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The trials and tribulations of getting to the nitty gritty of bike lane politics

I feel like I should explain (while also being a bit pugilistic, fighting the good fight). Being a volunteer blogger I have to rely on the goodwill of others who have gathered information for me, or who are actively involved in the issue and are willing to share with me what's going on. I think it's better to get the information out there while couching it in terms like "likely" and "maybe" rather than keep it locked up. Last Friday's post about Councillor Wong-Tam is a case in point.

That blog post presented information on how Councillor Wong-Tam had sent a memo calling for a "trial" on Sherbourne separated bike lanes to City cycling manager Dan Egan without a public announcement. Cycling advocates didn't know that she was planning to do so, and there didn't seem to be any public record of her planning to do so except for a passing reference in the Dandyhorse Magazine about "bike spotting" from across Canada.

I had said that she "likely" hadn't consulted with Councillor McConnell, with whom she shares Sherbourne. Via Twitter Wong-Tam stated how I was wrong and that McConnell and her had talked about the "issue" and that McConnell "understood". I was unconvinced since Wong-Tam didn't say specifically that she had told McConnell that she was going to call for a trial. Maybe she did, but it certainly seemed like she didn't given the available evidence to me last Friday. I probably could have avoided some hard feelings by doing the journalistic thing of getting Councillor Wong-Tam's quote beforehand - note to self. Though in the end I still added Wong-Tam's responses to the post to build onto the conversation. Though I'd hope that she'd be a bit clearer than what can be typed into 140 characters so we have a clearer idea of just where she stands.

It is not true, however, that I am simply just pulling this out of my ass. Real residents, living in the wards of these councillors, and who just happen to ride bikes and want to do so safely have been writing Councillors Wong-Tam, McConnell, Vaughan and so on, to ensure that cyclists aren't forgotten in this whole thing. These councillors may be our "allies" but they also have their own ideas about cycling and sometimes may be less progressive on cycling issues than they are on the broader "city-building" issues.

For the increasing number of cyclists in Toronto who look at cities like New York, Montreal, San Francisco, Chicago, Vancouver, etc, who are implementing fully separated, protected bike lanes, we can only be envious as our own mixture of politics has meant that we have to fight tooth and nail for just a basic network of separated bike lanes (let alone bland, painted line bike lanes) in a city with one of the highest bicycle modal share in North America. Cycling may be increasingly popular in Toronto but our bike politics is falling behind.

As an example of copies of emails I get of advocates doing the legwork trying to find out where councillors stand, Ward 28 resident and Bike Union member Vincent de Tourdonnet has been in contact with Thomas Davidson, CA of Councillor McConnell. (I got his permission to print this email exchange.)

Note that Davidson is clear that in their understanding the cycle track "treatment will not be temporary."

From: Vincent de Tourdonnet
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2012 12:30 PM
To: Thomas Davidson
Cc: Andrea M Garcia
Subject: Re: Important question regarding the Sherbourne Bike lanes

Okay thanks Tom, look forward to hearing about the progress, we appreciate your help with Pam on this important issue.

Best,

Vincent de Tourdonnet & Co. Ward 28 C.U. & TICA

On Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 12:15 PM, Thomas Davidson tdavids2@toronto.ca wrote:
Hi again,

I hope by today, otherwise during Council the first two days of next week! I'll talk to you soon.

Best,

Tom

Tom Davidson
Constituency Assistant to
Councillor Pam McConnell
Ward 28- Toronto Centre-Rosedale
416-338-5157

Vincent de Tourdonnet -----@gmail.com 3/2/2012 12:02 pm

Hi Tom, I hope you are well.

Did Pam have her conversation with Kristyn Wong-Tam about the attempt to downgrade the Sherbourne lanes to a pilot project? Any updates?

