Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[UntitledCyclist]

I assume best here...

View attachment 720739

I don't follow! "Lost Stations?" I recall seeing a few of signs on the western side of of the trail (York Beltline) that have some info about the former railway stops. They are pretty weathered, so are they redoing those? Adding more? And... why?

 

[DSCToronto]

I don't follow! "Lost Stations?" I recall seeing a few of signs on the western side of of the trail (York Beltline) that have some info about the former railway stops. They are pretty weathered, so are they redoing those? Adding more? And... why?

I think exactly what you say is happening - refreshing and expanding signage. See City site https://www.toronto.ca/city-governm...ojects/beltline-trail-commemorative-stations/

 

[UntitledCyclist]

I think exactly what you say is happening - refreshing and expanding signage. See City site https://www.toronto.ca/city-governm...ojects/beltline-trail-commemorative-stations/

OK! Thanks. My one quibble here, even though I am all about adding more seating and rest stops along Toronto's park trails is that calling them "stations" risks some confusion with actual transit stops. Like Forest Hill Station, already exists not too far from here at Bathurst and Eglinton. In practice I don't know how likely anyone is to be confused by this, I guess I just am not sure they needed these names or big signs, but I guess that ties them into the heritage piece which ties into funding so such is life!

 

[Full Metal Junkie]

not just on the MGT. The first photo here is from Eglinton West separated bikeway, west of Scarlett road. These things were really poorly thought out and installed, though I assume you're right that plows are what dislodged them. I reported to 311. We shall see what they do. The MGT ones are right by the Ghost Bike for Xavier, the kid who died almost a decade ago when his bike fell onto the roadway. :/ In that sense I welcome the fences, but the mesh screens are trash.
View attachment 720535

In my mind I thought that the metal fences were installed earlier and then the stainless mesh was attached at a later date. A quick StrretView investigation reveals that it's not the case.

There were no barriers whatsoever along that stretch of MTG up until 2017
November 2016:

The tragedy with Xavier happened in May of 2017. Soon after temporary barriers went up.
August 2017:

Those temporary barriers stayed up for about a year, at which point they were replaced by the permanent barriers. The the stainless mesh was part of those barriers right away.
Sept. 2018:

I suppose I was misremembering the temporary barriers and thought that the mesh was tacked on as a later addition to existing berriers. Regardless, the mesh was attached by a few rivets here and there. The only reason it held up that long is because he haven't had proper snowfalls all these years up until this winter.

 

[TRONto]

Question - (I wasn't sure where to put this. If there is a better thread please let me know) - after the city change the parking regulations so that towers no longer needed so much car parking, and then had tons of bike parking instead - have any of the buildings that were proposed afterwards with essentially no parking started construction or completed?
I'm curious how cycling uptake is in these buildings. They are often proposed with hundreds of cycling spaces.

 

[Northern Light]

Question - (I wasn't sure where to put this. If there is a better thread please let me know) - after the city change the parking regulations so that towers no longer needed so much car parking, and then had tons of bike parking instead - have any of the buildings that were proposed afterwards with essentially no parking started construction or completed?

Yes, several have reached occupancy.

I'm curious how cycling uptake is in these buildings. They are often proposed with hundreds of cycling spaces.

I'm not privy to all the numbers building by building, but generally, uptake of long-term (resident) bike parking in said new builds is well below 50%

This varies, of course, with some areas seeing higher uptake, and some lower; but generally, it has been less successful than was hoped.

This is partially an issue of bike parking that is sometimes quite inconvenient, as well as an inordinate risk of bike theft.

@ProjectEnd commented on this in the Foret thread:

Forêt | 144.95m | 41s | Canderel | BDP Quadrangle

Every so often I'll get voicemails or phone calls from agents trying to reel in schmucks like me to attend some sales event seminar for this project. I just play it off and pretend I'll go but I never do. 🥲 Imagine waking up every day and heading to your job of trying to sell pre-con condos at...

urbantoronto.ca

 

[tallcoleman]

I'm curious how cycling uptake is in these buildings.

The City of Toronto did do a small utilization study in 2024 when they were updating the zoning by-law requirements for bicycle parking - see:

• PH18.3 - Recommended Parking Requirements for New Development - Accessible, Bicycle, Visitor
• From that item: Attachment 4: Bicycle Parking Utilization Data Collection Report (full details)
• Review of Parking Requirements for New Development
• From that page: Presentation Slides from September 17 & 18, 2024 (includes a summary of the utilization study)

Have included images of a couple slides from that last link as well