Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[ADRM]

Lights at Simcoe/Richmond passed yesterday 33-2.

I didn't see the vote breakdown, but let me take a wild guess at the "No" voters: DMW and Holyday?

 

[Napalm Frog]

I didn't see the vote breakdown, but let me take a wild guess at the "No" voters: DMW and Holyday?

Surprisingly, you're wrong, but hey, close enough...

 

[steveintoronto]

33 : 2 That bodes well on Council.

 

[innsertnamehere]

the 10 year plan isn't perfect, but it represents a huge improvement over today. If they could just start building the damn thing. They built almost nothing they originally said they would last year, and this year doesn't appear to have yielded much so far either.

 

[ADRM]

the 10 year plan isn't perfect, but it represents a huge improvement over today. If they could just start building the damn thing.

I respectfully disagree; even if it were to be implemented quickly and properly (which, of course, it is not), it would still be at its core an inherently timid approach to cycle infrastructure-building that prioritizes minimal impact to motor vehicles ahead of both cyclist safety and modal shift goals.

I'm most interested in the expansion of protected bike lanes within the downtown core (where the most riders are and will continue to be) and the creation of both N-S and E-W commuter routes that could greatly expand the prevalence of bike commuting into and out of the downtown core.

Even using an expansive definition of "downtown" -- say, broadly, the area bounded by Roncesvalles, Dupont, and Carlaw, we currently have a bit of Richmond, a bit of Adelaide, a bit of Bloor (likely to be ripped out), a tiny bit of Peter, and a bit of Simcoe, a bit of Bayview, and that's it. That's a shocking and appalling dearth of protected infrastructure. And, in a decade, it's highly likely that will still be the case.

The Bloor bike lanes will likely come to an end this fall which, thanks to Jaye Robinson and co., will also mean that the Danforth and Yonge cycle tracks are also off the table.

The 10-year plan is most useful for Tory to hold up to people who care about bike infrastructure and say "look, we doubled the funding per year and have a plan", but it won't really make a dent in the reality that Toronto has shit cycle infrastructure, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[innsertnamehere]

I wouldn't say that they are gone until they are gone. Take an outlook with the glass half full in life, you know? There isn't anything strongly showing that council will vote to remove them anyway. a few stray councillors does not make a majority.

 

[ADRM]

I wouldn't say that they are gone until they are gone. Take an outlook with the glass half full in life, you know? There isn't anything strongly showing that council will vote to remove them anyway. a few stray councillors does not make a majority.

I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being realistic; I'm relaying information I've gathered directly from multiple supportive councillors. One put the prospects of them being made permanent at 40% at best.

Speaking to the people who actually do know best, we're not talking about "a few stray councillors"; we're talking about a strong majority.

 

[MetroMan]

When is the Richmond/Adelaide pilot complete?

I'm looking forward to seeing permanent cycling infrastructure on these streets. There's room for a double row of trees like on Queens Quay and one side of that row is already tree lined. A raised curb to sidewalk level would prevent car incursions into the bike lane.

 

[robmausser]

True, though I don't think this is a particular useful or helpful plan (especially for commuters), and the 10-year network plan is a bad joke.

If we get a legit progressive mayor post-Tory in 2022, I think that's our next shot at seeing the city's first legit bike infrastructure proposal.

I don't disagree, I was simply replying to WislaHD's comment about bikeways using the Finch corridor, etc, but a need to fill in the gaps.

I was just stating that the city has plans to do so, just it moves at a glacial pace and is not funded very well.

I should have replied to his post, and I did not.

 

[robmausser]

I believe if we gave Toronto a long, hard look, we could conceive of some potential routes for cycling super-highways.

1) Finch Hydro Corridor - Basically is one already, just needs to be better connected with itself, and with adjacent parks and you got a east-west highway in the City's northern reaches

2) Martin Goodman Trail - If made wider and more direct at certain stretches, could double as one, although obviously lower speed than ideal, and a mixed-use trail once it reaches the Harbourfront area.

3) Beltline Corridor - Desperately needs to be connected across the Allen Road, and a more streamlined experience at a few other intersections. Afterwards, we would need some innovation on how to connect the Beltline to downtown Toronto, and then you got a corridor that connects the middle of the city with downtown.

4) Richmond Hill GO Corridor - If you have seen my lofty ideas in the Transit Fantasy Thread for abandoning the RH-GO corridor in favour of a DRL subway line that heads to Richmond Hill, then you might recall that I re-imagined the RH-GO corridor as a cycling superhighway extending south from the Finch Hydro Corridor all the way to where it would meet up with the Martin Goodman Trail. It might not be as direct of a route downtown as one would like, but it would be a route nonetheless, and a beautiful + picturesque one that connects to different parts of the city to boot.

What other potential routes could be imagined in the city?

The city is already planning most of this since 2012. About 15% of the red has been done so far. The "Richmond Hill GO" (Don East Trail) is going to start construction next summer.

 

[muller877]

33 : 2 That bodes well on Council.

How many hours will it be once they install the light at Simcoe will a cyclist blow through the red light while riding along Richmond? (or should I ask minutes)

And there is a building right up to the sidewalk. It would not be pretty if a cyclist does this and a car has a green light.

I also hope they make sure the lights are properly timed. Richmond now has 7 (?) intersections with lights in a row.

 

[steveintoronto]

How many hours will it be once they install the light at Simcoe will a cyclist blow through the red light while riding along Richmond?

Not long, but it doesn't negate the need for protection for law-abiding and sensible cyclists. Doubtless some form of synchronization is needed with the University lights, which is made far easier due to Richmond being one-way.

 

[amnesiajune]

I'm relaying information I've gathered directly from multiple supportive councillors. One put the prospects of them being made permanent at 40% at best.

Shocker: Supportive city councillors want you to help them do their work.

 

[ADRM]

Shocker: Supportive city councillors want you to help them do their work.

That's simultaneously a very dim view of how things work and also completely ignorant of the personal relationships maintained by someone you don't know, but sure.

 

[amnesiajune]

That's simultaneously a very dim view of how things work and also completely ignorant of the personal relationships maintained by someone you don't know, but sure.

All I'm gonna say is look at this city's history. City council has only voted to remove bike infrastructure once in recent memory, and that removal was tied to a massive upgrade of bike lanes on a parallel street 300 meters away. I know the Toronto biking community loves to be pessimistic, but there's no reason to believe that the Bloor bike lanes are going to be removed. They might not be expanded beyond this 2.5 km segment but that's not the same thing.