Thanks,

Vincent de Tourdonnet
for Ward 28 Cyclist's Union
And the Toronto Island Community Association

On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 10:28 AM, Thomas Davidson tdavids2@toronto.ca wrote:
Hi Vincent,
Pam asked me to tell you she will meet with Councillor Wong-Tam about her concerns and we'll speak to you after that. She wants to see the bike lane program fully implemented. We do know that the 'cycle track' condition is being implemented only up to Gerrard (the area undergoing road resurfacing), with another type of curb north of there. However, it is our understanding that this treatment will not be temporary.
Best,
Tom
Tom Davidson
Constituency Assistant to
Councillor Pam McConnell
Ward 28- Toronto Centre-Rosedale
416-338-5157

Vincent de Tourdonnet -------@gmail.com 2/24/2012 4:02 pm

Dear Councillor McConnell and Tom Davidson,

Councillor McConnell, you may remember me from the recent public consultancy on the separated Sherbourne bike lanes, I thanked you for your solid support. (right after some fellow who had a garage on lower Sherbourne had button-holded you?)

I also asked you: "We may need a vocal champion for this project, are you willing to be that?" And you replied with an enthusiastic "Yes!"

Whether or not you recall that conversation, we could really use your voice right now. I'm writing on behalf of the Ward 28 Bike Union group, as well the cycling committee of the Toronto Islands Community Association. (We had a TICA meeting with you and Tom last year, thanks again)

The attached blog posting claims that your colleague Krystyn Wong-Tam does not support permanent installation of the Sherbourne street bicycle lanes north of Gerrard and only supports a reversible pilot project for this lengthy section of Sherbourne Street..

See http://www.ibiketo.ca/blog/councillor-wong-tam-trying-stall-sherbourne-s...

Given the easterly side of Sherbourne is in Ward 28 we are wondering, did Councillor Wong Tam consult with you prior to taking this public position?

If not we are requesting your confirmation that you do not support the installation of physically separated bicycle lanes on Sherbourne as a pilot project, but as a permanent one. And anything else you can do to assure that this project moves forward with certaintly, would be greatly appreciated.

We look forward to hearing from you

Vincent de Tourdonnet
Toronto Island Community Association Cycling Committee
Ward 28 of the Toronto Cyclist's Union.

And a letter from the Toronto Island Community Association opposing a temporary installation of the Sherbourne separated bike lanes (reprinted with permission):

From: Baye Hunter --------@rogers.com
Date: March 3, 2012 6:08:03 PM EST
To: "councillor_wongtam@toronto.ca" councillor_wongtam@toronto.ca
Cc: "councillor_mcconnell@toronto.ca" councillor_mcconnell@toronto.ca
Subject: Sherbourne Bike Lanes
Reply-To: Baye Hunter -----@rogers.com

Dear Ms Wong-Tam,

I am writing to you on behalf of the Cycling Committee of the Toronto Island Community Association. We are opposed to a temporary installation of all or any part of the Sherbourne Street bicycle lanes. Please find attached and in the body of this email, the letter outlining our position. BH

Toronto Island Community Association
102 Withrow Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
M5J 1X9
phone: 416-203-6163 fax: 416-203-6168
trust@torontoisland.org

3 March, 2012

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam
Toronto City Hall
100 Queen Street West, Suite A5
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2

Re: Installation of Sherbourne Street bicycle lanes.

I am writing to you on behalf of the Cycling Committee of the Toronto Island Community Association (TICA), which represents the residents of Toronto Island. The Toronto Island community has the highest percentage of year round cycling commuters in the City of Toronto –over 30% of the population.

We are reiterating our support for the separation of the Sherbourne Street bicycle lanes.

TICA’s cycling committee wants to provide the following comments:
1. We are opposed to a temporary installation of all or any part of the Sherbourne Street bicycle lanes. The lanes should be installed as permanent and needed cycling infrastructure.
2. The proposed separated bicycle lanes do not provide sufficient separation and we request that a greater effort be made to keep cars out of the proposed separated lanes. We request consideration be given to the installation of bollards at intersections and driveway entrances and that there be a more significant curb separating the lanes from traffic.
3. We request that approval be given at this time to the extension of the Sherbourne Street bicycle lanes north from Bloor to Elm Avenue and that the lanes north of Bloor be physically separated at the time of the proposed reconstruction of Sherbourne Street north of Bloor and the costs be put into the city’s capital budget if necessary.

Our community is very grateful for the strong support our councilor, Pam McConnell, has given to this proposal and look forward to the installation of the Sherbourne Street separated bicycle lanes.

