Jarvis

Photos of Critical Mass, June 2011 by Tino Reis.

Reaching across the divide.

Support from many.

Jarvis is turning out to be a hot topic encouraging hundreds of cyclists to show up for Critical Mass this evening.

Some advocacy is coalescing. The Bike Union has started a campaign to save the Jarvis bike lanes, calling cyclists to contact their local councillors, call Rob Ford, sign their petition, and show up on July 12/13 (we won't know the exact time) to show councillors that taking out the bike lanes is not all that popular (facebook event). Another petition has also been posted (maybe they can present the results together)

Dave Meslin was one of the strongest believers in giving Ford and company a chance. The vote against Jarvis, Pharmacy and Birchmount broke that belief as well as his belief that the Mayor is actually willing to listen to constituents. It doesn't mean that Meslin has given up, in fact, Meslin believes that Jarvis can be saved; that cyclists can organize and that enough councillors will listen to defeat it.

The contentious Jarvis bike lanes should be operational by the end of July. Transportation Services will be removing the reversible centre lane and hardware starting Friday July 16. Depending on who you are this will either be the end of the world as we know it, or a small addition to a street network that is safer for cyclists.

Read more about the Jarvis Streetscape improvements, and read the press release:

News Release
July 14, 2010

Installation of bike lanes on Jarvis Street begins this Friday

The City of Toronto's Transportation Services Division will begin the installation of bike lanes on Jarvis Street (from Queen Street East to Charles Street) on Friday, July 16, continuing until late July.

As a result of this work, Jarvis Street will be transformed from five lanes of traffic to four, with two bicycle lanes. In order to undertake this work safely, a series of partial road closures and lane reductions will be required.

The following is a summary of the work:

Friday, July 16 - The removal of pay-and-display parking machines and the installation of no-stopping regulations on the roadway will occur.

Friday, July 16 (evening) - The centre reversible lane will be taken out of operation in both directions.

Saturday, July 17 or Sunday, July 18 (weather permitting) - Temporary pavement markings will be installed to mark the closure of the centre lane. This work will take place during the evening.

Hi all,

Mayor Miller is is trying to capture the positive energy that occurs at the start of Bike Month and channel it to encourage council to pass the Bike Lanes on Jarvis. To do this Mayor Miller has asked for the Jarvis Street Bike Lanes to be the FIRST item of regular business on the agenda to be dealt with Monday morning.

The free breakfast in Nathan Phillips ends at 9:30 just when the City Council begins it's meeting. We have an excellent opportunity to fill City Hall with cyclists and bring the positive energy that cyclists have into the council chambers, and hopefully encourage some additional votes to go our way. As I'm sure you heard/read in the news today, the vote at council is expected to be just as close as it was for making TTC an "essential service."

Spread this far and wide and try to encourage people to fill in the seats in the Council Chambers on Monday Morning, right after the free breakfast.