over the “demolition derby” comment for the four-lane option, though I agree with the comment of merging four lanes into two would be difficult.

Some interesting comments were posted for Options 4A and 4B which would restrict access to the on-ramp. Some complained about traffic problems being moved to other streets and some complained about forcing pedestrians into the tunnel which is a legitimate accessibility concern.

The pedestrian bridge option (1A) – which prompted a “HELL NO” from me – was polarizing with some claiming it to be the best option and others preferring to keep the existing pedestrian crossing over accessibility concerns.

Participants could also voice concerns about other parts of the Eglinton and Allen secondary study area. I used that opportunity to call for reinstating the Beltline Gap Connections project at Marlee.

A separate map allowed people to make suggestions for the intersection itself; some of which such as the diverging diamond and 12-storey parking lot comments were ridiculous! Appreciate the LOL’s though! 🤣

As expected, my preferred option (7B) saw some colourful comments from both sides including the collision statistic from Jess. I fully agree with whoever suggested doing a pilot project of this idea.

Overall, the consultation was very well attended with both Councillors Josh Matlow and Mike Colle present. I took the opportunity to thank Councillor Matlow for one of his advisors (Nika) being prompt in responding to my e-mails expressing my disappointment with the Eglinton situation. Very few councillors have stood up against Doug Ford as well as Matlow has. 👍

For those who couldn’t make it this evening, please complete the survey by June 14 and let the City of Toronto know Option 7B is the best one! In case both Option 7 designs get rejected, Option 2A is the least bad of the bunch. Meanwhile, I thank Cycle Toronto for putting together this rally on such short notice and let’s keep up the pressure until Doug Ford and his awful anti-bike lane legislation are gone!

Fellow bike blogger Jun covered the ride here and got a nice photo of us.