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.

RANT – Toronto’s Betrayal Over Eglinton

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.

Recap from Last Week’s Eglinton-Allen Virtual Meeting

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.

All images are from the City of Toronto's Eglinton-Allen March 2026 presentation slide deck

March 2026 eglintonTOday Update (and Call to Action)

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.

Cycle Toronto's Rally and Ride for Eglinton from September 2025

Impact of Bill 60 on Toronto’s Bike Plans

On Monday, the Ford government approved Third Reading of Bill 60 which – among other things – would ban the conversion of motor vehicle lanes for bike lanes or “any other prescribed purpose”. Given this sad day which will be a major setback for cycling in Toronto, we need to look at how bad this bill really is. For this purpose, I will look at Toronto’s 2025-27 near-term bike plan and other projects which were already approved with a focus on arterial roads.

Rally and Ride for Eglinton

Last month, Toronto’s cycling community learned the City of Toronto would be resurfacing Eglinton Avenue without the promised bike lanes given the Eglinton Crosstown LRT continues to be faced with delays. This prompted me to prepare this action alert, while Cycle Toronto issued their own along with organizing tonight’s “Rally and Ride for Eglinton” which almost 100 people attended.

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.

August 2025 Cycling Construction Check In

Last year, Toronto installed almost 27 kilometres of on-street bikeways; making it the second highest year ever after the 30 kilometres installed in 2020 during the pandemic. This includes 8.5 kilometres for Finch Avenue West which I deemed to be substantially completed per a site visit, but the City of Toronto didn’t count as Metrolinx hadn’t transferred the street back to the City. Even excluding Finch, 18 kilometres is still respectable compared to prior years. With Doug Ford’s Bill 212 limiting new bike lane installations and Cycle Toronto’s charter challenge win last month (which the Ford government formally submitted their appeal today), it made me wonder what the impact on new bike lane installations would be.

Bikeway construction on The Esplanade in May 2025

East Don Trail May 2025 Update

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.

Avenue Road and Bloor Site Checks

Earlier this week, the City of Toronto started construction of bike lanes on Avenue Road from Bloor Street to Davenport Road. Since I had the day off today and had some errands to run, I decided to check them out on the way home, as well as provide an update on the Bloor bike lane construction between Spadina Avenue and Avenue Road which is in its final stages.

The City of Toronto's plan for Avenue Road from Bloor to Davenport

eglintonTOday & Micromobility Strategy Headed to IEC

Next Thursday's Infrastructure and Environment Committee (IEC) meeting will feature two items that will affect cycling and micromobility. The first item is Phase 1 of the eglintonTOday Complete Street project from Bicknell Avenue to Mount Pleasant Road and the second is a Micromobility Strategy for Toronto. While it’s unfortunate the Avenue Road Study didn’t make the cut, let’s review what these two items have to offer and some suggestions on what to advocate for with your written submission or live deputation.

Existing conditions on Eglinton east of Winona during Sunday's Earth Day Ride

Earth Day Ride to Eglinton + Beltline Riding

Earlier today, Cycle Toronto’s Midtown ward group hosted their Earth Day ride which about 20 people attended. The ride started at Davisville station and rolled along Yonge, Davenport, and Winona before arriving at Ben Nobleman Par where Cycle Toronto had an engagement tent to promote the eglintonTOday project ahead of the May 2 IEC meeting.

Eglinton Catch-Up for March 2024

On Sunday, I wrote about the East Don Trail and had mentioned the eglintonTOday Complete Street project was expected to go to the Infrastructure & Environment Committee next Wednesday. Upon reviewing the agenda released this morning, it turned out the item will not be debated and will instead be dealt with in May. However, Motion IE12.4 covers several cycling projects such as Ferrand Drive, Galloway Road, Portland-Dan Leckie, Silverthorn, Weston Cycling Connections, and the Jones Street upgrades. Advocates are encouraged to e-mail iec@toronto.ca by Tuesday, March 26 at 4:30 PM to show their support for any items that are relevant to them. Now, let’s get back to discussing last weekend’s site check along Eglinton.

Leaside-Danforth Consultation (+ Other Upcoming Events)

Tonight marked the second cycling consultation I attended this week after the West Parkdale bikeway one on Tuesday which was also well attended. There was some security present at this consultation; probably because of last week’s event in Etobicoke. Even so, I didn’t see any protest signs tonight and there wasn’t a petition against this project as far as I know of, while there were still some concerns to be had. I already discussed the project in an earlier blog post, but wanted to take this opportunity to provide some additional information, as well as highlight some other projects coming down the pipe.

Looking Back at the 2022-24 Bike Plan

When the 2022-24 Near-Term Cycling Implementation Plan was approved in December 2021, there was a call for 100 kilometres of new bike lanes during this time. Since then, about 13 kilometres was installed in 2022 and another 20 kilometres in 2023; the latter of which includes most of the Finch West LRT route. However, this still leaves the City 67 kilometres short with only one year left for this plan, while they have already started work on a replacement plan for 2025-27. Let’s look at what the key accomplishments were and what work remains on the table.

Map of bike lane installations from 2016 to 2023 with 2023's marked in blue

More Consultations for eglintonTOday

The City of Toronto held their initial consultation for eglintonTOday in June 2022 in order to pursue a quick build complete street on Eglinton Avenue along the underground stretch of the Crosstown LRT. A second consultation was held last night at Marshall McLuhan School near Avenue and Eglinton which saw dozens of people take part. Let’s look at what has happened since last June, as well as some of the points participants raised.

WTF is up with Eglinton?

The long anticipated Eglinton Crosstown LRT is nearing completion with service expected to start next year. As for what that means from a cycling perspective the City of Toronto recently announced a virtual public meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 22 under the name eglintonTOday. (Yes, Toronto is addicted to branding everything TO.) Let’s review what this project has in store, how it differs from Eglinton Connects, and what else has been done on Eglinton.

Eglinton Connects rendering (Via SvN)

(Finally) Filling the Winona Gap

For the past few years, one of my biggest complaints about biking in Toronto is the lack of north-south routes north of Davenport. Especially considering my office is at Dufferin and Lawrence which meant riding on steep hills on Caledonia or going the wrong way at times between St. Clair and Eglinton. Finally, the City of Toronto hosted a public consultation on Monday, March 22 for a contraflow bike lane on Winona which could be installed as early as this June or July.

Toronto to Brampton (via Eglinton and Etobicoke Creek)

The first time I biked in Brampton was during last year’s “Bike the Creek” event. Since both Mississauga and Brampton have their own trails along Etobicoke Creek, I was curious to find out how cyclists from Toronto could get to Brampton. With Friday being a day off and a need to lose some steam from Thursday’s Fordian slip of an election, I found out by biking the Humber River, Eglinton West, and Etobicoke Creek Trails; a roughly 90-kilometre round trip!

Bring on the Eglinton East LRT!

Map of Eglinton East LRT (via City of Toronto)

As with many city builders in the Greater Toronto Area, I am furious at the political games with the one-stop subway extension in Scarborough. City councillors – mostly suburban – repeatedly denied conducting cost-and-benefit comparisons with the original seven stop LRT, while a recent Toronto Star article indicated staff will not reveal the updated subway costs until after the 2018 election. The recent article raises suspicions the Mayor’s office is trying to bury the subway as an election issue with both John Tory and Doug Ford supporting the subway. However, it will only delay the inevitable truth the subway – currently expected to cost $3.35 billion – will exceed the $3.56 billion in available funding and leave nothing for the Eglinton East LRT. Especially if the controversies surrounding the Lawrence Avenue SmartTrack stop prompt the addition of a second subway station.