Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[evandyk]

That is not at all what I (or I believe Evandyk) were saying. By all means ticket the bikes blowing through stoplights and endangering pedestrians. But don't waste time ticketing cyclists who fail to put their foot down at a stop sign (I can come to a full stop and never put my foot down).

I was actually saying that there is virtually no circumstance imaginable where the Toronto Police are doing more for public safety by stationing police officers in High Park to watch bicycles than on Parkside to watch cars. To the extent that the TPS is willing to devote any resources to traffic enforcement, we are a long way from the day when even a penny of that should be proactively devoted to people riding bikes.

 

[turbanplanner]

I was actually saying that there is virtually no circumstance imaginable where the Toronto Police are doing more for public safety by stationing police officers in High Park to watch bicycles than on Parkside to watch cars. To the extent that the TPS is willing to devote any resources to traffic enforcement, we are a long way from the day when even a penny of that should be proactively devoted to people riding bikes.

The park is made for the enjoyment of everyone. Some people use the park as a race track and ignore signs, and a complaint was filed. The police responded because that sort of behavior takes away from other peoples enjoyment.

If you momentarily step away from the bikes vs cars false dichotomy, this is no different than police enforcing noise bylaws if people starting bringing loud speakers...
If we're going to play the game of you can't work on X till you tackle Y things fall apart in society real fast...

 

[bearcat]

I was near Danforth and Main today and took some photos.


Here is looking east, in the inset you can see roughly where the old lane marking for the bike lane was and how much it narrowed.

Here is looking west, in the inset you can see roughly where the old lane marking for the bike lane was and how much it narrowed.

Here I drew the new lane configuration on a satellite photo (as best as I could). As you can see on the west side the eastbound bike lane and the large buffer for the westbound bike lane had to be narrowed to make room for the right turn lane. This has lead to the through eastbound and westbound car lanes on the west side to be shifted north. This appears to have caused the through eastbound and westbound car lanes on the west side to no longer align with the through lanes on the east side. Thus, despite no new car lane added on the east side, all the east side car lanes had to be shifted north partly at the expense of the westbound bike lane (?perhaps the lanes were narrowed as well), in order for the through car lanes to better align with the west side.

I guess on the bright side the eastbound bike lane on the east side got a new buffer!

 

[Northern Light]

I was near Danforth and Main today and took some photos.


Here is looking east, in the inset you can see roughly where the old lane marking for the bike lane was and how much it narrowed.

View attachment 585477

Here is looking west, in the inset you can see roughly where the old lane marking for the bike lane was and how much it narrowed.
View attachment 585478

Here I drew the new lane configuration on a satellite photo (as best as I could). As you can see on the west side the eastbound bike lane and the large buffer for the westbound bike lane had to be narrowed to make room for the right turn lane. This has lead to the through eastbound and westbound car lanes on the west side to be shifted north. This appears to have caused the through eastbound and westbound car lanes on the west side to no longer align with the through lanes on the east side. Thus, despite no new car lane added on the east side, all the east side car lanes had to be shifted north partly at the expense of the westbound bike lane (?perhaps the lanes were narrowed as well), in order for the through car lanes to better align with the west side.
View attachment 585481

I guess on the bright side the eastbound bike lane on the east side got a new buffer!

An extensive post on the changes here, what they are, and whose responsible can be found on the previous page, here:

Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

Saw this on Reddit. Looks like they narrowed the bicycle lane and widened the right turn lane? And did an awful job of putting new lane markings in. Perhaps it's because the right turn lane was too narrow for the buses turning into Main Street station?

urbantoronto.ca

 

[bearcat]

An extensive post on the changes here, what they are, and whose responsible can be found on the previous page, here:

Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

Saw this on Reddit. Looks like they narrowed the bicycle lane and widened the right turn lane? And did an awful job of putting new lane markings in. Perhaps it's because the right turn lane was too narrow for the buses turning into Main Street station?

urbantoronto.ca

I had a read of both the PDF's, many thanks.

So it looks like what actually got installed is closest to the earlier Design A, not the Design B from the second PDF.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I've moved this post from the Vision Zero thread.

When will the Lower Don trail ever be completed?

Lower Don River Trail to remain closed for another year

Cyclists and hikers who use the Lower Don River Trail will have to wait another year after the reopening date following repairs was pushed back yet again.

www.thestar.com

Paywall free: https://archive.is/IJ556

The last updates on the city website were in May 2024.

