After an excruciating 10 hour debate, City Council voted to accept bike lanes on Jarvis Street (as well as improve the pedestrian realm). The debate served mostly to allow right-wing councillors to hear themselves talk as not even their yellow-shirted proponents showed up except three. Meanwhile the chamber was filled with about one hundred eager cyclists at 9:30am sharp to wait for the debate on Jarvis Street bike lanes.
Little did most cyclists realize that a select number of councillors decided to stage a "filibuster" of sorts by taking precious time out of our lives with Catch-22 arguments, brain-numbing personal stories of interactions with cyclists, and attempts to derail the inevitable vote on the Jarvis Street Streetscape Improvement Study with deferral motions. All failed to derail the vote.
In the end the study was accepted. This means that bike lanes are one step closer to reality on Jarvis Street.
Funnily enough the study was not so much about bike lanes per se, but about what to do with one less car lane on Jarvis after City Council had approved removing it in 2001. But bike lanes ended up being the focus, likely because many far-flung councillors have a hate-on for cyclists (except Councillors Cho, Perruzza and a few others).
If only these councillors were forced to experience first-hand what it is like to bike in this city. (A selfish plug: this is of me with a helmet cam and being interviewed by Global TV for their coverage of the Jarvis bike lane "debate".)
From Yvonne at the bike union:
Hey Folks,
What a fantastic way to kick off Bike Month - a day-long City Council debate about a single, bike related issue... The redesign of Jarvis St., including complete bike lanes, was passed at 6:20pm today - 28 to 18 in favour of incorporating sustainable transportation infrastructure into a major redesign project in the downtown core!!
This is a big win for our city's cyclists, and for the Toronto Cyclists Union who got the wheels rolling on this issue last fall by submitting a report to Transportation that showed the viability of bike lanes, in addition to some of the proposed pedestrian realm improvements. This is particularly important because the original scope of the Environmental Assessment (EA) did not include any consideration of cyclists, and was focussed solely on the beautification of the pedestrian realm.
Big thanks to area Councillor Kyle Rae for championing the amendment to the EA for the inclusion of bike lanes that was passed unanimously at the Works and Infrastructure committee meeting 3 weeks ago - this would not have been possible without his strong support and tireless work behind the scenes to secure the vote. It would also not have been possible without the huge turnout of cyclists to council chambers this morning in support of these bike lanes - we filled the seats and the standing room!!
Congratulations and thank you to all two-wheelers on this historic day!
Yvonne Bambrick
Executive Director
Toronto Cyclists Union
Comments
anthony
Interesting to see who voted which way...
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 01:27From:
http://torontocitycouncil.blogspot.com/2009/05/votes-on-pw2415-jarvis-st...
YES Augimeri YES Bussin [Chair] YES Carroll YES Cho YES Davis YES De Baeremaeker YES Di Giorgio YES Filion YES Fletcher YES Giambrone YES Grimes YES Hall YES Heaps YES Kelly YES Mammoliti YES McConnell YES Mihevc YES Milczyn YES Miller YES Moeser YES Moscoe YES Nunziata YES Palacio YES Pantalone YES Perks YES Perruzza YES Rae YES Vaughan
NO Ainslie NO Ashton NO Del Grande NO Feldman NO Ford NO Holyday NO Jenkins NO Lee NO Lindsay Luby NO Minnan-Wong NO Ootes NO Parker NO Shiner NO Stintz NO Thompson NO Walker
Surprises -
Hall - Yes - Wasn't expected, Thanks!
Grimes - Yes (Who had been on the fence)
Milcyzen - Yes - Glad to see this!
Parker - No?? After you rode in on a(n e-)bike and finally saw the road from our perspective?
Who surprised you?
kiwano
Surprises
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 12:20Parker's no huge surprise. He may be generally supportive of bikes, but a lot of the opposition to scrapping the middle lane (bike lane or no) was coming out of his ward (e.g. the "yellow shirts" were all from Moore Park Residents Association). The man can't keep his job for very long if he puts our interests ahead of the people who actually vote for (or against) him.
Kevin Love
Some errors in the reporting
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 07:45I was there and can therefore as a witness correct two errors.
Error #1: The Toronto Star reported this as a 6.3 million dollar project in the second paragraph of the linked article. This is the cost of the project WITHOUT bike lanes. The actual approved project cost is 5.1 million dollars. Bike lanes are cheaper than the pedestrian realm improvements that would be done without them.
Error #2: I counted four "yellow shirts."
Kevin Love
My Letter to the Editor of the Toronto Star
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 08:57Here is the text:
Re: Bikes win in Jarvis overhaul, May 26. This article refers to the cost of the approved project as $6.3 million. This is the cost of the project as originally proposed, without bike lanes. The cost of the project that was actually approved, with bike lanes, is $5.1 million.
Bike lanes are a very inexpensive urban improvement, with the cost of the Jarvis lanes estimated at $50-100 thousand. This is less than 2% of the entire Jarvis improvement project.
AnnieD
Toronto Star also showing wrong graphic
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 13:04The graphic shown is the one without bike lanes!!!
http://multimedia.thestar.com/acrobat/a2/63/1b36ac714a278ff20b564f05535a...
Good grief!
Random cyclist (not verified)
Good news!
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 09:41I love Toronto!
Random cyclist (not verified)
I was there all day, getting
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 10:44I was there all day, getting more frustrated with all the repetitive ignorant comments from Holyday, Ootes et al. Rob Ford was welcome entertainment compared to them. I didn't think they were going to get to the vote and almost left when they discussed moving on to another topic to be held in a private session.
