bloor street bike lane

Bike lanes get broad support from merchants and customers in the Bloor West and Annex neighbourhoods along Bloor Street. According to the recent study by the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation and Clean Air Partnership, 62% of Annex visitors prefer a bike lane, and 58% of Bloor West visitors prefer either a wider sidewalk or bike lane.

Meanwhile the City will be soon choosing who will be conducting an environmental assessment for a Bloor Danforth bike lane. The Globe makes it seem that this is a new decision but the plan to do an EA started a while ago. The request for proposals for the EA study went out already in January. The ball got rolling on this long ago but the media has make it seem like a shocker.

And speaking of shockers, mayoral candidate Rocco "No bike lanes in my city" Rossi, still opposes the very idea of a bike lane on Bloor, stating "Bloor-Danforth is as major an arterial as you can get, from one end to the other. I think it would be a disaster."

An earthquake in Haiti is a disaster, Rossi. Someone ramming and killing a cyclist on Bloor is a disaster. Cyclists aren't going to disappear just because you want them to. A bike lane on Bloor simply means the cyclists who are going to be on that road anyway are going to be given just a bit more breathing room.

On Wednesday, March 4th, noon, the Take the Tooker Bloor bike lane folk will meet at Christie Pits (the park at Bloor and Christie) and ride together down to City Hall to present a 5000 signature petition to Councillor Adrian Heaps calling for the Bloor bike lane.

Angela Bischoff states:

In the 3 years since we launched this campaign in Tooker's honor (Mar. 3, 2006), this issue has become the number one priority for cyclists in Toronto, although at the time we launched the campaign people thought we were crazy.

Angela wants to remind you to visit the Tooker Gomberg Memorial Library at the Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina (at Queen), 4th floor, open during office hours.

Tooker Gomberg was an inspirational and passionate activist and Angela's partner. You can read more about him on the Greenspiration site, or be inspired by some of his quotes:

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blockquote>- Have hope, passion and confidence that valuable change can and does happen because individuals take bold initiative.

• You can easily join the millions of people around the world working towards ecological health and sustainability just by doing something.
• Go forth and agitate.
• Our greatest hurtle is not money; it's imagining how things could be different.
• Am I dreaming? Of course I am. But what's the alternative? I would rather dream that things can be better.

Bike lanes can be good for business, reports the Clean Air Partnership in their report, Bike Lanes, On-street Parking and Business (pdf). The study was conducted partly (mostly?) by the former TCAT project lead, Fred Sztabinski (as far as I know). The study focused on the Bloor Annex area, interviewing merchants and patrons in the area. The surprising result is that few patrons arrive by car and businesses will suffer little and may gain much if on-street parking is removed for bike lanes. As you can see by the photo I chose from last year's Bells on Bloor ride, this is good fodder for making Bloor into a Tooker freeway for cyclists.

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blockquote>Contrary to common public perception, the evidence shows that removing on-street parking to install a bicycle lane or widened sidewalk would likely increase not decrease commercial activity. "This report should alleviate concerns that downtown business owners have about on-street bicycle lanes", said Eva Ligeti, Executive Director of the Clean Air Partnership.

The study – conducted in July of 2008 – surveyed the opinions and preferences of merchants and patrons on Bloor Street and analyzed parking usage data in the Annex area. Among the study’s findings:

• Only 10% of patrons drive to the Bloor Annex neighbourhood;

Thanks to Michael Polanyi:

URGE CITY COUNCIL TO SUPPORT NEW BIKE LANES FOR BLOOR-DANFORTH ON OCT 22!

New commuter bike lanes may FINALLY be on the way!

On Monday, October 22, City Council will decide whether to adopt recommendations from a new report on sustainable transportation (http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/pw/bgrd/background...).

Urge your Councillor to vote in support of the report and its recommendation for a new East-West bike corridor by 2009 AND a feasibility study for a new Bloor-Danforth bike lane from Victoria Park to Royal York!

CALL or E-MAIL your City Councillor TODAY at:

• Telephone: 416-338-0338
• Email: click on this link to find your councillor or if you know your councillor’s last name, email councillor_LASTNAME@toronto.ca
• Send a copy of your email to accesstoronto@toronto.ca and ask that it be forwarded to all councillors.

The Sierra Club of Canada is hosting the City of Toronto's 2007 Car Free Day celebration on Yonge Street and Yonge-Dundas Square on Thursday, September 20 from 10 am to 2:00 pm.

World CarFree Day is this Saturday, September 22 in Toronto.

Come out and see how much fun carfreedom can be! Host a Parking Metre Party along Queen St West from 1 p.m., then join the Carfree Parade at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. assembly at Trinity Bellwoods, to head east).

How to host a parking metre party:
1. Scout out a parking spot where you'd like to spend the afternoon
2. Park your non-motorized "vehicle" (bike, trike, roller-skates, dinky-car etc.) along Queen West
3. Pay the meter: for $1.50 per hour the spot is yours! (Be sure to display your parking receipt on the "dash" of your "vehicle"!)
4. Have fun!

It's fun! It's legal! Bring your fellow velorutionaries!

Then, on Sunday, September 23, Bells on Bloor invites you to join their pedal powered parade.

We will ring our bells all the way from High Park to the ROM. Free bells will be distributed by Bell Captains. If I am given the honour of being a Bell Captain, my name will be Bella Lugosi. (Major Belle E. Ache has not yet confirmed my status.)