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Great cycling ahead for South-Etobicoke

I live in Mimico and I like to keep on top of what's going on, and I'm going to share what I know here.

After asking nicely, city staff were good enough to provide me with a map of bike lanes, paths and routes in Ward 6. The map shows what is done and what still needs to be done with respect to bikeway network in the current Bike Plan. This ties in nicely with the updates that staff provided at the last TCAC meeting where they handed out a schedule of this year's bike lanes are to be approved.

Ward 6 gets six new bike lanes this year for a total of 7.2km, that's over 10% of the new bike lanes going in this year! Yay for Ward 6!

The four sections currently scheduled to be approved at the June PWIC meeting are:

Stanley Ave (Contra-flow) from Royal York to Superior (0.6km)
Horner Ave. from Browns Line to Judson (2.9km)
Judson St. from Horner Ave to Islington Ave. (0.7km), and
Royal York Rd. from Cavell to Manitoba (0.8km)

The two sections of Lakeshore Blvd West currently scheduled to be approved at the September PWIC meeting are:

from First St. to Norris (1.4km) and
from Etobicoke Creek to 38th (0.8km)

And this ties in nicely with the new section of waterfront trail scheduled to open up in July. Cycling keeps getting better and better in Ward 6. I hope that this encourages people from other parts of the city to discover our great area!

Ward 5 is, surprisingly, also getting some new bike lanes this year, some which were approved last year but getting installed this year, and a new section for this year.

The Queensway from Stephen Drive to Windemere (1.5) Sep 08
Stephen Drive from Queensway to Berry (0.8km) Sep 07
Royal York from Delroy to Mimico Creek (1.5km) Sep 07

Ward 4 gets one new section of Royal York from Allenhurst to Summitcrest (0.7km) to be approved at the June 27th PWIC meeting. It is nice when pieces of bike lanes get connected, like this one will do.

Please feel free to contact me if you want to know more about cycling in South Etobicoke, or if you have any questions about these bike lanes!

anthony : 17 years 11 months ago

Tags: bike infrastructure, bike lanes, Bike plan, Ward 5, ward 6

6 comments

City to look at clearing snow from cycling paths

Good news for next winter. The city is looking at clearing bike lanes and paths next winter. More cyclists have been asking for it, and more cyclists are simply riding through the winter on our streets. With the media coverage cyclists got last winter, I think that the city has started to notice, and is willing to try to do more for cyclists for next winter.

From City to look at clearing snow from cycling paths (Inside Toronto, May 13)

BY DAVID NICKLE
May 13, 2008 03:12 PM

Snowplows could be hitting the trails next winter to keep paths clear for cyclists year round, after Toronto's parks and environment committee voted to explore the possibility of extending snow clearing to the parks system itself.

The committee voted Tuesday, May 13 to ask city staff to report on the feasibility of clearing snow from bike trails in city parks at the same time as snow is cleared from streets and sidewalks.

"We're asking both transportation and parks managers to look at clearing paths in parks so that when you're coming from a road to a park and back to a road, you should be able to do that year round on your bike," said committee chair Paula Fletcher (Ward 30, Toronto-Danforth).

The request comes a week after the city's public works and infrastructure committee voted to push ahead with a plan to clear snow from on-street bicycle lanes at the request of the Toronto cycling committee.

Fletcher said the park element would be an enhancement to that request. She said it was unlikely the city would be able to clear all of its off-road bicycle trails but would choose the most practical and best-used trails.

"It wouldn't be all of the trails," Fletcher said. "But there are larger recreational tracks through parks that could be cleared to allow people to cycle in the winter. The major one is the Martin Goodman Trail along the waterfront."

Fletcher said the committee will have a report from staff on which trails might be cleared, and an estimate of cost, within three months.

anthony : 17 years 11 months ago

Tags: bike infrastructure, snow

5 comments

Yonge and Lawrence adds some flair

This past weekend the Yonge Lawrence Village BIA unveiled a set of bike art racks along the Yonge Street sidewalks.

Community residents, especially bike enthusiasts, will be delighted with the latest project of the Yonge Lawrence Village Business Improvement Association (BIA).

In early May 2008, 16 innovative bike stands will be installed on Yonge Street from Lawrence Ave to Yonge Blvd. The first eight “art” racks are now in production and have been designed by an entrepreneurial group from Bike Stand Art, led by Phil Sarazen and Jack Gibney.

My favourite one so far is this flower rack which sits almost in front of a flower shop. (Unfortunately I arrived after it closed last night.) Many of the racks have small pieces of stone embedded in the rack to give an accent.