With last year’s “Ride The Meadoway” being one of my favourite rides in Scarborough, I was thrilled to find out it was happening again this year! This year’s occasion also gave an excuse to check out the newest Meadoway segment from Military Trail to Morningside, as well as the Marcos to Midland segment under construction. This morning, I joined about 60 people who started at Wexford Hydro Park while a few others joined in afterwards.
Last month marked five years since the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition was started by Albert Koehl, Janet Joy Wilson, and I; among others. To help mark the anniversary and Bike Month, Jessie Ye and Janet Joy organized a ride from AccessPoint on Danforth to the Evergreen Brickworks along with Marvin of Scarborough Cycles (and Access Alliance) and Regenesis. About thirty people took part.
This morning, about 75 people took part in “Ride the Meadoway” which was hosted by Toronto East Cyclists, Scarborough Cycles, and Regenesis Cycle UTSC. Bike Share Toronto provided some bikes for those who needed them, while Patty Time served some Jamaican beef patties and vegetarian samosas. Let’s reflect on what happened during the ride.
This morning, about 100 people made it out for today’s Danforth-Kingston 4 All ride in support of a safer Danforth Avenue and Kingston Road in Scarborough. It was a short four-kilometre slow roll from East Lynn Park to Scotia Parkette east of Warden Avenue. It was the first ride held in support of bike lanes on Danforth since COVID-19 pandemic and was made more urgent given the Danforth-Kingston project – originally proposed for the 2022-24 Bike Plan – was recycled into the one for 2025-27.
Here’s a photo of the ride when I first got to East Lynn Park.
All right, folks! We need to talk about Scarborough’s dangerous streets.
On Sunday, February 11, a memorial ride was held for a 66-year-old female cyclist killed at Brimley & McNicoll. If that wasn’t bad enough, another crash in Scarborough this month killed a 47-year-old male cyclist on Monday near Birchmount & St. Clair. While it didn’t happen right on Birchmount – which had bike lanes removed in 2011 – the consequences of refusing to build safe streets still apply across Scarborough. Finally, despite the Danforth-Kingston complete street being part of the 2022-24 Bike Plan, there still has not been a public consultation held which had been delayed due in part to last year’s by-elections for Mayor and for Council in Scarborough Southwest.
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| Memorial ride held at Brimley & McNicoll on Sunday, February 11 |
During my conversation with Nancy Smith Lea in late August, she brought up TCAT’s push for community bike hubs to expand cycling culture beyond downtown. One of these programs – Scarborough Cycles – was established in 2015 and now operates three bike hubs at AccessPoint on Danforth, Birchmount Bluffs Neighbourhood Centre, and at 3939 Lawrence Ave E in partnership with Toronto Community Housing. I spoke with Marvin Macaraig to learn more about Scarborough Cycles and some of the advocacy happening in Scarborough.
For almost 30 years, Nancy Smith Lea has been a pioneering road safety advocate focused on academic research and has covered topics such as economic impact studies, complete streets, and suburban bike hubs. Before becoming Director of The Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT) in 2008, she helped found Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists (ARC) and worked on one of Toronto’s now-defunct City Cycling Committee’s sub-committees. I spoke with Nancy about this experience on August 22, 2023.
One part of Toronto I haven’t biked around as much is Scarborough. Sure, I biked to my old job in Pickering from Rouge Hill GO station, but only two kilometres of that trip is in Scarborough. As for longer treks, I did bike along the Gatineau Hydro Corridor and got to the Scarborough Bluffs once each. Yesterday, I joined the Toronto East Cyclists for a ride along the North Scarborough Green Loop while also checking the recently installed Brimley ActiveTO lanes.
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| Janet Joy and Peter - along with the Toronto East Cyclists - on the Huntingwood bike lanes |
