Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[DSCToronto]

^^^ @GameOnBrad with his usual fine update.....though i may quibble with whether there has been a full two inches of progress.

Excuse me while I borrow a pic from the above and enlarge it a wee bit...............for a closer look at those spindles:

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Ummm. I know is not done.......but do not leave a job site for the weekend with it looking like that!

This whole project, from 'planning' ( I use the word loosely) to execution has been an embarrassment - if Parks & Recreation know the meaning of the word!

 

[GameOnBrad]

^^^ @GameOnBrad with his usual fine update.....though i may quibble with whether there has been a full two inches of progress.

Excuse me while I borrow a pic from the above and enlarge it a wee bit...............for a closer look at those spindles:

View attachment 700830

Ummm. I know is not done.......but do not leave a job site for the weekend with it looking like that!

You noticed that, eh? Not unique to that one side either...

 

[Admiral Beez]

They are inching along at the Dundas Street and Don Valley River Bridge. Taken yesterday...

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One change that would improve Dundas for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users would be the deletion of the DVP north ramp. I’m surprised no one walking or cycling across the ramp entrance has not been hit by turning vehicles. And watching the packed eastbound 506 stopped behind one or two cars waiting to turn left as an endless parade of cars comes westbound is rather sad.

This bridge construction project seems the ideal time to chop off that DVP ramp. There are still many places to join the DVP north, at Jarvis, Eastern, Queen, Bayview, Bloor and Don Mills.

 

[ShonTron]

Lest we forget: this is the second closure of the same trail for multiple years around this area. Remember the other one from 2015-2017?

Toronto’s Lower Don Trail to reopen later this month after many delays

The $3.6-million Pan Am Games legacy project will officially reopen Sept. 23 — over one year late.

www.thestar.com

Oh yeah, for a rail underpass that is still not in use by any train and may never be (depending on the ALTO alignment).

 

[ShonTron]

One change that would improve Dundas for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users would be the deletion of the DVP north ramp. I’m surprised no one walking or cycling across the ramp entrance has not been hit by turning vehicles. And watching the packed eastbound 506 stopped behind one or two cars waiting to turn left as an endless parade of cars comes westbound is rather sad.

This bridge construction project seems the ideal time to chop off that DVP ramp. There are still many places to join the DVP north, at Jarvis, Eastern, Queen, Bayview, Bloor and Don Mills.

Yes. It always struck me as odd there being so many northbound on-ramps without corresponding off-ramps.

The Dundas ramp is easily the most expendable.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The Dundas ramp is easily the most expendable.

Agreed. And its removal would reduce the vehicular traffic at River and Dundas, making it more a community street rather than commuter road. As a local I never use the Dundas on-ramp since you’re stuck on River for a half dozen traffic signal sequences, or you’re trying to turn left at Sumach and Dundas. And, back on topic, deleting the ramp would allow the curb separated bike lane to run uninterrupted from Munro to River. It’s a win win for everyone.

 

[StreetcarRider]

The component parts of the ramp have been delivered to site, but nothing assembled as of Monday.

Assembly has begun and this ramp is going to be HUGE!

 

[Admiral Beez]

Assembly has begun and this ramp is going to be HUGE!

I agree. If there’s one disappointment it’s that there is still no way to travel between the Don trail and the Bayview bike lane between Pottery Road and the Bala Underpass at the bottom of Corktown. So, if you’re cycling along Rosedale Valley Road there’s really no way to get to the Don trail. A split ramp or stairway at this bridge could have connected them both.

 

[StreetcarRider]

I agree. If there’s one disappointment it’s that there is still no way to travel between the Don trail and the Bayview bike lane between Pottery Road and the Bala Underpass at the bottom of Corktown. So, if you’re cycling along Rosedale Valley Road there’s really no way to get to the Don trail. A split ramp or stairway at this bridge could have connected them both.

An elegant solution would be a bike/ped extension of Pottery Road eastward, with a level crossing of the train tracks and a bridge over the river, connecting to the Don Trail just north of the existing railway underpass beside the DVP. While level crossings present safety issues, there is one already for these tracks at Pottery Road.

But we probably can't have nice things on a timely basis. So we'll probably get a hole in the chainlink fence that currently prevents access to Bayview from the baseball fields in Riverdale Park West on the Cabbagetown side. Such a hole would effectively connect the bike/ped path on the west side of Bayview to the existing pedestrian bridge over the DVP and rail corridor, and therefore also the Don Trail.

 

[DSCToronto]

I agree. If there’s one disappointment it’s that there is still no way to travel between the Don trail and the Bayview bike lane between Pottery Road and the Bala Underpass at the bottom of Corktown. So, if you’re cycling along Rosedale Valley Road there’s really no way to get to the Don trail. A split ramp or stairway at this bridge could have connected them both.

Connections are good but I really wonder how many people want to go from the Bayview Bike Lanes to the Lower Don trail in this area. How hard is to to use the Bayview route from Rosedale Valley to either Bala or Pottery?

 

[MisterF]

The whole interface between Bayview and Riverdale Park West is so puzzling. It appears to be a leftover of Bayview essentially being a highway and isolated from the park accordingly. But now that Bayview has been humanized that isolation makes no sense. It really should be redesigned to open up that whole frontage to the street. It would make the Bayview bike lanes a lot more accessible to not only to the park and the bridge, but the entire Cabbagetown neighbourhood.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The whole interface between Bayview and Riverdale Park West is so puzzling. It appears to be a leftover of Bayview essentially being a highway and isolated from the park accordingly. But now that Bayview has been humanized that isolation makes no sense. It really should be redesigned to open up that whole frontage to the street. It would make the Bayview bike lanes a lot more accessible to not only to the park and the bridge, but the entire Cabbagetown neighbourhood.

An underpass like the Bala at Corktown would be ideal.

 

[StreetcarRider]

The whole interface between Bayview and Riverdale Park West is so puzzling. It appears to be a leftover of Bayview essentially being a highway and isolated from the park accordingly. But now that Bayview has been humanized that isolation makes no sense. It really should be redesigned to open up that whole frontage to the street. It would make the Bayview bike lanes a lot more accessible to not only to the park and the bridge, but the entire Cabbagetown neighbourhood.

Some fencing is probably a good idea to keep sports equipment, children and pets from accidentally ending up on Bayview, but some break in the fencing surely makes sense now.

An underpass like the Bala at Corktown would be ideal.

Underpasses are an issue in this location because of flooding. It's not just when the river floods. The low-lying lands in Riverdale Park West flood at least once a year, when there is too much rainfall or melting ice/snow for the ground to absorb (so does Riverdale Park East). The Bala underpass is possible because the railway is elevated there.