One Final Push For Bloor

This month has brought lots of good news for Toronto’s cycling community! First, Toronto city council approved the Bloor bike lane extension from Runnymede Road to Six Points with only one councillor opposed. This past Monday saw Torontonians elect bike-riding Olivia Chow in the mayoral by-election! And yesterday, Mississauga City Council finally approved the Bloor Street Integrated Project using Alternative #6 consisting of two traffic lanes, one centre turning lane, and protected bike lanes! Let’s find out what this means for the soon-to-become intercity bikeway.

2023 Bloor Recap (+ A Site Check)

This week saw two debates related to Bloor Street; those being Toronto’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee (IEC) on Monday and today’s General Committee in Mississauga. Toronto’s IEC approved their motion – which will now go to City Council on Wednesday, June 14 – while Mississauga’s General Committee offered a silver lining despite the motion being deferred. Let’s review what happened at both meetings, as well as a site visit I did on my way home from the IEC meeting on Monday.

Albert Koehl getting ready to speak at Monday's Infrastructure & Environment Committee meeting

Reflection on Bloor West Consultations

Last week, the City of Toronto hosted two open houses for the Bloor West Complete Street Extension which would extend the Bloor bike lanes in two phases from Runnymede Road to Six Points. Jun N attended Wednesday’s meeting at Swansea Public School and has a great write-up about it, while I attended Thursday’s meeting at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute. Since I already covered the technical details in an earlier post, this post will focus on general observations and community feedback.

Existing conditions at Bloor and Royal York

Bring on the Bloor West Complete Street Extension!

At long last, the City of Toronto has announced two public consultations for the Bloor West complete street extension. The first one will be held on Wednesday, April 12 (6:00 to 8:00 PM) at Swansea Public School (207 Windermere Avenue) and the second on Thursday, April 13 (6:00 to 8:00 PM) at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute (86 Montgomery Road). While I encourage those who support extending the Bloor bike lanes west to Six Points to attend, those who are unable to can submit their feedback online by Thursday, April 27. Let’s review what’s included in the plan.

Rendering of Humber River Bridge - All photos are from the City of Toronto's project website

Will the Fourth Time be Mississauga’s Bloor Charm?

Back in March, there was a sense of momentum for getting bike lanes on Bloor in Mississauga. The third public meeting for the Bloor Street Integrated Project saw more than 100 people take part, while 80 to 100 people from Toronto and Mississauga rode along Bloor to show support for bike lanes on both sides of Etobicoke Creek. Given yet another public meeting was held on Tuesday, November 29 while I was on vacation in Morocco, it’s time to offer a quick recap of what had happened since March.

Alternative #5 was presented at the third public meeting for Bloor Street in March 2022

Mississauga Momentum for Bloor Bike Lanes

Earlier in March, I reported on the fight Mississauga advocates had on their hands regarding getting bike lanes installed on their part of Bloor; most notably the ridiculous complaints over charter rights. There has been a renewed sense of momentum since then with Mississauga’s third community meeting on Wednesday, March 9 and Sunday’s Ride for Bike Lanes on Bloor. Let’s recap these recent developments, as well as introduce the group Mississauga Cycling Now.