The month of April brought some good news for Toronto’s cycling community with Justice Paul Schabas having granted an injunction until he can decide on Cycle Toronto’s Charter challenge against the bike lane removal aspects of Bill 212. While that decision may not be made for another few months, there are several public consultations which we need to get involved with. Let’s round them up here! 😊
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| The Leaside-Danforth public consultation from March 2024 |
Happy Halloween, everybody! With Halloween and this Sunday’s daylight savings time change being among the most dangerous times of the year for vulnerable road users, Doug Ford’s war on bikes has taken an even scarier turn. When Bill 212 was originally announced on Monday, October 21, Schedule 4 only stated it would require municipalities to get provincial approval to build bike lanes which remove traffic lanes, as well as conduct reviews of existing bike lanes. Today, the Ford government confirmed Bill 212 would be amended to require the removal of bike lanes along parts of Bloor Street, University Avenue, and Yonge Street while the Environmental Registry has been updated accordingly. It’s beyond disgusting how the Ford government would throw almost fifty years of calls for bike lanes on Bloor out the window and it’s worth providing an update on where things stand.
Queen’s Park was back in session on Monday after an extended holiday and the first order of business was Bill 212 called “The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act”. This bill would require municipalities to get provincial approval for bike lanes that remove traffic lanes – except for those tendered and started construction once the bill takes effect – as well as review existing bike lanes. To make matters worse, Premier Doug Ford mentioned he plans to remove existing bike lanes on Bloor, University, and Yonge. Hundreds of people came out yesterday in response to this irresponsible (and unprecedented) legislation which you can submit comments on until Wednesday, November 20.
All right, folks! The worst-case scenario for Toronto's cycling community has come upon us! On Tuesday, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria announced cities will be required to get provincial approval to put in bike lanes which remove traffic lanes. Cities would also need to provide data about bike lanes installed over the past five years which could put large parts of Bloor-Danforth, University, and Yonge at risk. On Thursday, Premier Doug Ford said, "We need to and will remove and replace existing bike lanes on primary roads that are bringing traffic in our cities to a standstill”. This has been motivated in part to his own distaste for the Bloor bike lanes in Etobicoke which was the subject of last night's town hall hosted by Councillor Amber Morley. You can read Jun's report here.
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| Premier Doug Ford calling for the removal of the Bloor bike lanes in Etobicoke on October 31, 2023 (CPAC) |
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.
Unfortunately, Toronto’s cycling community had to gather tonight for the fifth time this year to pay their respects for a fallen cyclist. The latest victim was a 24-year-old female who was struck and killed on Bloor Street east of Avenue Road. While I wrote about the initial death and how to address some of the design fails at this site and others across the city, it was essential to write about tonight’s memorial ride.
By the time Helen, Mozzie, and I got to Matt Cohen Park, the park and sidewalk was already packed with people.
Just before 9:00 AM this morning, a 24-year-old female cyclist was killed on Bloor Street east of Avenue Road; making it the fifth cyclist killed this year with five months to go. If you refer to Toronto’s Vision Zero dashboard or Toronto Police’s fatal collisions dashboard, this year has been the deadliest on record for Toronto’s cycling community. However, Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists put up six ghost bikes in Toronto in 2018; two of which didn’t count per the City and Police dashboards. One of them was for a 60-year-old male who collided with a parked delivery van in March 2018 while 19-year-old Aaron Rankin-Wright’s death in June 2018 was targeted and involved stabbing. Regardless of which metric you used, the unprecedented number of cyclist deaths this year deserves some serious reflection.
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| Miguel Joshua Escanan's ghost bike from August 2021 was not far from today's crash site |
Tonight, Toronto’s cycling community took part in their fourth memorial ride in as many months; this time for 39-year-old Ali Sezgin Armagan who was killed at Avenue & Elgin on Tuesday, April 30. With eight months to go, this year has already become one of the deadliest for those who bike in this city per Toronto's Vision Zero dashboard, though it hasn’t been updated for the most recent fatal crash.
This afternoon, an e-bike rider was killed at Avenue Road and Elgin Avenue; making it the fourth cyclist killed in Toronto this year. To add insult to injury, this isn’t the first time a cyclist was killed in an area where bike lanes were proposed but never acted upon. The same thing happened to Miguel Joshua Escanan in August 2021 at Avenue and Bloor. Let’s recap where things stand with Avenue Road, as well as demand action to get these safety improvements done urgently.
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.
