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.
Apparently, a lot has happened for cycling in Toronto while I was on vacation in Uzbekistan. A complete street has been built on Eglinton from Avenue to Chaplin, a group ride from Willowdale to Downtown attracted 80 people, and the Ford government irresponsibly proposed restricting bike lane installations which remove traffic lanes. (Please sign Cycle Toronto's petition opposing this if you haven't already.) I was also informed about a complete street project happening on Dupont which the City is collecting feedback until Wednesday, October 30. Let's review what's being planned for Dupont, as well as some hotspots and background information.
While there are people who view St. Clair as a disaster over the streetcar line there, the term “disaster” better applies to Davenport from a cycling perspective. Especially between Bay and Dupont where bike lanes placed in the door zone can lead to the bike lanes being blocked when snow gets piled by the curbs. Not to mention, Avenue and Davenport was where a ghost bike was placed for Adam Excell who was killed by a driver in June 2015. Fortunately, the City of Toronto plans to improve this part of Davenport, as well as extend the bike lanes east to Yonge Street where bike lanes could be installed from Bloor to just north of Lawrence later this year. The slides from yesterday's consultation - which I missed - can be found here.
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| Door zone bike lanes are prone to being blocked when snow piles by the curbs |
