Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Municipalities have largely operated independently of the Province. Yes, this government has shown micromanaging tendencies. But I don't think anyone anticipated them doing this. Of course Doug Ford is still pissed that we didn't anoint him mayor, so ...

The current government is populist in orientation - it will do anything that is popular with the subsegment of the electorate that it needs to stay in power. The last 7 years should have made it rather clear by now. I mean, if anyone want to tell me that spending 200M to expedite public beer sales is a good way to spend taxpayer funding, go right ahead.

What I do want to find out is who lobbied the government for removal of bike lanes from Yonge. Bloor is easy to figure out given his base in the west-ish end.

AoD

 

[rbt]

What I do want to find out is who lobbied the government for removal of bike lanes from Yonge. Bloor is easy to figure out given his base in the west-ish end.

Almost certainly the people running keeptorontomoving.ca . During both the last municipal and provincial election they had plenty of lawn signs in Rosedale and Forest Hill. Many of the same homes hosted People's Party of Canada signs during the last federal election. Making some noise about Yonge and Bloor traffic for a while is an easy way for Ford to collect ~200 x $3,375 (the limit) in donations.


That said, bike lanes aren't necessary to achieve safe cycling, they're just one of the less disruptive and affordable solutions. A firm 20km/h speed limit, 2 speed cameras per block (one for each direction) to enforce the firm limit, and a broad advertising campaign (painted signs on the roads, TV ads featuring police, bus shelter ads, etc.) showing cyclists to ride on the left-side of the lane would do the trick too.

 

[ImmenselyMental]

Update: Premier Ford confirmed he wants to get rid of bike lanes along Bloor, University, and Yonge.

‘They’re coming out’: Ford says he will remove bike lanes from 3 Toronto streets | Globalnews.ca

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he plans to remove bike lanes from three Toronto streets, whatever the data submitted by city officials.

globalnews.ca

I guess he was not aware that work is still underway on the east side of University Avenue, for bike lanes and streetscaping:

This one I will speak to; the next stage of upgraded cycle tracks for University Avenue (east side) which includes 'permanent' new curbs and streetscaping has already had its contract awarded and work is under way. Its not going anywhere, anytime soon; and will be complete in 2025.

In addition, I will have to reiterate what I said on page 436; I bolded the part I want to emphasize:

Although this summary of the proposed Bill 212 is AI-generated, it summarizes it in a way I find accurately reflects its contents.

The application of subsection 3 (transition) is very dubious, as the bill is intended to apply to proposed to all new bike lane projects, and retroactively to bike lanes built in the past 5 years (subsections 5 and 6). What would happen when a bike lane that is currently under construction is finished?

Apologies for the loaded language, but this has turned the bill, which I believe was already a bad idea, into a total clusterf**k for municipalities that aim to embrace active and sustainable transport. Ford is really using his powers to become the de facto mayor of Toronto with what is going on, likely because the city has a mayor who is aligned with the NDP.

Ontario promises to pay for ripping out bike lanes that fail unannounced criteria | Globalnews.ca

The Ford government is putting new bike lanes and any installed in the past half-decade on notice but has promised it will pay the costs if cities have to tear out routes.

globalnews.ca

One of the roads the Transportation Minister cited as likely not needing bike lanes is University Avenue. Well, University Avenue is pretty much the widest north-south throughfare in Downtown Toronto, and has many important employers located along it. During rush hour on weekdays, bikes are not permitted on the TTC subway, so what can employees who bike to work do? Keep standing up, Mayor Chow.

 

[allabootmatt]

Doubt it makes a difference to Doug, but is there any scope for narrower bike lanes? I was recently in DC, where they have built a fairly extensive network of protected lanes (not so much on the main-est of main streets, but they have a much more consistent grid.) Toronto lanes seem WAY wider - like, they have two-way bike traffic in the space TO uses for one.

 

[TheGrimSweeper]

Does Bloor mean Bloor West, or the entirety of Bloor / Danforth? Cause the Bloor east / Danforth side is very heavily utilized.

 

[txlseries4]

One thing that frustrated and disappointed me was when the Province began mentioning how Toronto’s bike lane expansions had impacted traffic, that the city didn’t immediately present their own traffic impact studies which were undertaken as part of any bike lane project - which we’ve clearly not done to the Province’s satisfaction . That’s how you deal with upper management, by anticipating their position and doing your homework to address any challenges.

Doug Ford and his government have repeatedly shown they will willfully turn their gaze away from meaningful evidence presented on a whole host of issues. A traffic study was done for Bloor West from Runnymede to Aberfoyle Cres as part of the Bloor Street West Complete Street Extension but he doesn't care. He dislikes bike lanes, believes the car is king, and knows his base feels the same so he's using it to bolster support ahead of calling an early election. No chance that in the face of all his other decisions, bike lanes would be the one thing where he would say "Oh, you're right! The evidence shows I'm wrong."

The City should have run traffic impact studies as part of their bike lane strategy regardless of any predictions of interest or interference from Queen’s Park. It’s those studies that Mayor Chow would have been able to whip out when Ford began moaning. Instead we look like rank amateurs throwing down bike lanes willy-nilly without any thoughts of impact on traffic or any greater city-wide strategy.

Who's to say city staff haven't provided the province with data/studies, but either way since when does this government listen to city staff? I'll go back to my first point: he just doesn't care. He and his government live in a car brained fantasy land that ignores reality. The reality is that Bloor/Dufferin, Dupont/Dufferin, and areas like them will adding thousands more people in the near future, and if those streets only accommodate cars it'll be more of a gong show than people claim it already is.

