A step backwards as City fails to make Union Station at Front Street safer for cyclists

City Council on March 5th adopted the plan for Front Street with a more pedestrian friendly design that reduces the width to two wider lanes. Yet in the process they ignored the needs of cyclists by not including bike lanes, and even made access to Union Station worse by moving bike parking and BIXI stations away. What it did keep intact is loading and taxi zones and even places for cars to do u-turns, all of which meant something had to be compromised, namely bike lanes.

At the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) meeting on February 15th cyclists got a brief reprieve from a plan that was more or less excluding cyclists. PWIC agreed to get more input to see how the Front Street in front of Union Station Plan could be made safer and more convenient for cyclists. The Acting General Manager of Transportation Services was to report directly to City Council on comments from the Design Review Panel with respect to the recommended reconfiguration. The main concern was the exclusion of cycling-specific infrastructure - no bike lanes and less bike parking were to be the rule - so the comments were to address this concern. However and perhaps conveniently, the Acting General Manager was unable to meet with the Design Review Panel to discuss these concerns. The Panel calendar was just full booked up. So instead of delaying the decision until the panel could meet, full steam ahead with a token response to cyclists:

The Design Review Panel (DRP) did not have any scheduled meetings between the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting on February 15, 2012 and this Council meeting. Therefore, there was no opportunity to present this proposal to the full Panel. Staff attempted to arrange a meeting with the Chair and the Vice-Chair of the DRP as an alternate plan but, unfortunately, they were unavailable to meet during this time.

The process for improving Front Street in front of Union Station started under Mayor Miller. It appears that not even for Miller was cycling a priority enough to insist that the City planners take the Bike Plan and Metrolinx guidelines for cycling access seriously. It seems that cyclists were mostly in a blindspot during Miller's tenure at City Hall, as they are under Ford as well.

Much was done under Miller to improve transit but the implementation of the Bike Plan and the incorporation of cycling into all new infrastructure has suffered. We can't just call out our Mayor and suburban councillors who are vocally against bike lanes. Downtown councillors have also done little - and some have actively obstructed bike lanes - compared to councillors in other North American cities. Toronto will soon fall further behind and we will continue to struggle to get councillors to even consider separated bike lanes as necessary while cities like Chicago and New York go full speed ahead. If you want to feel sad for Toronto, just read Chicago's 2012 plan for separated bike lanes in this year alone.

herb : 13 years 3 months ago
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Public Meeting - Cycling and the Eglinton LRT, Monday March 19th

Since the Eglinton LRT is back from the dead, it looks like the bike lanes planned in the EA may also be back!

There is a public meeting Monday, March 19th at 6:30PM in the Northern District Public Library, 2nd floor meeting room, 40 Orchard View Blvd. (Just north of Yonge & Eglinton)

Goals: Identify opportunities for cycling advocacy created by the LRT, learn about planning initiatives under way, and set cyclist strategy.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is currently in the planning stages. Stretching for 25 kilometres from Black Creek Drive to McCowan station, the project cuts through 13 City wards and will transform the heart of Toronto. Multiple organizations are working on the project, including Metrolinx, TTC, and the City's planning and transportation departments. This is a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity for cyclists to advocate for complete streets across the entire city.

The changes along Eglinton will have numerous impacts on cycling, including:
removal of hundreds of buses and dedicated bus lanes from the street
changes to the crossings on Eglinton
changes to traffic patterns, car parking, bike parking, road surfaces
changed connections with off-road trails, ravines, and on-street bike routes
new bike lanes on the above-ground sections (Laird Dr. to Kennedy Station)
Eglinton is important to cyclists! Not only is it a major east-west corridor, with significant residential, employment and retail concentrations, but many bike routes cross it north-south.

This is our chance to identify potential issues and advocate for improvements to the cycling infrastructure along/across Eglinton. On St. Clair, cyclists were not part of the conversation, and the resulting streetcar line has become a barrier and a hazard to cyclists.

As well, this is a huge opportunity to support our local businesses affected by the LRT construction with a "Buy Local" campaign encouraging shoppers to bike or walk to Eglinton.

Planners and other representatives from the City of Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown team, the TTC, and other involved agencies will be joining us to provide background and answer questions on the project.

herb : 13 years 3 months ago
Tags: bike infrastructure, bike lanes, transit

American city leaders learning bike design practices from the best

It's been pointed out (by Streetsfilm here and by others) that the Dutch actually had to work at getting the best bike infrastructure in the world, it wasn't in the genetics. (If that were true I would have seen a lot more Dutch farmers biking everywhere while growing up in rural Alberta.) This film looks at a recent trip to the Netherlands by American city leaders.

Recenty Streetfilms joined a group of city leaders from Chicago, Washington, DC and Miami on a study tour of the Netherlands, through the Bikes Belong Foundation's Bicycling Design Best Practices Program. The program shows American transportation professionals and policy makers real life examples of what it looks like to invest in cost-effective bicycle facilities. This video takes you on a tour of the incredibly well thought out street designs in the Netherlands. You'll see the infrastructure, hear from the experts on the ground, and watch the tour participants react and imagine how they might implement similar designs in American cities.

herb : 13 years 3 months ago
Tags: bike culture, bike infrastructure, politics