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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

Leap year update - Feb 29/16. Only a month left of winter. The paths are clear and I cycled with a few others in the Richmond lane this morning. The biggest hazard this year has been large chunks of dry granular road salt crunching under the tires.
 
It's mid March and I will say the snow seems to be gone for good (touch wood).

The Richmond/Adelaide lanes were really dirty last week, but they seem to be using some sort of street sweeper on them. Combined with the rain we've been having they're in good clear shape. The number of cyclists seems to be increasing along with the good weather as well.

I wonder, when will the Richmond/Adelaide lanes be made permanent? I bet it will be easier to implement this than on Sherbourne, which as more transit stops to incorporate.
 
UserNameToronto said:
It's mid March and I will say the snow seems to be gone for good (touch wood).
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There's some cold lows in the next week - and a chance of snow early next week.

The Richmond/Adelaide lanes were really dirty last week, but they seem to be using some sort of street sweeper on them. Combined with the rain we've been having they're in good clear shape. The number of cyclists seems to be increasing along with the good weather as well.

UserNameToronto said:
I wonder, when will the Richmond/Adelaide lanes be made permanent? I bet it will be easier to implement this than on Sherbourne, which as more transit stops to incorporate.
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I count only 14 stops southbound on the 3 km of Sherbourne from Bloor to Lakeshore, compared 8 eastbound on the 2 km of Adelaide from Simcoe to Parliament. It's not that different.
 
the lemur said:
Something something essential services, it's just hay so it's biodegradable? I really think we need more street sweepers, running more frequently.
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yep...and when I asked someone about it (years ago) I was given a snarky "what do you expect? The officer should dismount and scoop it up"......no, really, I don't but since the owner of dogs is responsible so should the owner of the horses...and not sure how hard it would be to

a) create a police radio code for "my horse just shit"
b) when your horse shits call in the code with the address/location.

I have only ridden a few times...and I get that the rider does not always know the horse is doing his/her business....but we don't have horses riding all over the city and, again, as a responsible owner, the city/police services should be making regular checks where horses are used to clean this up. I am not a cyclist, but I can't imagine riding through/around horse crap is any fun....I don't think it's that safe either....and since the horses tend to stay near the curb...it is the cyclists that have to deal with this the most.
 
TOareaFan said:
I've never understood how we can fine dog owners....but this is ok.
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I wrote the police on that situation many years ago after stepping in horse shit on the way back from the grocery store (dark night, no lights in the park, horse poop on the walking path). Below is their response.

Mr. Taylor,

I am writing in response to your email send to Chief of Police William
Blair dated the 24th of September 2009. regarding horse manure on city
streets.

The practice of the Toronto Police Mounted Unit in regard to manure
droppings by Police Horses while on patrol is the following:

When horses are on city streets, the manure for the most part is left on
the roadway to decompose. Horse manure will decompose very rapidly
once the water content has left it generally within a few hours depending
on the atmospheric temperature. As horses are herbivore animals, and
their diet consists entirely of vegetation ( Hay, Grains & Water ) the
remaining contents of the manure is almost entirely grain and grass
remnants, which when completely dried out ( 2-3 days ) will blow away as
dust particles. As oppose to dog droppings, horse manure is
completely and quickly biodegradable and very environmentally friendly and
beneficial to our green spaces.

In regard to officers picking up after their horses, Mounted Unit officers
are instructed to adhere to the following Mounted Unit policy: When on
patrol on city streets, officers will only dismount to clear manure if it
is drop in a hazardous or clearly obstructive location. We discourage
officers from dismounting while on patrol in the downtown area as it is
very hazardous for both the officer and horse. Officers will always
clean and clear manure dropped on private property.

In regard to your inquiry about our horses wearing a 'bun bag' or manure
catcher. Our horses do not, and will not wear these items while on
patrol for the following reasons: The Toronto Police Horses are
operation working animals who's primary function is for crowd management
and support of officers on foot in dealing with large often aggressive
crowds. The wearing of a manure catcher would be a great hindrance to
both the horse and rider when performing these operational duties. As
well, the presences of these items on the horse pose a safety risk to both
horse and rider. Our horses are required at times to be quite agile and
quick on their feet when engaging large crowds, the wearing of this item
would absolutely hinder the horses movements and would pose a risk of
entanglement in the hind legs which is a grave safety risk for the horse,
rider, and people in close proximity to the horse.
Additionally, horses who do wear such items are very prone to health
issues and infections in and around the hindquarters as a direct result of
wearing these items.
Mounted Unit Officers go to great lengths and efforts to ensure
uncompromising healthcare, and grooming of our horses and would never use
devices on them that would compromise their health or safety. Lastly
on this issue, I believed you were under the impression that the RCMP
horses use such devices on their horses. We have a close working
relationship with the RCMP Mounted Officers, and I can guarantee you that
the information you received was incorrect, like ourselves the RCMP
horses do not, nor have ever used these items on their horses.

In closing, the Toronto Police Service and the Mounted Unit appreciate
your concerns and will always work with our communities to address any
problems and to work constructively to resolve issues. On a special note
of interest, within the past few months Mounted Officers on patrol in your
neighbourhood have been instrumental in the pursuit, apprehension, and
arrest of several persons for criminal offences such as armed robbery,
break and enter, impaired driving, assault, and attempted murder.

I hope the information contained in this email has been of some
assistance to you. Please feel free to contact me if you have any
questions or wish to discuss this issue further.


Timothy Crone
Staff Sergeant #4725
Toronto Police Mounted Unit
office) 416-808-1701
fax) 416-808-1702
tim.crone@torontopolice.on.ca
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This subject comes up often around the Liberty Village area (the horses are stabled nearby at the Ex). Basically, the horse poop stays until it decomposes. They say it doesn't present the same risks that dog poop does. You can call 311 to get it cleaned up.
 
PinkLucy said:
This subject comes up often around the Liberty Village area (the horses are stabled nearby at the Ex). Basically, the horse poop stays until it decomposes. They say it doesn't present the same risks that dog poop does. You can call 311 to get it cleaned up.
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well, late fall I am sure the cyclist on the sb Simcoe bike path appreciated that I saw the massive pile of horse poo he was about to encounter before he did and that I backed off to allow him to veer out of his lane to avoid it.....but the "it's gone in 2-3 days" is hardly a good answer when we are doing so much (rightly) to encourage cyclists/cycling. (it took horse poo to get me converted to the cycling advocacy committee!)
 
rbt said:
I wrote the police on that situation many years ago after stepping in horse shit on the way back from the grocery store (dark night, no lights in the park, horse poop on the walking path). Below is their response.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I thought it was actually a well written and well reasoned response!
 
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