Queens Quay vastly improved for cycling for everyone but still some wrinkles

Looks so much better. Works so much better. We now have a true separation from cars from Etobicoke to the Beach! A really useful and comfortable bikeway (sure, it's a multi-use trail but it really looks like a bikeway). Bike-specific lights.

Even so there are some wrinkles. While people cycling now don't have to share with cars, there will be ongoing tension with pedestrians. It was forward thinking to make the multi-use path asphalt to make it look less like a place to walk. However, more can be done to encourage walkers to choose the space exclusive to walking.

One spot that will become a real pain is on the east end of Harbourfront Centre at the Portland Slip where the bike path disappears and everyone is squeezed into a narrow section.

On Twitter Anton Lodder pointed out the spot:

Waterfront Toronto is collecting feedback on the new Queens Quay. Have your say!

They're already aware of some issues and are planning to make some changes. Those relevant to the cycling infrastructure:

  • We’ve heard from many of you that you’re concerned about the gap in the Martin Goodman Trail as you cross the Portland Slip at Queens Quay and Dan Leckie. The ultimate vision for this spot – a WaveDeck – is included in both our Central Waterfront precinct plan and the City of Toronto’s proposed Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Plan but is currently unfunded. This will create the necessary space for a wide promenade separate from the Martin Goodman Trail. We explored the possibility of creating a temporary deck over the lake in this area, but because building any structure over the lake is complex, this was a prohibitively expensive solution. In the short-term, we’re working with the City of Toronto to determine how best to alert cyclists to the 60-metre gap in the trail (line painting or additional signs). We’re also assessing an interim solution that would create more space at this pinch point. Because this extension of the Martin Goodman Trail was only approved and tendered in January 2015, there was no time to implement any such solution before the Pan Am / Parapan Am Games. We felt it was more important to open the new Martin Goodman Trail from Bathurst to Stadium Road with a less-than-perfect solution in this short area than not to open it at all.
  • We’ve recommended that the City approve standard trail signs to mark the Martin Goodman Trail along the south side of Queens Quay
  • We’ve heard that people would like stop signs on the south side of Queens Quay for cyclists crossing at Stadium Road and Little Norway Crescent and are prioritizing that request

Waterfront Toronto doesn't provide any guidance on when and how the pinch will get funded. Perfectly understandable that there wasn't enough time to figure that out—the whole section west of Spadina was last minute. A great improvement over the mess that would have been.

Perhaps Councillor Joe Cressy could use a bit of the big pot of Section 37 money to pay for this small bit of infrastructure? Surely, there's money somewhere. Toronto has money to spend a half billion on 3000 drivers so why not a few thousand on this?

herb : 9 years 4 months ago
Tags:

City Hall die-in is a start: Zero Deaths campaigners have to be in it for the long haul

Three people who were cycling have died so far this year, and twenty-one who were walking. This morning over 150 cyclists staged a die-in in front of City Hall. Their demands: adopt a zero tolerance on road fatalities, increase the cycling budget from around $8 to $20 million (to put it in line with Montreal's) and build a minimum grid of protected bike lanes and bicycle boulevards. (Photo credit: Martin Reis)

The people cycling were Adam Excell, Toronto architect Roger du Toit and Peter (Zhi Yong) Kang. It'll take a lot more work to compile the list of everyone who was killed while walking.

See more here, here and here.

Right now Toronto has no plan to reduce road fatalities. Then very few North American cities acknowledge this. NYC just adopted Vision Zero but it's going to be a very long exercise fraught with setbacks and controversy. Compared to NYC, Toronto is actually safer but that doesn't mean we should become complacent. Try telling any of the more than twenty families whose loved ones died this year that those deaths were acceptable losses. No family is exempt; no person is 100% safe from dying on our roads.

Cycling campaigners have fought for safer roads for decades with a scattering of success. In order to change the complacency in government a sustained, long-term campaign is necessary. Only then do we have a chance that our mayors will care just as much about human life as they do about drivers shaving off seconds on their commute. The shift didn't happen by accident in NYC, it took a lot of work by organizations like Transportation Alternatives.

A packhorse of bicycles

I got a new bike. It can carry lots of stuff.

Heavy stuff. Like a chainsaw.

I got the Workcycles "Fr8" from the great tiny country of the Netherlands. I admit that it's kind of a (pre)mid-life crisis bike but instead of sports car, I've gone with a much cheaper option of just about the most robust and practical bike you can buy.

Workcycles is actually run by an American, Henry Cutler. The Fr8 is pretty great: comfy, upright ride, sturdy, two big racks (the front rack is fixed to the frame not the fork for greater stability). It's a versatile tank; an SUV of bicycles.

I've had bikey friends try it out—friends that normally ride more crouched over on one-speed fixies—and loved the comfortable ride.

Full chain guard (naturally, for a Dutch bike)

The front and rear lights are powered off a hub generator

One of the most unique features: remove the triangle to change tubes. With enclosed chains it can be a real pain in the ass to change tubes and tires.

Notice too the seat tube that actually meets in front of the bottom bracket. This odd feature means that the bike is a better fit for both short and tall people. By moving the seat further or closer at a faster rate than regular frames it keeps a better distance between the seat and handlebars for most people.

A lot of thought went into the use of this bike for everyday life, which I appreciate a lot.

I imported the Workcycles but you can also buy similar sturdy Dutch-style bikes from local sources. Urkai in Burlington imports Azur from the Netherlands; such as the Transporter or the Industrial Bike. Or Curbside in Toronto which imports the Belgian Achielle. Or even the British Pashley bikes, available at Hoopdriver, though they don't have front racks. Or you can go even more "hardcore" with cargo bikes: bakfietsen (box bikes), longtails and so on. Luckily it's becoming a lot easier to find such bikes in Canada now.

herb : 9 years 5 months ago
Tags: bicycle, cargo bike, fr8