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Today marks the first real test of Ford's attack on bike lanes with the hearing for an injunction in relation to Cycle Toronto's challenge of the removals.
If it fails, the province has said it will start removing the bike lanes by March 20, less than 10 days from now.
What a time.
I'm not sure on the usefulness of advertising a date AFTER which the bike removals could come. Maybe Metrolinx should try this with its projects. A completely meaningless release! Though one has to imagine it is there to give some structure to their plans, and if the diggers moved in on March 20 or 21, no one could say they didn't tell us so. Does seem unlikely though.Clarity, the province has not said they would begin removals March 20th, they said they would not begin removals prior to March 20th.
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The judge in the case gave a pretty solid tease that if the province didn't extend their no work commitment until after the actual hearing and disposition that an injunction is likely.
We shall see.
Hamilton is wrapping up some beautiful segregated bike infrastructure along York St this spring- the road is essentially the grand entrance to the city off the freeway that also links into Burlington, the Royal Botanical Gardens, Dundurn Castle, and many busy road cycling routes on the Flamborough/Dundas escarpment. It's also the finishing section of the annual Around The Bay 30K race and ties directly into the Cannon St bike lanes that cross the lower city. I was a hater last year with the construction and traffic hell it caused, but they're quite beautifully designed with a wide concrete barrier with a flower bed to oppose traffic and a sloped low-barrier curb on the pedestrian side in the modern style. The Northern Toronto-bound side of the street finished in the fall and they should start digging up the Southern Hamilton-bound side in a few weeks (hopefully after Around The Bay!).
www.thestar.com
One document, released by the province’s attorneys, showed a Ministry of Transportation email that estimated bike lane removals wouldn’t begin until April 2026, and into 2027. A reply to that email by MTO staff showed they expected a push from the government to speed up removals into 2025.
The additional documents also showed that the government commissioned a study from construction firm SEMA, which showed that removing the bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge and University Streets would increase collisions by 56 per cent, lead to an increase of cyclists on sidewalks and that the idea of putting cyclists on secondary roads was not feasible.
There's still over a week before construction might start. What's the concern about him not ruling today, and instead ruling later? Perhaps he wants to look something up.Judge reserves decision on Doug Ford’s bid to remove Toronto bike lanes
Cycling advocates have asked for a temporary injunction on the Ford government’s plan to rip out Toronto bike lanes.
UUH theres apperently no urgency at all? WTF
Thats not what I meant, Hes delaying the ruling rightfully so because apperently the government aint going to start removals for almost another year. Therefore no need for the injunctionThere's still over a week before construction might start. What's the concern about him not ruling today, and instead ruling later? Perhaps he wants to look something up.
The story doesn't say the reason for the judge reserving judgement other than he wanted to consider the eligibility of several documents from the government. It is not at all clear he is denying the injunction, but simply taking a bit more time to rule on it. That's all.Thats not what I meant, Hes delaying the ruling rightfully so because apperently the government aint going to start removals for almost another year. Therefore no need for the injunction
I’m not sure if you’re from Hamilton, but the one thing the cityA picture of this work from November '24:
View attachment 635942
Source: https://www.threads.net/@jasonthorne_rpp/post/DCai53FOV5m/media
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Since we're off in Urban Hamilton for a Moment...........here's the 2025 Cycling Project List for that City:'
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View attachment 635946
A picture of this work from November '24:
View attachment 635942
Source: https://www.threads.net/@jasonthorne_rpp/post/DCai53FOV5m/media
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Since we're off in Urban Hamilton for a Moment...........here's the 2025 Cycling Project List for that City:'
View attachment 635943
View attachment 635946
I’m not sure if you’re from Hamilton, but the one thing the city
Thanks for that!
Hamilton doesn't get enough praise for how rapidly we're building our bike infrastructure in my opinion and it doesn't get bogged down in the politics that Toronto is victim to. The Cannon Street cycling track, The Keddy Access Trail, and our Mountain Climber bus program are three hallmark programs that the city got done quickly without a lot of controversy and make cycling all over the city pretty easy.
Deep Hamilton nerding: One scheme that I really wish the city would explore is to get rid of these useless suicidal lanes on the Jolly Cut:
and to expand the multiuse path further down down the bridge to the Keddy Access Trail. It would only require 100m of changes to the bridge's sidewalk, which is currently an awful experience for pedestrians as you're inches away from 70 km/h traffic. The lanes are overbuilt and have a ton of room for modification. That small multiuse path would tie the last remaining gaps in the lower city and upper city together, allowing cyclists to bike from the downtown to the entire length of the urban escarpment without using any fast-moving arterials.
Seems like you didn't quite finish that thought..........
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But I'm not from Hamilton to answer that question. I've been more than a few times, hiked the Bruce Trail through as well........amazingly, I found my way out again! (Hamilton and cardinal directions.....sigh, LOL....plus the way the lower streets meet the upper, and the obstacles of the 403 and Burlington Bay. Not a city for the directionally challenged!
You're Welcome.
Agreed.
I agree, this:
View attachment 636350
Is not desirable.
There's a bit less room than you think, but it looks do-able to me:
View attachment 636349
On a curve, with those speeds, you need ~13M for the travel lanes, some would argue for a fraction more, particularly near the turns.
That leaves you ~3M for the MUP, which is just wide enough, but with no barrier. A barrier requires ~0.8M give or take.
Looking at where the existing barrier is on the upbound side, I think it can be squeezed in w/o any enormous engineering or expense. They might require the barrier to be higher on the upbound side with less room to potential falling rock.
Haha that's funny, the quote system sent the first sentence of my post on vacation and I clearly lost track of it!
Re: road width at the cut - what I'm actually suggesting is to completely remove the road infrastructure from that turn. It's dangerous and we shouldn't encourage cyclists to use it at all, if anything it opens the city up to liability with how irresponsibly it's built. City buses routinely intrude into the lanes making the blind turn and eventually it will result in a massive lawsuit. Instead, the multiuse path at 12 o'clock in this image should be the preferred route pushed by the city and signage. In fact, the city just repaved that trail in December as part of a multi-million dollar plan to develop Sam Lawrence Park (think Mont Royal Park tourist trap) and the two short stair sections have built-in bike gutters to get bikes up and down easily!
That's it exactly- I think the key issue is whether the city can actually modify anything (ex sidewalk removal and conversion into wide path to match the upper section) on that roughly 100m of bridge deck for a reasonable price or without cutting off the second-busiest access for months of repaving. The city also wants to put a multiuse path all along Concession from the bottom left of your image to past where the trail you've highlighted intersects it, so it just seems like such a no-brainer if it can be done for a reasonable price.This is what I was looking at:
View attachment 636357
Is that what you had in mind?
The measurements I gave presume the removal of the existing bike lane.
It's funny, I've done most of the Pacific Crest Trail and Arizona Trail, but despite living and working a few meters away from the Bruce, I've only done a few km of it!
