Toronto Pan Am Village in the West Don Lands | ?m | ?s | DundeeKilmer | KPMB

[Tranquillity]

Has anyone noticed how incredibly Scandiavian the Canary District (part of west donlands) is? I just had a walk there and it's like straight out of Jätkäsaari in Helsinki: cobblestone, wide streets, no cars, low houses, practical design, childrens playgrounds etc.

 

[Gphorce]

Wow. I remember a time when cyclists could ride on the roads with the rest of the cars without demanding their bike lanes. Do we need bicycle lanes on every single road now? No? Well why do we need them on these quiet roads?

I can't tell if you're serious or not. Cyclists want protected lanes for the same reason drivers want them. Mixing these modes creates a headache for all. And the result when they clash is often fatal. Creating a network of bike lanes means building them wherever possible. Quiet streets make sense because they improve the experience for the driver and cyclist who no longer have to negotiate clearances and passing. If that means vehicles have to slow down then so be it.

 

[Red October]

Damn entitled Millennia- I mean cyclists wanting to not be killed.

 

[Transportfan]

^^ Cyclists used to ride with cars all the time as hawc said. But as soon as bike lanes were put in, cycling is suddenly seen as more dangerous? We live in a time where the more is done, the more it's not enough.

Most rural highways have narrow bike lanes, with no signage or pavement symbols. I've always felt comfortable riding in them.

 

[Red October]

^^ Cyclists used to ride with cars all the time as hawc said. But as soon as bike lanes were put in, cycling is suddenly seen as more dangerous? We live in a time where the more is done, the more it's not enough.

O...kay? Cyclists used to ride with cars all the time and were killed then too. I never said it was more dangerous, I said that sharrows are the equivalent of nothing and if Toronto wants to be the progressive city it pretends to be it should be implementing 21st century cycling infrastructure, especially in blank slate neighbourhoods where they have that opportunity.

And the problem is nothing is actually being done. It's nothing more than your mentality of "there you go, a line on the road, now shut up", as opposed to actually treating cyclists as people and cycling as a legitimate travel option.

Most rural highways have narrow bike lanes, with no signage or pavement symbols. I've always felt comfortable riding in them.

Good for you, this ain't the countryside.


For someone who's supposedly a "Transport fan", you are oddly backwards-thinking when it comes to transportation.

 

[Transportfan]

And the problem is nothing is actually being done. It's nothing more than your mentality of "there you go, a line on the road, now shut up", as opposed to actually treating cyclists as people and cycling as a legitimate travel option.

Lines are nothing? Like I said, cyclists used to ride in traffic without any type of marked separation at all. Lines make cycling way safer. So you should be happy with basic lanes considering there were none before.

Good for you, this ain't the countryside.

Have you ever ridden on a busy rural highway like Highway 27? Traffic is sometimes quite busy and moves a lot faster than downtown Toronto traffic, especially traffic that will travel along the relatively minor streets in the Pan Am Village development.

For someone who's supposedly a "Transport fan", you are oddly backwards-thinking when it comes to transportation.

I admit I like the more traditional aspects of transportation. Must be my Asperger's Syndrome. I also believe in esthetics, not turning major streets into bubble-wrapped alleys with ugly clutter such as excessive signage, pavement markings and bollards.

 

[bilked]

I also believe in esthetics, not turning major streets into bubble-wrapped alleys with ugly clutter such as excessive signage, pavement markings and bollards.

Seriously. These planter boxes and flowers really cramp the style of this perfectly fine looking oil-stained road.

 

[salsa]

^^ Cyclists used to ride with cars all the time as hawc said. But as soon as bike lanes were put in, cycling is suddenly seen as more dangerous? .

We live in a time where the more is done, the more it's not enough

We live in a time where there is a growing realization that if we want to foster a strong cycling culture in this city, our infrastructure needs to appeal to a wider variety of people beyond the 1% of the population who are too fearless to give a shit about their own safety when they ride in busy traffic with their slick carbon fibre road bikes and spandex shorts.

Lines make cycling way safer. So you should be happy with basic lanes considering there were none before.

Tell that to the cyclist who was almost killed yesterday at College & Bathurst.

 

[Towered]

Anti-bike trolls here are incredibly idiotic.

 

[Red October]

Lines are nothing? Like I said, cyclists used to ride in traffic without any type of marked separation at all. Lines make cycling way safer. So you should be happy with basic lanes considering there were none before.

People also used to mix drinking water wells with sewers, what was done in the past has zero relevance in talking about what is best for the present and future.

Just because the past was worse doesn't mean we should be happy with mediocrity.

 

[Transportfan]

Tell that to the cyclist who was almost killed yesterday at College & Bathurst.

View attachment 71411

Accidents will always happen. Do we put pedestrian gates and flashing lights at intersections and make it law for pedestrians to wear safety vests and helmets with flashers on top? Do we place ten-foot high and thick steel walls down highway medians from now on because trucks sometimes crash through concrete barriers? How far do we take things?

Rumble strips would work better and wouldn't be so unsightly, and would be safer than solid bollards all along roads and highways would be dangerous in themselves due to striking them.

This is coming from somebody who doesn't have a car, who cycles and uses transit.

 

[Transportfan]

Anti-bike trolls here are incredibly idiotic.

Applying the "troll" label for anyone on UT who has a counterpoint.

 

[wolfewood]

Applying the "troll" label for anyone on UT who has a counterpoint.

You're jumping from a "whingy millenials wanting bike lanes, when does the nanny state end" to "aesthetically bollards and planters are ugly" - of course people are going to suggest you're trolling. Your opinions are scattered and sound more like you're trying to be edgy about how weak and whingy other bikers are and how tough and brave you are for thinking street riding is totally safe with painted lines.

 

[MisterF]

Accidents will always happen. Do we put pedestrian gates and flashing lights at intersections and make it law for pedestrians to wear safety vests and helmets with flashers on top? Do we place ten-foot high and thick steel walls down highway medians from now on because trucks sometimes crash through concrete barriers? How far do we take things?

Rumble strips would work better and wouldn't be so unsightly, and would be safer than solid bollards all along roads and highways would be dangerous in themselves due to striking them.

This is coming from somebody who doesn't have a car, who cycles and uses transit.

Your status as a cyclist doesn't give your opinion any more weight.

Sidewalks are made of a different material than the rest of the street and have curbs and often landscaping, street trees, and street furniture that prevent cars from driving on them. What you suggest would be unsightly is what's already there. Rumble strips wouldn't do anything - the only thing that will stop people from illegally driving and parking on bike lanes is not being physically able to do it.

 

[UrbanAffair]

My dad has been biking to work in Toronto his entire life. He's a very law abiding person (teaches the paralegal course and writes law texts in fact) and rides as close to the side of roads here as possible. He has still been targeted from time to time by anti-bike dicks, simply for taking up a meter of the road. He's seventy this year, finally retiring and still biking to work from Y and E all the way to Seneca's Finch West campus. There is a real culture from some drivers out there of not being able to share, and seeing bikes as an unacceptable inconvenience. I worry about my dad and his commitment to commuter biking. He has been sideswiped off his bike once by some schmuk. Placing guards next to lanes, like they have in many places around the world, locally speaking in Montreal would go a long way to mitigating injuries, deaths, and dare I say purposeful assaults in some cases. Why this expense is so angering to some is beyond me.