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| Existing conditions on Eglinton east of Winona during Sunday's Earth Day Ride |
Last Monday, 59-year-old Vlad Zotov with the Morning Glory Cycling Club was killed on Bayview Avenue just south of Evergreen Brickworks. This latest tragedy marks the third cyclist killed in Toronto within the past three months with the other two happened in Scarborough at Brimley & McNicoll and near Warden & St. Clair. By the time Helen and I arrived at Bloor & Spadina, Matt Cohen Park was packed unlike any of the other memorial rides I could remember. During the ride, someone mentioned over 400 cyclists turned out tonight, while there was a lot of media present.
On Sunday, February 18, a 19-year-old woman was biking eastbound on the Bayview – Bloor ramp where she was hit by drivers of two motor vehicles. While it is technically illegal to bike on this ramp, the sign saying no pedestrians or cyclists allowed is not apparent as soon as you turn right. You have to complete a U-turn in order to see it given drivers could use this turn-off to turn left to get onto to Castle Frank Road. Let’s take a look at how this intersection can be improved to make it safer for everyone.
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| A Google Maps view of the existing conditions at Bloor and Castle Frank |
Last year’s budget tabled by Mayor John Tory was irresponsible with his refusal to raise property taxes beyond inflation, relied on provincial and federal government funding (which didn’t materialize), and recklessly increased the police budget despite a $1.4 billion shortfall at the time. The budget shortfall situation has worsened for 2024 with the number now pegged at $1.8 billion. However, Mayor Olivia Chow and her budget chief Shelley Carroll have finally shown they are willing to take the challenge seriously.
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| 2024 Budget Shortfall Breakdown (via City of Toronto) |
Today marked the first time I visited Queen’s Park in more than 20 years to witness the debate for MPP Joel Harden’s Bill 40 (a.k.a. Moving Ontarians Safely Act). This is the latest attempt in a decade to enact legislation to hold drivers accountable when they kill or seriously injure vulnerable road users such as pedestrians or cyclists. Ahead of this bill, MPP Harden biked from Ottawa to Toronto to hear about road safety concerns from residents along the way. You can read Jun’s blog post about the Safety Ride here, while I wrote a previous piece about the bill and other measures we need to fight for at Queen’s Park.
For those who don’t know Toronto politics, Councillor Stephen Holyday – who represented Ward 2 (Etobicoke Centre) since 2014 – has consistently been Council’s harshest opponent to safe streets for walking and cycling. However, not all Etobicoke residents share this backwards view. One resident in that ward – Jennifer Alexander – has been organizing there for the past six years and writes The Etobicoke Voice. I spoke with her on July 26, 2023 to understand her efforts and suburban organizing in general.
Yesterday marked the 21st Annual Ride of Silence in which cyclists around the world paid their respects to those who have been killed by road violence. 19 people took part in the Toronto ride which started 7:00 PM at Bloor and Spadina and ended at the Peace Garden next to Toronto City Hall with stops at two ghost bikes along the way.
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.
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| The removed Brimley bike lanes near this week's fatal collision |
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| Norm Di Pasquale's and Ausma Malik's joint campaign office in Kensington Market |
NOTE: This article originally appeared on Dandyhorse's website on September 13, 2018 and is being reposted here since it is no longer available.
Story by Robert Zaichkowski and Albert Koehl
With over three months left to the end of 2018, we already know that this year will be another heart-breaking one for many Toronto families. To date, 25 pedestrians and 4 cyclists have been killed, while many more families have to deal with life-altering injuries to their loved ones. The three memorial rides in June alone sparked renewed calls for a real network of bike lanes in the city. The response from City Hall has been disappointing; exacerbated by the failure to live up even to installing the infrastructure promised in the ten-year cycling plan passed in 2016. In fact, even if this year’s planned projects (see our table) are all completed --- never a sure thing in our city --- we will only be on pace to complete the plan by 2049 instead of 2025.
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| Bike lane ends sign at Poplar Plains (via Albert Koehl) |
For the past few years, Albert Koehl and I had been tracking Toronto’s bike lane installations to hold the City accountable to their 2016 Cycling Network Plan. While I didn’t prepare such a report for 2021 – instead focusing on the 2022-24 Near Term Plan – the City of Toronto recently released their 2021 Cycling Year in Review. This is a welcome development which will help improve accountability on the cycling file. I reviewed the report to see what it has in store and how it can be improved.
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| Toronto's 2021 Cycling Year in Review cover illustration shows a cargo bike |