 

[DSC]

Does Bloor mean Bloor West, or the entirety of Bloor / Danforth? Cause the Bloor east / Danforth side is very heavily utilized.

You ask this question as though you think there is some sort of rationale to Ford's current foolishness. He clearly does not like bike lanes because they look as though they are responsible for his motorcade being slower than he wants. He clearly sees the traffic on Bloor west near his home and probably on University near Queen's Park. If he saw a bike lane adjacent to a traffic jam in North York he would target that one. too. The whole idea is not based on any science or research or thought - like so many of Doug's 'schemes'.

 

[ImmenselyMental]

Does Bloor mean Bloor West, or the entirety of Bloor / Danforth? Cause the Bloor east / Danforth side is very heavily utilized.

Given the lanes on Danforth were installed during COVID, I would assume he wants to target those as well.

The study @txlseries4 linked to above is also quoted in this article:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/bike-lanes-impacts-1.7358319

The article says that for the roughly 3.65 km stretch from Runnymede to Aberfoyle Crescent, "average increases in motor vehicle times were from 2.4 to 4.4 minutes eastbound, and 1.5 to 3.6 minutes westbound". It also highlights other advantages of bike lanes, such as increased active transportation.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

Update: Premier Ford confirmed he wants to get rid of bike lanes along Bloor, University, and Yonge.

‘They’re coming out’: Ford says he will remove bike lanes from 3 Toronto streets | Globalnews.ca

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he plans to remove bike lanes from three Toronto streets, whatever the data submitted by city officials.

globalnews.ca

From the bottom of said article...

"Ford said he hadn’t spoken to Chow yet about the plan but said his pursuit of bike lane reversals is a 'popular' measure."

Popular to whom? I presume that this is not the riders who uses those lanes. But I guess they don't matter because they're unlikely to vote for his party anyhow... /sigh

 

[generalcanada]

From the bottom of said article...


Popular to whom? I presume that this is not the riders who uses those lanes. But I guess they don't matter because they're unlikely to vote for his party anyhow... /sigh

So when I talk to my dad or one of my buddies thats where I find what the "normie" opinion on stuff is.

My dad who lives in Whitby ate up the propaganda and says "im against them because even though i never drive downtown (he always takes the go train) i dont want to be stuck in traffic"
my other buddy on Tecumseh downtown is against them because he thinks theyre building too many of them. His street got changed to 1-way and he hates it

I hate it, but no amount of facts will fix what they feel. And what they feel is that bikes cause traffic. To them this is an incredibly popular idea.
Remember theese are your normie conservative voters who even laugh at him when he suggested the 401 tunnel.
They love this and will definitely vote for him because of it.

Like it or not, Urbantoronto is quite an echo chamber. Look at our resident anti-bloor bike lane guy turbanplanner. Hes like the only one who is against them here.
That goes for /r/ontario and /r/toronto

Feelings over facts. As always

 

[goodcitywhenfinished]

I have a feeling this is going to play out exactly like Ontario Place

We are all going to wake up at some point in February or March to witness sole-sourced contractors from the Province removing curbs and repainting Bloor and Yonge and nobody is going to be notified ahead of time.

Just in time for the spring election, after which any replacement plan or funds from the province to put new lanes on side streets will be forgotten and kicked down the road.

 

[goodcitywhenfinished]

From the bottom of said article...


Popular to whom? I presume that this is not the riders who uses those lanes. But I guess they don't matter because they're unlikely to vote for his party anyhow... /sigh

I want to see Abacus run this polling in Ontario. Though I can already predict support for bike lanes will look exactly like density maps of the GTA.

 

[evandyk]

So when I talk to my dad or one of my buddies thats where I find what the "normie" opinion on stuff is.

My dad who lives in Whitby ate up the propaganda and says "im against them because even though i never drive downtown (he always takes the go train) i dont want to be stuck in traffic"
my other buddy on Tecumseh downtown is against them because he thinks theyre building too many of them. His street got changed to 1-way and he hates it

I hate it, but no amount of facts will fix what they feel. And what they feel is that bikes cause traffic. To them this is an incredibly popular idea.
Remember theese are your normie conservative voters who even laugh at him when he suggested the 401 tunnel.
They love this and will definitely vote for him because of it.

Like it or not, Urbantoronto is quite an echo chamber. Look at our resident anti-bloor bike lane guy turbanplanner. Hes like the only one who is against them here.
That goes for /r/ontario and /r/toronto

Feelings over facts. As always

I think we all get that our prevailing sentiment around here is different than the prevailing sentiment in non-urbanist circles. Heck, my in-laws drive everywhere (that they can't walk to) even though they live at Yonge and College. They complain at length about bike lanes, and only stopped when I told them it was really annoying because the bike lanes keep me safe when I bike their grandson around the city. They think biking only belongs on bike paths (no explanation of how you'd even get to those with a kid if there's no safe bike lane).

We will be bitterly amused when they tear up the bike lanes and there's no difference to the congestion in the city, because the congestion isn't caused in any material way by the tiny bike lane network.

 

[afransen]

I want to see Abacus run this polling in Ontario. Though I can already predict support for bike lanes will look exactly like density maps of the GTA.

Do you think suburban/exurban folks would be opposed to bike lanes? They don't feel the pain of them on Bloor, etc. Honestly seems like an issue mainly for inner suburb folks like Etobicoke, Scarb, North York.

 

[evandyk]

The Bloor lanes extend into Mississauga and generated quite a bit of excitement there, I think.

Residents fight bike lane plan for a main road in Mississauga | INsauga

Community members are ramping up the fight against a plan to remove two driving lanes for new bike lanes in Mississauga.

www.insauga.com