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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

From link.

“Although bicycles are designated as vehicles under the Highway Traffic Act, cyclists are not subject to the speed limits set by the Act, which apply only to 'motor vehicles,'” Ian Brisbin, a lawyer in Ontario and founder of VeloLaw.ca explains. But there is an added wrinkle. “The City of Toronto has, however, set the speed limit for 'vehicles, motorized recreational vehicles, bicycles and personally powered vehicles' within parks as 20km/h. Toronto is near alone as a major Canadian city enforcing speed limits upon cyclists, and it is worth asking why. Where does this directive come from?”​

Should Police Officers Hand Out Speeding Tickets to Cyclists?​


“When you've been on the inside of road violence and you understand how painful and devastating it is to survive a severe injury or to lose your spouse, to lose a child, the lifelong agony is overwhelming — especially in comparison to how easy it is to prevent this human carnage,” Jessica Spieker, a Friends and Families for Safe Streets spokesperson, told CBC.

No one is arguing that cyclists should be able to ignore traffic safety and rules of the road, but to focus on enforcing a sub-13MPH speed limit using radar guns seems like a pretty obvious cash grab and anti-cyclist stance being taken by the city.

In BlogTO, Toronto-based cycling lawyer David Shellnutt of TheBikingLawyer.ca also called attention to the fact that BIPOC cyclists are particularly targeted and terrorized by these officers, telling BlogTO that he was contacted by a BIPOC rider who thought the officer was aiming a firearm at him, not a radar gun. This comes as Toronto’s police are publicly apologizing after a report found that the department regularly uses more force against Black people. Unsurprisingly, community members have said that the apology feels meaningless (via CBC).

“Given enormous and growing police budgets, the public has a stake in the use of police for the purpose of stopping people on bikes for the alleged infraction of a municipal code,” Brisbin adds. “The public is entitled to value for their tax dollar and using police officers’ powers to pull over cyclists to permit by-law officers to issue tickets is an abuse of public funds, and of power.”

“Setting aside the issue of the exercise of reasonable judgment required of any law enforcement officer, the resources required in this are completely disproportionate to the alleged problem they claim to be addressing,” he continues. “As they say, don’t tell me your priorities, show me your budget.”
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Seems like cyclists could be doing 100 km/h along Lake Shore Blvd. since it is not in a park! :eek:
;)

With all the single-occupant automobiles stuck in traffic congestion, it could feel like it.
 
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Is it fair for cyclists to receive speeding tickets if they don’t have speedometers? ​

From link.
I saw posts on social media about cyclists getting speeding tickets in Toronto this week. Most cyclists don’t have speedometers, so how do we know how fast we’re going? It doesn’t seem fair. – Chris, Toronto

Daniel Oulton was on his way to work last week when he got caught in a speed trap in Toronto’s High Park – on his bike.

“At the bottom of the hill by the café there were a bunch of cops there with radar guns pulling over cyclists,” said Oulton 31, who works in the park’s amphitheatre as a COVID-19 infection control monitor. “I was really frustrated by that because I was not racing by any means – I had a [saddlebag] full of supplies and my lunch.”

At 8:50 a.m. on Tuesday, Oulton got a $125 ticket for breaking the park’s 20 km/h speed limit. He was riding on a public road shared with cars.

He was charged under Chapter 608, Section 32 of Toronto’s Municipal Code. The ticket doesn’t say how fast Oulton was going.

“There were a group of three cyclists pulled over and they pulled over at least two other [cyclists] in the five minutes I was there – they didn’t ticket any cars,” Oulton said. “I asked them about the cars that had passed me going down the hill, and they said they were equally targeting everyone.”
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Since bylaw enforcement officers aren’t allowed to pull over vehicles, they partnered with Toronto police for the two-day blitz, the city said in an email.

They issued 126 tickets – 62 to cyclists and 64 to drivers – for speeding and not coming to a complete stop at stop signs.

“The speed limit is posted throughout the park and painted on the roadway; however, speeding cyclists and vehicles has been a long-standing issue and remains a concern,” city spokeswoman Marcela Mayo said in an email.

Mayo said the road passes areas where children play, including the splash park, swimming pools and sports fields.

Oulton said he didn’t know he was going over 20 km/h.