Yours truly,

Baye Hunter
Cycling Committee, Toronto Island Community Association
cc: Pam McConnell, councillor_mcconnell@toronto.ca
Councillor_wongtam@toronto.ca
pwic@toronto.ca

herb : 13 years 2 months ago

Tags: advocacy, bike lanes, politics

16 comments

Councillor Wong-Tam didn't consult much before requesting pilot for Sherbourne

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam sent a February 7 letter (pdf) to Transportation Services cycling manager Dan Egan requesting that the Sherbourne separated bike lane be made into a "pilot" saying there needed to be further "consultation". Surprisingly she sent this letter during the consultation period which ended February 17 and she didn't copy Councillor Pam McConnell whose ward shares Sherbourne.

During the consultation period staff consulted with residents and businesses along Sherbourne, working to address their concerns into the plan. They addressed issues of TTC Bus service, Wheel-Trans pick-up/drop-off, Fire and emergency access, Curb-side waste collection and Snow removal and street cleaning. The presented the results in the panels at the January Open House. The majority of people attending the Open House appeared to be supportive of the separated bike lanes. It's not clear what further consultation needed to be done.

By calling for a pilot Councillor Wong-Tam would preclude any coordination of the repaving with the bike lane plan and possibly forcing staff away from their current plan of a raised cycle track with a rolled curb.

Councillor Pam McConnell, whose Ward 28 covers the east half of Sherbourne and all of Sherbourne south of Queen, likely wasn't aware of this letter even though her Ward covers half of Sherbourne. The letter wasn't copied to Councillor Pam McConnell, nor was her CA, Tom Davidson, aware of the letter. It is strange then that Councillor Wong-Tam is calling for all of Sherbourne to be a pilot, even the sections that are clearly in Councillor McConnell's ward. [Update: Councillor Wong-Tam informed me that she and McConnell actually discussed the issue four times, though she didn't say that McConnell agreed with making it a pilot, or even that McConnell was told about the memo before it came out.]

It's not clear if she consulted with residents associations or the Ward 27 ward advocacy group. She hasn't responded to the emails of at least three Ward 27 residents who requested more information from her on the matter. I received email copies from these residents who stated they have not received responses.

The ward group for Ward 27 was not informed by the Councillor either that she intended to push to make Sherbourne into a pilot. On February 13th there was a joint meeting with Wards 19, 20, 27 and 28. At the meeting, which I attended, there was no sense that the Councillor wasn't on side with the Sherbourne separated bike lanes.

Councillor Wong-Tam has a representative of her office at the Upper Jarvis Neighbourhood Association, which has an eastern boundary on Sherbourne Street. They had a meeting on February 1st, but according to a UJNA member there was no mention of the request for a trial in the UJNA minutes for that meeting. [Update: Councillor Wong-Tam tweeted that the president of UJNA approached her with concerns of parking: "Prez from UJNA expressed concern about more cars circling historic streets when 159 spots removed. I said that staff will respond." Though it still isn't apparent if the UJNA took a position on the matter, or requested that the project be made into a trial.]

Councillor Wong-Tam, to her credit, is aware of the issues affecting cyclists, that "Toronto is a city that is sadly lacking in infrastructure for cyclists and other alternatives to personal motorized vehicles." She hasn't been clear, however, just where there can be a separated bike lane corridor from the lake up to Bloor if not on Sherbourne.

Instead her letter lists items she feels weren't addressed completely in the consultation:

These items include residential accessibility, potential restrictions to long-term economic revitalization, replacement of street parking, and the non-inclusion of a streetscaping strategy that would contribute to the immediate community's lived experience.

The councillor felt that "access to businesses and residential buildings for residents of the Sherbourne community with physical disabilities" wasn't addressed even though the staff showed how they addressed them at the Open House.

She is concerned about car parking since "parking along this route could be part of a longer-term revitalization strategy for this road." This despite that staff had noted that over 400 surplus parking spots in the immediate area. It seems that it's more about on-street parking for her. Since Transportation staff had chosen this particular separated bike lane design for safety reasons it has meant that Sherbourne's parking would have to be removed. So if Councillor Wong-Tam wishes to keep on-street parking for "revitalization" (as if bike lanes inhibit revitalization?) then there can be no separated bike lane.

...it seems like a lost opportunity to conduct a repaving and segregated lane project while ignoring the serious streetscaping needs of Sherbourne.

