Protected Intersection Watching and Jays Game

On Wednesday, my employer organized a post work Blue Jays game which I haven’t seen in at least five years. During this time, work on the protected intersection at Bloor and St. George is well under way. This post covers the intersection progress so far, as well as what it’s like biking to the Rogers Centre (or Skydome for you diehards out there). 😉

Bike Brigade + Adelaide Site Check

Happy Fourth of July to our friends south of the border!

After work this evening, I got to deliver a FoodShare box with the Bike Brigade for the first time in almost two years. Even with the COVID-19 pandemic largely behind us, the organization still draws in lots of volunteers ranging from FoodShare delivery boxes to community fridges to ride marshalling. Something which I encourage you to sign up.

Photo courtesy of Dave Shellnutt

RANT – Consequences of Neglecting Safe Streets

In August 2021, Miguel Joshua Escanan was killed while riding northbound at Avenue and Bloor. A death which could have been prevented had the City followed through with implementing ActiveTO bike lanes on that stretch. Unfortunately, the same thing almost happened again two years later.

The removed Brimley bike lanes near this week's fatal collision

Overhauling Toronto’s Urban Highway Interchanges

Last year, the City of Toronto substantially completed the reconfiguration of Six Points; one of the City’s worst intersections for people walking or cycling. The spaghetti junction was replaced with three at-grade crossings for Bloor, Dundas, and Kipling including protected bike lanes, proper sidewalks, and streetscaping improvements. However, there are several other overbuilt urban highway interchanges which could use similarly radical interventions.

Dundas at Royal York

June 2020 ActiveTO Update

Earlier in June, I saw the first ActiveTO installations set up along Dundas East one week after being approved by City Council. The City has continued to roll out new bike lanes with University Avenue from Adelaide to Bloor and Bloor Street from Avenue to Sherbourne being the latest additions. Yesterday, I biked a loop consisting of Shaw, Bloor, Sherbourne, and Richmond Streets to check out the progress.

Some Momentum for 2019

OK! So I haven’t had the chance to write here for almost three months. Part of it was because I was on vacation in the Middle East in December (more on that soon), but things have not been idle on the cycling front this month with some developments worth sharing.

Early Signs of Optimism

2015 Coldest Day of the Year Ride on Adelaide

To call the Richmond-Adelaide protected bike lanes a success is a serious understatement. Since the bike lanes were first installed in 2014, ridership increased more than tenfold to become Toronto’s busiest bike route with collisions reduced by 73% and minimal impact on motor vehicle users. Given these findings, city staff finally recommended making these bike lanes permanent, though it baffles me how it could take almost five years to get from approval to this point. With the Infrastructure and Environment Committee (which replaced the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee) voting unanimously to keep the bike lanes, the motion should be slam dunk at City Council next week and could be one of the few times this term where a cycling motion unanimously passes city council. If only the same could happen when REimagining Yonge returns to City Council in a couple of months …