“I want to know how I’m expected to know my speed on a bike without a speedometer,” Oulton said. “If they had just given me a warning, I would have been very grateful – they have a thousand-dollar radar gun and I have an old road bike I brought with me from Halifax.”
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Off the radar?​

So, why issue tickets instead of giving warnings?

In an email, Toronto police said, where a bylaw exists, “both police officers and municipal by-law enforcement officers can take action and lay charges if they are warranted.”

But Toronto lawyer Dave Shellnutt, who specializes in cycling cases, said he plans to help Oulton fight the ticket in court.

“How a cyclist without a speedometer is supposed to know they are speeding is beyond me,” Shellnutt said. “I’m going to argue that.”

Shellnutt worries that police enforcement might discourage people from cycling.

“We want to encourage people to bike safely and control their speed in the park,” Shellnutt said. “If there are issues during the day with pedestrians and cyclists, we need to address those – but it’s not with police who are armed with weapons and handing out tickets.”

The city and Toronto police did not say whether there had been collisions between cyclists and pedestrians in the park.

Overall, the number of reported collisions between pedestrians and cyclists in Toronto is low.

Cycle Toronto, a cycling advocacy nonprofit, said Toronto police’s collisions database shows 35 collisions between pedestrians and cyclists out of nearly 17,000 traffic collisions between 2006 and 2020. There were no fatalities.

None of those collisions between pedestrians and cyclists were in High Park.

So far this year in Toronto, 15 people, including seven pedestrians, have been killed in car crashes.

“So what is the impetus and urgency with cyclists here, as opposed to addressing other serious traffic issues?” Shellnutt said.

Toronto city councillor Gord Perks, whose ward includes the 161-hectare park, pointed to a petition calling to stop cyclists from speeding in the park and along the waterfront’s Martin Goodman Trail.

“There are a couple of pretty steep hills and they lead to a lot of conflict,” Perks said. “The conflict has gotten a lot sharper since we started closing High Park to cars on the weekend.”

Perks said police didn’t run their enforcement plans by him, but he understands why enforcement is necessary.

“If there’s a way we could just ask nicely and everyone would slow down, we would – but we’ve tried that,” Perks said. “You may not have a speedometer on your bike, but there are signs everywhere – and if you’ve ever ridden a bike, you know 20 km/h is pretty slow.”

After Oulton got his ticket, he tried the same route again with a smartphone app that showed his speed at the end of the ride.

“I wanted to see what 20 km/h feels like, and it felt slow,” Oulton said.
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Cycle logic?​

Generally, cyclists have to follow the same rules of the road as drivers. The fines are the same, but cyclists don’t get demerits.

Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO) said that Section 128 of the Highway Traffic Act, which sets speed limits, only applies to motor vehicles - so it doesn’t apply to bikes or e-bikes.

But municipalities can set their own bylaws that apply to cyclists on bike paths, the MTO said.

Speedometers aren’t required on bikes anywhere in Canada.

So, do cyclists get speeding tickets in other cities? Police in Vancouver and Montreal said they don’t issue speeding tickets to cyclists.

Vancouver police say they rarely issue traffic tickets to cyclists at all.

“Typically, they’d have to be doing something very reckless or discourteous for this to happen, and, generally speaking, we don’t see that happening on a regular basis,” said Sgt. Steve Addison, Vancouver police spokesman, in an email.

Like other cities, Calgary has seen a COVID-19 bicycle boom and there are more pedestrians and cyclists on paths now, the city said in an email.

During August, the city will roll out an education campaign to get cyclists to stick below 20 km/h on trails. It will be followed by an enforcement campaign.

Since 2017, Calgary has issued seven warnings and no tickets for speeding cyclists.

But in Toronto’s High Park, speeding tickets for cyclists aren’t a permanent solution, Perks said.

Changes need to be made to the park’s roads to slow down cyclists and to make it safer for pedestrians to cross.

“In the longer term, or even the medium term, our goal is to do this by design,” Perks said. “Right now there’s a loop that was used as part of the cycle track during the [2015] Pan Am games.”

The city is running an online survey to get people’s thoughts on longer-term changes to the park.