Is she implying that the bike budget should now be used to pay for trees, lighting and so on? That seems a bit irregular, especially considering that these don't need to be done at the same time as the road. There's no way a bike lane is stopping better lighting and trees.

Councillor Wong-Tam is a real estate agent and business owner, according to Wikipedia. Is it possible that she is thinking of this issue through the lens of a real estate agent, and not primarily as addressing the concerns of current residents or cyclists?

I support Councillor Wong-Tam's stance on Jarvis to keep the bike lanes (though she's been lukewarm on the bike lanes preferring more the prior EA plan of just widened sidewalks). I appreciate that she's willing to push for better urban planning. But this is Sherbourne and she doesn't seem to have consulted with local groups before her request to likely undo the improvements for cyclists.

herb : 13 years 3 months ago

Tags: bike infrastructure, bike lanes, city hall

9 comments

My visit to Central Commerce's new bike mechanics class

Central Commerce, a school in downtown Toronto, has launched an innovative course for students to learn the basics of bike mechanics. Last week I met with the period one class and teacher Ravi Mohan-Sukhai to learn how the course is coming along.

I met Ravi in the otherwise unused basement of Central Commerce where he was happily moving from student to student, helping them with their bike project. Twelve students in each of three daily classes meet in the basement of Central Commerce Collegiate Institute in Toronto, learning the basics on donated bicycles and parts. During the course they will fix up not only a bicycle for themselves but up to five other bikes that will be sold off to support the program.

There is a waiting list and the students clearly love the change of pace from the usual sitting in their desks, listening to teachers talk. One eager girl, Fahmeda tells me she also likes the hands-on aspect of the elective class and that she'll get a bike out of it at the end of the course. Omar signed up for the course soon after starting at the school, eager to learn the basics of bike mechanics.

Ravi is supported by two assistants, Matt Draimin and Eugene Chao, both Curbside Bicycles mechanics, who both come almost daily to help students with their bike education.

The bicycles are stored in empty classrooms in the basement and in the empty swimming pool. The bikes were provided by the Cabbagetown Youth Centre (CYC) to Central Commerce, which in turn were donated by the government to CYC as a settlement in prolific bike thief Igor Kenk's court case. Many of his thousands of stolen bikes that he bizarrely stored in garages around the city were unclaimed and were eventually given to CYC so they could be refurbished for youth. The bikes are finally being put to a good use.

Ravi, Matt and Eugene have sorted the bikes into those which are more easily refurbished, the bikes to be used for parts in the appropriately named "Boneyard", and those to be dealt with at a later date. Despite the large numbers of bikes donated, there are still a lot of supplies to be purchased. For this Ravi's approach has been to sell some of the refurbished bikes back to the community (there will be a spring sale coming up) and to offer bike repair to school staff. Ravi registers each bike with the Toronto Police so they're aware that these bikes that were once stolen now have a legitimate life.

Each semester Kristen Schwartz from Culturelink teaches bike safety to the students, gives them a helmet and a bell. Many of the students might not have been aware of road rules. They will follow it with a ride.

The class got quickly organized last fall as the thousands of bikes were sent to be stored. Instead of just letting the bikes sit, the school principal, Iwona Kurman, quickly organized for Ravi to be hired and gave him space in the basement to teach the elective. Given that the focus of Central Commerce is commerce, the class will eventually have a broader focus that will also incorporate an interdisciplinary study of environmental issues, physical activity, business and science.

The class, the first of its kind in the Toronto District School Board, started last fall with just two students but quickly grew as word got around. Ravi has been designing his own curriculum to meet the particular learning needs of high school students and to keep the students on top of the quirky needs of bicycles in need of various levels of work. All the bikes will require overhauling the bearings, brakes and gears but some will have more serious issues with the frame, broken drivetrain or other issues. The students - with the help of Matt and Eugene - are taught to identify such issues.

The object is not to produce bike mechanics; some students may end up working in the bike industry, but some will use the hands-on mechanical concepts as a foundation for other technical trades. And others may find that they are using their new bike to go to school or run errands and be able to repair their own bicycles. The course can help student become more mobile, more self-reliant and give them an understanding of mechanical systems like the common bicycle.