Councillor Glen De Baeremaeker wished for bike lanes this Christmas. Did he get his wish or just a lump of coal for going outside the Bike Plan?
De Baeremaeker revealed his wish list at last week's meeting of the city's public works and infrastructure committee, of which the avid cyclist is the chair, and no, he wasn't sitting on Mayor David Miller's knee at the time.
Using both his hands, De Baeremaeker ticked off his bike lane plan that includes four kilometres along Middlefield Road from Steeles to McCowan; three kilometres on McCowan from Middlefield to Ellesmere; 13 kilometres on Ellesmere from Victoria Park to Kingston Road; 11 kilometres on Markham Road from Steeles to Kingston Road; 16 kilometres on Kingston from Birchmount Road to basically the Rouge River; six kilometres on Progress from Kennedy up to Sheppard; and 14 kilometres along Eglinton from Victoria Park to Kingston Road.
Councillor Heaps pointed out the 2009 bike plan budget is already taking shape with a focus on downtown (this is the place where downtown cyclists rejoice) because it fits in well with his promised bikesharing initiative.
I congratulate De Baeremaeker for taking some initiative in finding some good, easy Scarborough routes. Though I think the City can serve most cyclists better by focusing on downtown, it's useful to have some cycling routes where the white lines practically paint themselves.
Comments
geoffrey (not verified)
more De Baeremaekers in the west please
Wed, 12/31/2008 - 09:44And what of the Horner bikelanes? Grimes lobbied against them as they would inconvenience truck traffic. So what of cyclists attempting to access homes and businesses on Horner? They are expected to take their lives in their hands and stay out of the way of motorists?
Etobicoke has become the last stand for the autoholic. The Royal York bikelanes were incorporated into motor traffic lanes and not replaced. The grade separated bike lanes that once lined Weston Road north of the 401 have been absorbed into the background. Likewise those on Scarlett Rd. Park paths marked on the bike map in some places are not even locateable. Notable of these is that running south from Bloor into Neilson Park. The Derry Downs trails still do not meet despite it has been over three years since that section of Finch was washed out. What of the South Kingsway bikelanes? Why were the pavement markings not repainted? Why have they been allowed to become overgrown with car-casses?
Rob Ford: posterchild for Etobicoke transportation policy. Draw the curtain. Cycling is against West Toronto transportation policy.
Darren_S
The Bike Plan retired and the Ghost of Harris.
Wed, 12/31/2008 - 14:37The work on the Bike Plan was started a decade ago. Ignored for so long no one realized it was retired shortly after coming into being. Its biggest fault is that it took no consideration for what may come in the future. It was never prepared to deal with lousy politicians, super high gas prices and rapidly changing environmental concern. It was barely a match for the 80's let alone the time it was written in, the 21st century. It is time to put it out of its misery by putting it in its grave.
This nonsense of playing downtown against the suburbs is so yesterday. Harris made a good whipping boy but it is time to move one. Cyclists should not be pigeonholed to the downtown. No more half assed half cracked bike facilities. Put a bike lane on Lawrence, do it from one end of the city to the other. Imagine if they did bus routes like they did bike routes. Enough already.
chephy (not verified)
I disagree with the
Thu, 01/01/2009 - 19:25I disagree with the statement that "the City can serve most cyclists better by focusing on downtown". Firstly, downtown already has the lion's share of the city's bike lanes, and secondly even without any bike lanes it's pretty easy to navigate on a bike due to the lower speed of traffic. It's far more important to put the bike lanes in the suburbs - that's when they're needed most. Unless, of course, you subscribe to the notion that the suburbs are a completely lost cause anyway and are not worth bothering with since no one in the 'burbs would ever ride a bike. But I don't believe that. Downtown-only cycling is a pathetic notion.
anthony
What's the answer we want? That will define the question.
Fri, 01/02/2009 - 22:44If we want to install bike lanes merely to "reward" cyclists that are already riding, then new bike lanes should only go in downtown.
If we build bike lanes strictly to protect the cyclists who are already riding then most of them will go in downtown, only a few new bike lanes should be installed in the "suburbs".
If we build bike lanes to attract people who are not currently riding a bike, that is to create new cyclists, then they should all go in only in the suburbs.
The reality is that we build bike lanes for all of these reasons. Which means we need bike lanes everywhere.
And as I'm just as likely to ride (with or without my my famly) in the downtown as I am where I live, in South Etobicoke, I'd really appreciate the bike lanes being every where.
And as a cycling advocate, I advocate for bike lanes every where. Rich neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods, commercial and industrial areas, residential areas; we need to move through and have business in all of these places. We install roads and run public transit to, and through, these areas -- and we install sidewalks as well -- all these places need bike lanes, too.
anthony
Cycling in Etobicoke vs Etobicoke vs Downtown
Sun, 01/04/2009 - 18:08While De Baeremaeker pubicly ponders which roads in Scarborough should have bike lanes, transportation services is working behind the scenes loking at which roads in Etobicoke should be getting bike lanes.
Understand that I want bike lanes downtown, too. And any road, like College, which already has cycling as a signifigant modal share should simply have bike lanes. This is a "reward the cyclists" thinking of bike lanes.
But bike lanes are built less for the cyclists already on the roads than they are for those not yet cycling. That is we build bike lanes to entice people to cycle, and not to reward the people who already ride. And from this perspective it's the former suburbs that need the bike lanes much more than downtown. The modal share of cycling is 30% in some areas, higher on some roads at some parts of the day. The modal share of cycling is at or near 0% in too many areas in Etobicoke and Scarborough. But the thoughts of where to put these bike lanes in are not about where would cyclists be best served as much as where would it be expedient and palatable to put bike lanes in.
Of course we know that it is better to ride downtown because densities are high, trip lengths are short, and congestion is high which makes motor vehicle (and surface transit) speeds low; all of this makes using a bike an ideal mode of personal transport.
But we are looking to change our former suburbs. Transit city and bike lanes are but two of the things we seek to change. We are also looking at adding more density which would also be well served by better public transit and bike lanes. And it is always harder to put these in later than to put them in today.
If you have ideas of where cycling routes should go in Etobicoke, (or anywhere else in the city) you are always free to offer your ideas to the city at bikeplan@toronto.ca, and you should also look at getting involved with the Toronto Cyclists Union (if you're not already) as the city has already shown that it is willing to work with the Bike Bnion.