I spoke for a long time with the woman in yellow, she was friendly but upset that her side was seen as being anti-bike. I mentioned Vaughn's comment that it was ironic for Moore Park residents like her to be free to take advantage of a highway through someone else's neighbourhood yet be the first community in Toronto to block traffic to outsiders back in the 70's.
She said that was "different", so I it go.
andrew d (not verified)
My councilor, Cliiff Jenkins,
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 11:12My councilor, Cliiff Jenkins, voted Nay. He's a decent guy, usually fairly level-headed, but he does tend to follow the "opposition" pack a little too much for my taste. Did anyone notice if he said anything during the debate?
The Pedaler (not verified)
Readings
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 11:23Coucillors take great concern in representing the desires of the people that voted for them, and they are reluctant to spend any time correcting their false perceptions.
Change the minds of the voters and the Councillors will follow suit.
The shift in public opinion required is probably not as much as we may think - maybe only 5%.
herb
councillors represent their constituents?
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 20:49Just how exactly does a councillor represent all its constituents views? It's not like they poll them on a regular basis? Do they accept the loudest? The ones with the biggest cheques during election time?
Since City elections are divided by wards it's inevitable that a councillor will mis-represent the views of a substantial portion, if not the majority, of their constituents on any particular issue. So I'd guess that many councillors either choose to stick to their principles and hope for the best, or put feelers out for issues that will ensure they are re-elected.
Kevin Love
How municipal politics works
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 09:20A key driver of municipal politics is the low voter turnout. Toronto's voter turnout in the 2006 election was 39.3%. Since the issues are local, they are not covered by the media that many people use. So many voters are unaware of what they are. This means that money and organization are key.
Money allows someone to frame the debate (or lack thereof) and put his issues before voters who are unaware of the other side of the story. Organization allows people to get out the vote for their side. Everyone who votes represents almost three people who do not vote. So even a small increase in "get out the vote" efforts for one side can sway the election.
On Monday, when cyclists packed the Council Chambers, we demonstrated that we've got discipline and organization. That is THE key success factor for us to use moving into the future.
Voter turnout source:
http://www.toronto.ca/vote2006/results/turnout-by-ward-map.pdf
AnnieD
Case Ootes
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 09:29I thought I posted this yesterday, but must have missed hitting save (either that or it's buried in the wrong thread).
This whole "representing their constituents" angle is particularly puzzling in Ootes's case (pause to giggle at bad pun). The people I know in the area are cyclists. Heck, this is the same area that voted for Jack Layton and Peter Tabuns, the ward is not exactly a hotbed of conservatives and drivers. Am I missing something? Is there a cluster of driving aficionado's with high voter turnout tucked away in the ward somewhere?
I can only hope that residents in the ward are paying attention and feeling particularly "unrepresented" and will remember this when the next election rolls around.
vic
The case for Case
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 09:47In 2006 Case Ootes won with 46.3% of the vote, only 20 more votes than Diane Alexopolous.
From wikipedia:
Shouldn't be too hard to unseat him with a good candidate.
Ben
The council we have is pretty
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 16:12The council we have is pretty bike friendly. A lot of councillors get that we need higher modal shares for cycling and transit, and progress is being made.
There are a few stick-in-the-muds like Ootes, but they only slow the process down. They don't stop it altogether. More might get done without him in there. E.g. all day Monday was spent on the Jarvis ish. To me, this is just a reasonable side effect of living in a democracy. If Ootes lost to Alexopolous, the Jarvis vote may have been 29-15 instead of 28-16.
Ootes is an older councillor. He may retire soon. Or maybe Darryl Smith won't run, and their supporters will switch to whoever is the Millerite (to borrow Sue Ann Levy's term) in ward 29. Miller himself said that Ootes has 'got to go' in the run up to the 2006 election, he just didn't say when.
Random cyclist (not verified)
Jenkins was one of the more
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 11:50Jenkins was one of the more irritating filibusterers, trying to get idiotic amendments just to delay. He go into several heated arguments with the speaker, I was hoping he would be thrown out.
andrew d (not verified)
Really? shoot. When I saw him
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 12:29Really? shoot. When I saw him at an all-candidates meeting last election, he was refreshingly sane. I guess that's what increasing partisanship at City Hall gets you.
I wonder when the minutes of the meeting will be posted.
Random cyclist (not verified)
Kevin, good on you for
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 11:48Kevin, good on you for clearing that up. The councillors digging for dirt and finding $1m in bike lane savings was pretty funny.
Another distinction that is totally lost on the Sun and 680 news is that the refurbishment was going to narrow Jarvis to 4 lanes regardless. Whether that space was used for sidewalks, tree planters, or bicycles was the decision that was made through the EA and public works process.
Motorists were going to lose a lane from the get-go. But it's a catchier headline (and more adversarial politics) to pretend this is about bikes vs. cars.
Random cyclist (not verified)
I tire quickly of public
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 12:29I tire quickly of public comments about this new story stating that "cyclists don't pay for this"
I pay taxes too - AND cycling infrastructure is relatively cheap to boot.
Seymore Bikes
The Green Mile
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 21:17One of the facts that has been left out of the discussion regarding the Jarvis bike lanes is the size of the project.
IT'S ONE MILE OF ROAD!
Torontonians like to play the Green card to make themselves feel better, but don't get that confused with reducing 5 lanes of traffic down to 4 for a mere mile.
What a joke - I'll bet that if you had asked the Councillors who voted against Jarvis how long the propossed Bike Lanes were they wouldn't have known the answer.