“I appreciate that in the city of Toronto, cyclists get a pretty raw deal,” Perks said, adding that a network of protected bike lanes is needed. “But we have a lot of people racing through there and it’s a park, it’s not a main street – so that’s why we’re trying this.”
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DSC said:
Does anyone know what the latest info is on the Lower Don Trail upgrades:

www.toronto.ca

Lower Don Trail Improvements

From May 2, 2023 to late summer 2024, the Lower Don Trail will be closed from Pottery Road to Bala Underpass at Corktown Common for Phase 2 construction. This includes the stairs from the Riverdale pedestrian bridge and Queen Street bridge. Visit the Project Updates section for more information...
www.toronto.ca www.toronto.ca

The last City update was May 2022

May 2022​

Phase 2 Construction Delayed​

The start of the Lower Don Trail Improvements Phase 2 is currently delayed due to the need to re-tender and obtain final permits required by the new contractor. This includes trail improvements along the 2 km section of trail from Belleville Underpass to Corktown Common, as well as two significant infrastructure projects to improve access to the trail at the Dundas Bridge and the Riverdale Pedestrian Bridge.

During the improvements, the Lower Don Trail will be closed from Pottery Road to Corktown Common, including the Riverdale pedestrian bridge and Queen Street bridge stairs. Advance signage with detour maps will be located online and on the trail.

Trail construction is anticipated to be complete with the trail open for spring 2024.
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Ask, I shall endeavor to answer:

1681849706072.png
 
DSC said:
Upcoming City plans listed for Infrastructure Committee

Agenda Item History 2023.IE3.8

Agenda Item History 2023.IE3.8
secure.toronto.ca
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From the above, the City cycling unit is seeking authority to proceed with:

The changes to Scarborough Golf Club Road
The changes to the Millwood/Leaside bridge and adjacent areas
Install new traffic lights to serve the Meadoway.

Note this is not all we're getting this year (all going well), more reports are coming this spring and again in fall.

On the Millwood related work:

1681913835990.png


On the Meadoway intersections: (note the new trails which I posted about in the Meadoway thread previously)

1681913958711.png

The Map below is more relevant to this year's missing sidewalks program, but also features the cycling projects noted above:

1681914070756.png



In a separate report, approval is slated for the High Park Movement Strategy which will create enhanced cycling facilities within the park. (renders previously posted) ...
 
Contra flow lanes should never be necessary. Instead the HTA or pertinent laws should state that the direction of traffic rules for any single lane, residential one way streets do not apply to bicycles. If someone wants to cycle northward on Sackville or eastward on Amelia, for example, they should be allowed, and the law should state that automobiles must give way to oncoming bicycles, regardless of the direction of traffic.
 
Admiral Beez said:
Contra flow lanes should never be necessary. Instead the HTA or pertinent laws should state that the direction of traffic rules for any single lane, residential one way streets do not apply to bicycles. If someone wants to cycle northward on Sackville or eastward on Amelia, for example, they should be allowed, and the law should state that automobiles must give way to oncoming bicycles, regardless of the direction of traffic.
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Cops love to camp out small one way stretches between two other streets where bikers go. My friend got a ticket for going against the direction on a 20m stretch. Absurd.
 
goreckm said:
Cops love to camp out small one way stretches between two other streets where bikers go. My friend got a ticket for going against the direction on a 20m stretch. Absurd.
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Insane that cops have time to issue tickets like this, but can't be arsed with dealing with bike theft, etc.
 
Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO) said that Section 128 of the Highway Traffic Act, which sets speed limits, only applies to motor vehicles - so it doesn’t apply to bikes or e-bikes.

The City of Toronto has, however, set the speed limit for 'vehicles, motorized recreational vehicles, bicycles and personally powered vehicles' within parks as 20km/h. Toronto is near alone as a major Canadian city enforcing speed limits upon cyclists, and it is worth asking why. Where does this directive come from?

The city needs to repeal the enforcing of 20 km/h for bicycles and personally powered vehicles (such as skateboards or rollerblades), since they do not have speedometers on them.


This means that on non-park streets with posted speed limits of 30 km/h or 40 km/h, cyclists could go over the posted speed limit. But not in parks.

1682169573004.png
From link.


From link.
The report also shows that during peak traffic periods Toronto drivers travel at an average speed of 20 mph or 32 km/h. A drop of 11 mph from 2019. Off-peak speeds remain the same at an average of 38 mph or 61.2 km/h, despite the city lowering speed limits across Toronto as part of Vision Zero.
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