City
Some highlights from Rob Ford's Bike Plan
Mayor Rob Ford's Bike Plan was released earlier today in anticipation of next week's Public Works Committee meeting. In it, as was expected, is a proposal for a separated bike lane "network" featuring infrastructure on a number of streets (see below for the whole list) as well as a series of updates regarding other bikeway projects across the city. The report is fairly hefty at 42 pages, so I've collected a few of the highlights at the bottom of the post.
My first impression is that there's not a whole lot to get that excited about with regard to the placement of the separated lanes proposed here. Should the plan be approved, I think their installation on Sherbourne (which is currently in awful shape) and Wellesley streets will be good for cycling in this city, but I've never got the sense that the stretch of Bloor East (between Sherbourne and Broadview) requires beefed up infrastructure. It sounds like it's been selected for separated bike lanes simply because the implementation will be easy.
Perhaps more disappointing, though, is the recommended cessation of the Environmental Assessment on bike lanes for the Bloor-Danforth corridor, which has been deemed unfeasible because they "would lead to severe impacts on traffic and parking." That may be true, but that's always going to be the case when dealing with streets upon which little to no cycling infrastructure exists. Bloor may ultimately prove a poor fit, but stopping the EA seems overly dismissive and defeatist.
Overall this report strikes me as a bit of a mixed bag. One the one hand, there's the promise of new separated lanes, additional trails and new ridership counts related to the Jarvis bike lanes that reveal that cycling traffic increased three-fold post installation. But, on the other, there's a sense that these recommendations have been chosen because they'll have the least impact on drivers. Vehicular traffic disruptions need to be taken into consideration, to be sure, but one wonders what this plan would look like if its authors were willing to take more risks in this regard.
HIGLIGHTS
- Installation of separated bike lanes on Bloor between Sherbourne and Broadview (i.e. across the Prince Edward Viaduct) in 2011
- Study of design options for lane separation on Sherbourne and Wellesley streets with implementation to come in 2012
- Assessment of the feasibility of separated bike lanes on Adelaide and/or Richmond streets from Bathurst to Sherbourne (it sounds like this is about choosing which street is a better fit)
- Assessment of which north/south thoroughfare between Peter and Simcoe streets is best suited for the implementation of separated bike lane(s) to connect to connect the current Beverley Street lanes to the Waterfront trails
- Discontinue the Environmental Assessment on the Bloor-Danforth Bikeway
- Install bike lanes on Dawes Road from Danforth to Victoria Park
- Move start of bike lanes at Dupont and Lansdowne 70 metres west to help with traffic problems at the intersection
- Continue to develop multi-year plan to expand the Bikeway Trail Network (i.e. off road) to 100k
- Rule out the Hoskin/Harbord corridor for separated lanes due to infrastructure improvements (bike boxes, new lane lines) completed in 2010
There are also notes that recommend that City Council provide direction on the following issues:
- Installing bike lanes on Bloor West between Mill and Beamish
- Removing bike lanes on Pharmacy between Denton and Alvinston
- Removing bike lanes on Birchmount between Kingston Rd. and St. Clair
Read the whole report here (PDF).
Note: The original format of this post was changed for the sake of readability shortly after it was first published (I moved the bullet points to the end).
Lead photo depicts a separated bike lane in Montreal
Discussion
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I'm willing to bet that even if separate bike lanes go in, you'll see cars driving in them. Cars still try to drive down the St. Clair street car lanes.
Also interesting, as pointed out above: Rule out the Hoskin/Harbord corridor for separated lanes due to infrastructure improvements (bike boxes, new lane lines) completed in 2010. Also removed no doubt due to heavy lobbying by the owners of Harbord Bakery, who are aghast at the thought of four on-street parking spaces not being accessible for car drivers to pick up their muffins.
*Better allows delivery vehicles to still service the businesses from the other side of the street without parking in the bike lanes (a la Jarvis).
*Attractive lighting can be put on the island that serves both cyclists and motorists.
*Bicycle-specific traffic signals along the route are easier/cheaper to install.
Physically separated lanes will at least be less likely to have cars enter them.
Surely there's a place in this city where this kind of setup is possible: http://bit.ly/kOcvKl
Try to think seriously and come up with a real workable solution
I have never biked on the street because I've been too scared.
Likewise, this bike proposal is less motivated by an actual desire to improve cycling, and more motivated by the desire to get bikes out of the way of cars, hence the heavy emphasis on off-street trails, and where there are on-street lanes, keep them as separated as possible. The fact that a significant expansion of the on-street network is pretty much ruled out (adding bike lanes where there are none currently will always take up road space, there's no avoiding it), and that some bike routes may actually be removed or shortened... once again we are sacrificing expansion of the network, and adopting a plan that places the priority on keeping bikes out of the way.
Toronto already has it's Bike Plan, and what we need is a commitment to build it, not a new plan that is significantly curtailed. Just like we already had a transit plan...
I'll just continue to use the side of the road to go where I need to (since I've never used either of these proposed routes to get anywhere anyhow). And, if I don't feel safe hugging the curb between the traffic and parked cars - I'll use the middle of the road - which is my right.
All that said, Ford is delusional if he thinks anything is going to be completed or built by 2012.
It rings hollow like the Fords and his buddies transit solution.
Anyone that has spent any amount of time in and around the core in the past few years have seen the number of cyclist grow (not to forget how congested sidewalks have gotten). As more development goes up this congestion will grow. I would not be surprised to see, if it is not already, surpassing the increase in vehicular traffic in the core.
Can someone finally please come out with a study about how cycling is just FINE for 10 months of the year in Toronto?
Yeesh