bike infrastructure

City staff pulled a surprise move at the PWIC meeting. In an appended agenda ("New Business") they snuck in 16.1km of bike lanes to be approved on Lawrence Avenue East in Scarborough. Our mole in the city failed to warn us of this development. This was made even more interesting by the fact that this was done using the new approval process.

The old approval process had staff complete the detailed design work before the approval, including any required by-law changes. In the new approval process staff propose to put a bike lane on a street and work out the details after the approval. Staff are also given direction to put in any necessary by-laws changes or amendments after the detailed designs are complete. The reasoning behind this change is that the current approval process is very time consuming of staff time for plans which may not be approved, and that too much bickering occurs over small sections of the proposal (as we saw on Annette) that it becomes difficult for staff to meet the targets set out before them. This change was asked for by the mayor in a meeting with Gary Welsh, the director of Transportation Services.

An update on the Bloor Street court challenge from lawyer Albert Koehl, on behalf of the Safe Cycling Coalition

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blockquote>A loss in the courts – but nonetheless a step forward for cyclists

On October 29, 2008 the Ontario Superior Court of Justice rejected an
application for judicial review brought by William Ashley China Ltd. to declare that the City of Toronto’s decision to proceed with the Bloor St. Transformation Project was illegal. The ruling was a defeat for cycling advocates --- who intervened in the case --- but not a loss for the movement to make Toronto safe for cyclists.

Bike is smarter!The project is a $25 million redevelopment of Bloor between Avenue Rd. and Church St. undertaken jointly by the City and the local Business Improvement Area. The project will widen sidewalks, add trees, and remove 43 parking spaces -- but it squanders an important opportunity to reduce motor vehicle traffic (in fact volume and speed may actually increase) and to provide for bike lanes, even though this is one of the busiest --- and most dangerous --- cycling routes in Toronto.

Yesterday car drivers were calling into talk radio to complain about the increased funding for cycling infrastructure in the proposed budget. As much as I like fixed potholes as much as the next driver, why not give cyclists a break for once? Martin Koob explains the good news about the City's proposed budget items for cycling and the public hearings on November 5th.

I have to say this budget marks a significant turning point in the implementation of the Bike Plan.

On October 30th Mayor David Miller and Budget Committee Chair Shelly Carrol introduced the City of Toronto's Capital Budget. Press Release: Toronto’s 2009 Capital Budget supports growth and liveability. The Bike Plan figures prominently in this budget with an increase in funding for 2009 to $8 million and a commitment of $70 million to fund the building of the Bikeway Network in the 2009-2013 capital plan in order to complete the Bikeway Network by 2012 as promised by Mayor Miller. These funds will allow the building of 410 KM of bicycle lanes, 122 KM of shared roadways and 83 KM of off road paths. The budget also contains measures to provide more bicycle parking including funding for the first Bicycle Station - secure parking facility.

Annette October 2008

Council voted last night to install the bike lanes on Annette Street from Jane to Runnymead.

Over 200 people wrote letters, and it appears to have been a key part of the success.

Environmental Assessments (EA) are one of the ways to get involved in the goings on the city. A Municipal Class C EA just started for the Fort York Pedestrian and Cycling bridge. The plan is to complete the bridge in time for the Bicentennial Celebrations commemorating the War of 1812.

It's been in the works for a while now. For a sampling of what's been written so far see Fort York's info here (pdf) and here (pdf, see page 7); TCAT here and here; and the City of Toronto here (pdf).

To get involved, or at least on the mailing list, contact:

City Of Toronto
Waterfront Secretariat
Mr. Stephan McKenna
City Hall, 12th floor, East Tower
100 Queen St W
Toronto, ON
M5H 2N2
smkenna@toronto.ca

Note: This bridge is independent of the Bathurst St Bridge, which should also be able to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, also needs to be completed by 2012, and is written about by transit advocate Steve Munro.

I'm sure there's some interest out there on this. Any great ideas?

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blockquote>Call for submissions - Deadline November 5, 2008

Call for submissions (PDF)

Do you live in the downtown west-end in the area bounded by Bloor and the Gardiner, from Keele to Bathurst? Do your ride a bicycle through that area? If you answered yes, we want to hear from you!

In partnership with the Toronto Cyclists Union, the City of Toronto is seeking your ideas on bikeway projects for west-end Toronto. We are looking for quick fixes that can be built in 2009-2010, so please keep in mind potential hurdles associated with your suggestions.

The west-end challenge:
Currently, there is a "black hole" in the bikeway network in the downtown west-side. Street car tracks on east-west arteries, disjointed local streets, and railway corridors all pose challenges to accommodating bikeways.

The Star's Fixer weighs in on cyclists on the sidewalks issue as he sifts through the voluminous emails he received from peds and bikers alike. The solution: get cyclists off the sidewalk and onto a bike lane. But what if I live out in the suburbs and must take Kingston Road to get anywhere? you ask. Get a bike lane installed.

And it'll happen really soon (and by "soon" I mean eventually):

City Councillor Adrian Heaps (Ward 35, Scarborough Southwest), who chairs council's cycling advisory committee, said continuing to expand Toronto's growing network of bike lanes, along with educating cyclists on how to use them safely and confidently, will eventually steer some cyclists off sidewalks.

Blink and you might miss it.

It should have been easy.

The staff report (pdf) strongly recommended the installation of bike lanes. The community came out several times to overwhelmingly support the bike lanes. And staff and the community continued our push at the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting on Friday. The traffic impacts were expected to be in the range of negligible to minimal, and the impact of the availability of on street motor-vehicle parking was also expected to be minimal.

So with no good reason to not put in Bike lanes and strong community support for them, why did we not get them?