Saundercook

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.