On Sunday, January 25, Toronto had a record-breaking snowfall with 46 cm reported at Pearson Airport and higher accumulations downtown. Seventeen days later, there are STILL a lot of bike lanes that have not been cleared! Since I had the day off today, I went to the east end to do some errands and get some takeout while reporting on the bike lane conditions along the way. Having above zero temperatures also helped.
As Bike Month continues to pedal along, the City of Toronto has recently launched public consultations for three projects. Two of them are in Scarborough; those being the Alton Towers and Malvern neighbourhood connections. The third is a Phase 2 consultation for the Leaside Bridge to Danforth Avenue Cycling Connections. Let’s review these projects, as well as one recent installation I came across yesterday.
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| Neighbourhood greenway option for Ingleton Boulevard (via City of Toronto) |
Over the past few months, the City of Toronto has been very busy installing new bike lanes across the city. Since I had the day off work and had some errands to run before going on vacation in two weeks, I checked out the Portland-Dan Leckie and West Parkdale cycling connections, as well as the progress of the Bloor and St. George protected intersection.
Tonight marked the second cycling consultation I attended this week after the West Parkdale bikeway one on Tuesday which was also well attended. There was some security present at this consultation; probably because of last week’s event in Etobicoke. Even so, I didn’t see any protest signs tonight and there wasn’t a petition against this project as far as I know of, while there were still some concerns to be had. I already discussed the project in an earlier blog post, but wanted to take this opportunity to provide some additional information, as well as highlight some other projects coming down the pipe.
Having used to live in Parkdale and Roncesvalles for more than a decade, I can vouch for how common wrong way riding on Seaforth Avenue is given there isn’t a safe (and legal) way to bike west of Brock Street in Parkdale without using Queen. Members of the former Cycle Toronto Ward 14 group (and the Parkdale High Park Bikes group that replaced it) have called to have this situation fixed for years. Finally, the City of Toronto plans to host a public consultation about the West Parkdale Cycling Connections on Tuesday, March 5 (5-8 PM) at The Parkdale Hall (1605 Queen Street West) to address this gap in the cycling network. Let’s go through the project by dividing it into three segments.
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| Map of West Parkdale Cycling Connections (via City of Toronto) |
Last year, the City of Toronto announced plans to upgrade existing bikeways on the Leaside Bridge to cycle tracks which were approved by City Council. However, there was still a big question mark on providing an additional north-south connection from there to Danforth Avenue. The City recently announced a public consultation scheduled for Thursday, March 7 (6 – 8 PM) at 816 Logan Avenue to address just that.
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| The City of Toronto's proposed bikeway connecting the Leaside Bridge to Danforth Avenue |
Since the Phase 2 consultation for the Bartlett-Havelock-Gladstone (BHG) project conflicts with the one for the High Park Movement Strategy – both happening on Monday, April 3 – I opted reviewed the materials early and submitted feedback based on the available information. Phase 1 from Davenport Road to College Street was done last year.
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| Bartlett contraflow just north of Bloor Street |
The City of Toronto held their initial consultation for eglintonTOday in June 2022 in order to pursue a quick build complete street on Eglinton Avenue along the underground stretch of the Crosstown LRT. A second consultation was held last night at Marshall McLuhan School near Avenue and Eglinton which saw dozens of people take part. Let’s look at what has happened since last June, as well as some of the points participants raised.
The month of February is shaping up to be a busy one for Toronto’s cycling community with three public consultations planned for next week. These include proposed bikeways on Bartlett-Havelock-Gladstone in downtown, Scarborough Golf Club, and Sentinel in North York. As Queen’s Park resumes later this month, the Protecting Vulnerable Road Users Act (Bill 54) will be a main focal point. Let’s take a look at these projects and how you can do your part to make them happen.
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| Havelock and Bloor intersection rendering (via City of Toronto) |
Back in April 2017, I wrote a post about prioritizing cycling projects given projects such as the King Street Pilot and calls to have the John Street environmental assessment reopened. I had argued there was not a need for bike lanes on those streets with alternatives being readily available nearby, but noted Harbord and Bloor Streets – only 400 metres apart – were both able to maintain high cycling volumes. With a public consultation coming up on October 20 for a bikeway along Palmerston and Tecumseth, I decided to revisit this question and ask if there should be more urgent priorities to pursue or if we should pursue bikeways closer apart downtown.
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| A recently installed contraflow on Winona |
For the past few years, one of my biggest complaints about biking in Toronto is the lack of north-south routes north of Davenport. Especially considering my office is at Dufferin and Lawrence which meant riding on steep hills on Caledonia or going the wrong way at times between St. Clair and Eglinton. Finally, the City of Toronto hosted a public consultation on Monday, March 22 for a contraflow bike lane on Winona which could be installed as early as this June or July.
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| Original Peel-Gladstone Proposal (via City of Toronto) |
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| The West Toronto Railpath was part of my original bike commute |
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| Cycle track on Dufferin while under construction in August 2018 |
