Open house on Sherbourne Street separated bicycle lane designs

Montreal separated bike lane - probably not exactly how Sherbourne will look

You are invited to an open house to review designs for separated bike lanes on Sherbourne, likely to be approved and installed this year.

When: January 26 5:00 PM-8:00
Where: Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School Gym - 444 Sherbourne St. (at Wellesley)

You can read up on City's info on separated bikeways. What is likely to be a contentious aspect of the separated bike lanes is the removal and offsetting of all on-street car parking, some of which will be moved to side streets. Hopefully this won't hinder it.

If you can't attend you can call the cycling infrastructure voicemail: 416-338-1066 or email: bikesherbourne@toronto.ca

From City's page:

The existing Sherbourne Street bike lanes were installed in 1996. On July 12, 2011, City Council directed City staff to proceed with detailed design and consultation to upgrade the Sherbourne bike lanes with the aim to better separate cars and bikes and improve safety for cyclists. The construction of the upgraded bike lanes is scheduled to start in summer 2012 in combination with the resurfacing of Sherbourne Street.

Separated bike lanes have been implemented in Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver and are popular in hundreds of other cities around the world. Sherbourne is the first of a series of separated bike lanes approved by Council to improve the cycling network in downtown Toronto.

Design Considerations
Separated bike lanes require more width than the existing painted bike lanes. In order to maintain the traffic flow and efficient TTC bus service along Sherbourne Street, the new design will result in the following changes:

Removal of all on-street parking on Sherbourne
Left-turns restricted at King Street and Shuter Street during rush hours
The design will maintain vehicle access to all connecting driveways and laneways along Sherbourne Street. In addition, approximately 27 new on-street parking spaces will be added to some east-west streets off of Sherbourne Street to partially offset the loss of parking on Sherbourne Street.

Affected City agencies and departments are involved in the design process to ensure the needs of City services are addressed. This includes:

TTC Bus service
Wheel-Trans pick-up/drop-off
Fire and emergency access
Curb-side waste collection
Snow removal and street cleaning
Design details are still being finalized and we would appreciate your review and feedback. View the draft designs at our January 26 public open house.

Design and Construction Time Line
Design and construction timing will vary by section as described below.

Elm Ave. to Bloor St.

No change to the existing bike lanes.
Bloor St. to Gerrard St.

No major road works – localized surface repairs where needed in 2012.
Bike lanes maintained at road level.
Mountable curbs, flexible bollards (short poles) and painted buffers to separate bike and traffic lanes.
Gerrard St. to Front St.

Roadway resurfacing in 2012 enables permanent cycle track design.
Cycle Track – raised bike lane at sidewalk level.
Separated by rolled curb with a painted buffer between cycle track and traffic lanes.
Front St. to Lake Shore Blvd.

2013 roadway reconstruction – permanent cycle track design.
Lake Shore Blvd. to Queens Quay

2013 Waterfront Toronto reconstruction.
To be designed in consultation with Waterfront Toronto.