Ward 13

Four sections of bike lanes were on the agenda at today's PWIC meeting: All carried. That is: what we are getting is what was on the agenda.

At dispute was a section of Annette from Jane to Runnymede; this section was not on the agenda before the PWIC but many cyclists felt it should have been. A total of 14 people gave deputations about Annette Street: 9 came out for the bike lanes, 3 were against.

We got a win; mostly. The bad news for many cyclists, and would be cyclists, is that we’re not getting bike lanes on all of Annette St. right now. The section in dispute has been referred back to Councillor Saundercook and city staff in order to meet with area residents and businesses owners to see if this matter can be peacefully resolved in time for the October PWIC meeting. This compromise was suggested by Councillor Grimes, and was the option eventually adopted by the committee.

Bike Plan: Annette St. and Dupont St.

Over the last few weeks, I have had some communications with Adam Giambrone and his staff. They informed me about the Dupont St. bike lanes that are being planned, and announced it publicly on Wednesday evening at a meeting of the South Junction Triangle Residents Association.

According to Chris Gallop (Adam Giambrone's constituency assistant), the current timeline for implementation is: "The report is going to the Works Committee next Tuesday, City Council at the end of the month, and if approved they should be installed by approximately the end of the summer."

Here is the map (PDF) of the proposed Annette and Dupont St. bike lanes, including the on-street parking configurations.

More background and design details about Annette, St., Dupont St., Pharmacy Rd. (Scarborough), and others can be found in this document (PDF) too.

I also just received this email from the City's Bike Plan people this afternoon:

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South Kingsway and Queensway Interchange

One of tomorrow's Bike Month activities is a ride around the South Kingsway / Queensway cloverleaf, presented by the Toronto Urban Renewal Network (TURN).

When: Tuesday May 26, 2008, 7:30am
Where: Meet on Bloor St. by the main High Park entrance. Ride down to Queensway for 8:00.

You're probably thinking to yourself right now: "Uggh.... Why would I ever want to ride through that awful highway-style arterial interchange?"

Well, that's precisely the point of this ride.

As part of a local re-urbanization effort, the City of Toronto planned to make this intersection more pedestrian and cyclist friendly. Really, The City was mostly on our side! However, last year the Swansea Ratepayers Association protested, and along with Ward 13 councillor Saundercook had the Environmental Assessment cancelled, with the intention of leaving this intersection exactly as it is now.

Bike Plan: Annette St. area

West end cyclists may want to attend tomorrow evening's public meeting about the Annette St. bike lane. 6:30pm at the Annette Recreation Centre. Details about the meeting are posted here.

I frequently ride along Annette St., especially the section between Dundas and Jane streets. It's actually a pretty decent east-west route through that part of the city, except for the fact that the pavement is in absolutely terrible condition. It's primarily a residential area, with some small shops, schools, and several churches along the way.

As part of this year's re-paving, it appears they will finally be putting in the bike lanes that have been promised in the Bike Plan for ages. Personally, I'd be happy enough if they just fixed the pavement and didn't put in any bad cycling facilities. But if they can put in something good (at the expense of parking) I'm all for it.

This lane would connect to the Runnymede bike lane (north-south), a southbound route to the waterfront via High Park Ave., the Humber River trail system via the Baby Point area, the West Toronto Rail Path, and also continue eastward along an eventual Dupont St. bike lane.

I'm not sure if there has been any community opposition to this bike lane, but it might be a good idea for cyclists to attend this meeting so that we can 1) find out more about the project, and 2) provide input so that it gets done in a bike-friendly way.

A few points that I think are worth bringing up at the meeting:

The Queensway at Windemere
As first reported just over a week ago by Martin Koob at bikeToronto, new bike lanes have been installed on The Queensway between Windemere Ave. and Claude Ave. (map).

I often don't like bike lanes, especially when they are poorly designed or implemented, or when their state of disrepair makes me want to avoid them altogether. However, I think this is a welcome addition to this busy arterial road, and through this part of the city. Over the past week I had a few opportunities to ride this section of new bike lane at various times of day. Read on for more of my thoughts and photos.

The following note was submitted by Marty Collier, who is leading the charge to re-open the South Kingsway / Queensway Environmental Assessment (see map). Please email Marty if you would like to get involved.

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Attention All Pedestrians, Cyclists, Bladers and Transit Users: South Kingsway on TPC Agenda

Responding to a letter from the Toronto Urban Renewal Network (TURN), the Toronto Pedestrian Committee (TPC) will be considering a motion to re-open the South Kingsway/Queensway Environmental Assessment (EA) on Wednesday, September 12th at 3:00pm. At issue is the opportunity for the City to use almost $1 million to make progressive pedestrian, cycling and transit access improvements that meet the City's Official Plan, Pedestrian Charter and Bike Plan or simply re-construct the 1950s style interchange virtually "as is".