Lower Don River Trail Improvements

The Lower Don River Trail is undergoing improvements to upgrade accessibility, mitigate erosion and flooding from the Don River, resolve drainage issues and enhance overall trail connections.

www.toronto.ca

The city had a perfectly usable, but bumpy trail from Pottery Road to River St. There was no need to mess with it until a plan was fully vetted, soil conditions understood, and a rapid 12 month timeline established. It cannot take three summers to build a riverside trail.

 

[Northern Light]

@Northern Light Contract involving $1.5m cycling budget spend is on the bid committee agenda with no specific projects mentioned. Any idea what it's for?

Agenda Item History 2024.BA91.8

Agenda Item History 2024.BA91.8

secure.toronto.ca

You ask, I endeavor to answer.

I inquired, and have been told this includes the Knox reconstruction south of Eastern, and the
Grenoble/Deauville intersection re-do.

These are both modest, but meaningful. (unrealistic to expect more on that budget!)

 

[afransen]

The park is made for the enjoyment of everyone. Some people use the park as a race track and ignore signs, and a complaint was filed. The police responded because that sort of behavior takes away from other peoples enjoyment.

If you momentarily step away from the bikes vs cars false dichotomy, this is no different than police enforcing noise bylaws if people starting bringing loud speakers...
If we're going to play the game of you can't work on X till you tackle Y things fall apart in society real fast...

You could much more effectively control this by adding a speed hump that posting police there once a year to issue fines.

There are traffic calming devices for cyclists as well.

Speedbumps on the cycle-path

Something often misunderstood about Dutch cycle-paths are the speed bumps. We don't have any to show you in Assen, but there are a few in Gr...

www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com

 

[turbanplanner]

You could much more effectively control this by adding a speed hump that posting police there once a year to issue fines.

There are traffic calming devices for cyclists as well.

Speedbumps on the cycle-path

Something often misunderstood about Dutch cycle-paths are the speed bumps. We don't have any to show you in Assen, but there are a few in Gr...

www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com

Unless you're going to add them every few feet it won't really help that much, same story for people running stop signs or not yielding to pedestrians

 

[afransen]

Unless you're going to add them every few feet it won't really help that much, same story for people running stop signs or not yielding to pedestrians

You only would need them at the bottom of slopes/near crossings. All that said, cars kill and injure many more people than bicycles.

 

[turbanplanner]

cars kill and injure many more people than bicycles.

Again, by that logic we can't do anything until the worst problems are fixed in society...

I'd agree with you if it wasn't a few days once, ever that they were in high park

 

[Admiral Beez]

All that said, cars kill and injure many more people than bicycles.

The deadliest thing in my house is the clock and its inevitable ticking towards the abyss. But that doesn’t stop me from taking preventative, if only delaying action.

 

[afransen]

The deadliest thing in my house is the clock and its inevitable ticking towards the abyss. But that doesn’t stop me from taking preventative, if only delaying action.

I think any measures need to be weighed against how much they deter active transportation. Harassing cyclists for going 25 kph in a 20 zone or rolling a stop sign doesn't make anyone materially safer, and making cycling less convenient leads to less active transportation use and associated negative health outcomes.

If you have any clocks that might actually kill you, you may want to get those looked at.

 

[UntitledCyclist]

The park is made for the enjoyment of everyone. Some people use the park as a race track and ignore signs, and a complaint was filed. The police responded because that sort of behavior takes away from other peoples enjoyment.

If you momentarily step away from the bikes vs cars false dichotomy, this is no different than police enforcing noise bylaws if people starting bringing loud speakers...
If we're going to play the game of you can't work on X till you tackle Y things fall apart in society real fast...

No one uses the park as a race track. You don't understand cycling or racing if that's what you think. Some ride fast, because that is how road cyclists train. Thirty or forty kph is normal for fit roadies on long rides. But no one is racing.This type of language (race track, Tour de France wannabes, yellow jerseys, Spandex warriors) is loaded and calculated to create fear and elevate the feeling of risk, and has little to do with the reality in High Park. Have some people been startled by a fast cyclist? 100% Has anyone been hurt by one? Never, to my knowledge. I wonder, in fact how much time you spend in the park, based on biased and fact-challenged posts like this.

 

[Aplus23]

I'll bike on a side walk before I bike on the road and I stand on that.