Yesterday, over 1000 people gathered at Queen’s Park for the second “Fight for Bikes” protest two weeks after their highly successful début. It marked the third protest in a week against Bill 212 including Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance and Thursday’s delivery of two ghost bikes. Unlike other events which had feeder rides meet at a central location, this rally split into three rides along University, Bloor, and Yonge Streets.
Yesterday, the City of Toronto released their 2025-27 Bike Plan which will go to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee next Tuesday. Despite extensive consultation and the fact four cyclists were killed in 2024 so far, this plan is one that road safety advocates need to slam as a big disappointment. Let’s go through the bike plan documents to see what it has and what’s missing.
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| Map of 2025-27 Bike Plan (via City of Toronto) |
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.
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.
Almost a year ago to this day, Toronto’s cycling community celebrated the successful outcome of making the Midtown Yonge Complete Street permanent. The Yonge4All campaign played a big role in making this happen, as well as inspired a Scarborough offshoot called Danforth-Kingston 4 All. I spoke with Yonge4All’s spokesperson Robin Richardson on January 2, 2024 to discuss the campaign and her Happy Fiets cargo bike business.
With 2023 coming to a close, this means another annual reflection is in order. From bike lane fights on Midtown Yonge and Bloor West to Olivia Chow’s mayoral by-election win to some nice long distance trail riding, this year has been pretty crazy! Let’s get started, shall we?
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| The 4th Annual Cycling Good Cheer ride |
Last summer, Bells on Kingston was formed to help build support for extending the Danforth bike lanes into Scarborough and along Kingston Road. They hosted a few group rides including feeder rides to Community Bikeways’ “Light Up Toronto” road safety rally on October 2 and “Cycling Good Cheer” ride on December 18. With stakeholder consultations under way and public consultations anticipated for this spring – along with those for Bloor West – it’s time to take the next step in establishing a 30-kilometre bikeway from Kipling Avenue to Scarborough Golf Club Road. The Danforth-Kingston Complete Street is expected to be done in two phases; first to St. Clair Avenue East and then to Scarborough Golf Club Road.
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| Phasing of Danforth-Kingston Complete Street Project (via City of Toronto) |
While Wednesday saw great news for Yonge4All and other road safety advocates in Toronto with the Midtown Yonge Complete Street Pilot being made permanent by a 22 to 4 vote, there is another disappointment which dampened the celebratory mood and deserves a rant. Despite the overwhelming positive staff report, an unanimous vote at IEC, and over 8500 signatures for the Yonge4All petition, Mayor John Tory threw all of that under the bus by supporting Councillor Jon Burnside’s motion to extend the pilot. A move which proves he is a coward when it comes to road safety, as well as contradicts his own earlier push to shorten the staff recommended extension from July 2023 to January 2023.
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| Mayor John Tory showing a printout of the so-called "landlocked streets" (via YouTube) |
Today, the Midtown Yonge Complete Street Pilot was unanimously approved by the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, and will be off to City Council on Tuesday, February 7. Prior to the meeting, Yonge4All held a media event to deliver the petition to Mayor John Tory which gathered over 8,500 signatures which was attended by Councillors Bradford, Moise, Morley, and Saxe. With this project just about behind us, there are several other projects Toronto residents can look forward to.
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| Yonge4All Media Event at City Hall (Via Jun Nogami) |
On April 6, 2022, Toronto City Council voted to extend the Midtown Yonge Complete Street Pilot until January 2023. Nine months and a municipal election later which saw nine new councillors elected, the pilot has been confirmed for debate at the January 30, 2023 Infrastructure & Environment Committee meeting (and at City Council on February 7, 2023). A petition from Yonge4All got almost 7,000 signatures at the time of writing in support of making the pilot permanent, while a counter-petition calling for the pilot’s removal has over 5,000 signatures.
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| Even by foot, the Midtown Yonge pilot is safer for Mozzie to walk! 😊 |
