City
Birchmount bike lanes latest to bite the dust
There's a new sign of fall in Toronto — the removal of bike lanes. At the beginning of the month we took note of the de-installation of the Pharmacy Avenue lanes, and as of late last week, work had begun on relieving Birchmount of its cycling infrastructure as well. This doesn't come as a surprise — along with those on Jarvis, both lanes had been earmarked for removal by city council back in July — but it still looks rather odd to see the bike markings buffed out.
On the flip side, opponents of the lanes will likely argue that with their removal there's enough space to accommodate an additional lane for vehicles in both directions (assuming that the centre turning lane is also eliminated) for significant stretches between Kingston Road and St, Clair. I suppose it doesn't really matter who's right given that the lanes are doomed either way, but even if the extra space for cars is made available, it sure doesn't seem like traffic was snarled on account of the bike lanes in the first place.
What's that old saying? If ain't broke...
Photos by Martin Reis
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I don't believe the Bay/Davenport bike route has been painted in the 12 years since I moved to this city from Montreal, and it's an absolute disaster when it comes to the sections 'tween Bedford/Davenport & Bay/Bloor West
Moreover, the City of Toronto is launching a new program in 2012 to help trim the fat from our roadways. All citizens who bring in the scalp from a genuine live cyclist will be eligible for rewards of up to $100 per scalp.
Don't be a 2-wheeled lane hog sympathizer, scalp a cyclist today and help make Toronto a better place to drive!
looking forward to the irony of the first complaints of cyclists on the sidewalk
Re. these bikelanes, it was not clear from the article if in fact these were two lanes in each direction before the bike lanes were installed. If not, then their removal seems spiteful and wasteful. It certainly doesn't look like cars are lacking space in any case.
I hope that the removal of the bike lanes on Jarvis will be reconsidered with proper input from the 65,000 people who live in the community and not just a few thousand car drivers who want to barrel down the road. Especially considering the cost ($200k of our money) and the fact that the slowdowns drivers were encountering were due mainly to turn signals not being present and not the bikelanes themselves. Evidence-based governance, anyone?
The traffic in that area is crazy, and TTC isn't really an option since it's service is so shoddy the further north you get. Outside of the warm, hipstery embrace of the downtown core people actually need to travel a non-walkable distance to work, until the city helps make not driving a car easier a reality, two bike lanes that don't connect to anything actually make sense to get rid of.
Ford isn't a good man, but I can't help but feel his detractors jump on closures like this as an excuse of what a douchebag he is, when in reality they don't make any sense to keep.
Case in point, I used to work and live along Birchmount, and I rode my bike between these two destinations: I didn't use the bike lane once, because the roads are so badly maintained and the drivers so inconsiderate, and the sidewalk so barren of foot traffic that it didn't make any sense for me to use it in the first place. My estimation is that nobody will miss either lane.
Try living and not driving in Scarborough before you start commenting.
Have you checked out the baffling line painting on that street to accommodate the bike lane, parking and buses?
Got to be one of the oddest things I have seen.
I'm glad somebody for once did the right thing for the city
Why would anyone care about Pharmacy or Birchmount? Putting bicycle lanes out there in the first place was nothing more than Miller and the former Council paying lip-service to the vocal bicycle lobby - looked good on a map, etc.
Downtown is where most bicycle lanes are needed, and where there is the least room to put them, as poor planning would have it.
I have no idea what the long term solution will be, but with the sudden explosion of e-bikes on the roadways, at some point we're going to have cries for so many segregated lanes that the 401 would have to be used.
Meanwhile back at city hall, Rob Ford hasn't done shit to cut the budget in a meaningful way. He complains about miller, but miller left him a fucking surplus!! Hahaha.
How has traffic improved on birchmount and pharmacy??? Is it like night and day?!
And more and more cyclists are coming to this simple conclusion - if you don't provide me with a bikelane to maintain my safety, and I feel unsafe driving to the side... then I will exercise my lawful right and take up the whole lane.
In the end its this choice - pass me while I ride in a bike lane, or remove the bikelane and be stuck behind me.
Your choice.
A Toronto without bicycles is what Scarborough wants, but what is Scarborough's future?
Seems everybody there want to live next to a highway with crazy traffic moving by at over 60km/h.
Honestly suspect these people got duped by their politicians or maybe they duped themselves...
i need bike lanes removed because i'm such a fat piece of $hit, i can't spare the extra 2 feet. i need as much room as i can get.
also, i will eat those scalps if you are still offering.
i'm a terrible mayor.
- comment about "lip-service" to Millerites and the cycling lobby
- state how bike lanes are needed downtown, but remind us how there is no room
- complain about potential inconveniences in the future for the car culture on the 400 series highways
Fact: Pharmacy bike lanes lead up to the major east-west hydro corridor that leads from the west side of Scarborough north of Eglinton all the way to Scarborough Golf Club and Ellesmere. Sorry, but these arguments that the Pharmacy bike lane went no where are a non-starter.
I lived on the East York/Scarborough border for a few years (am now a few blocks west). The problem with riding a bike in Scarborough is the speed of which the traffic moves. Riding in mixed traffic is downright suicide. (Why do you think the majority of fatal collisions in Toronto are in the burbs and not downtown?)
I'll admit, I've done the same thing: take to the sidewalk. The roads are crap (especially near the curb) and trying to ride in the middle of the street is going to result in drivers being overly aggressive with you.
And while the sidewalks are often empty, they're not always. I wouldn't dare ride on them if I saw anyone on them. People are unpredictable and I would hate it if someone stepped sideways as I was trying to pass them.
2) You could get fined (and probably will if you do this near a cop that is anti-bike)
3) It makes cyclists look bad. This sort of attitude is why drivers have negative feelings towards us. It's best if we stop giving them ammunition.
Personally, I'd be less impacted if the downtown core had no bike lanes rather than the suburbs. It's easier and often safer to ride in mixed traffic downtown. In the burbs, without bike lane I'm given the choice of endangering myself or pedestrians on the sidewalk.
"More and more cyclists are coming to this simple conclusion - if you don't provide me with a bikelane to maintain my safety, and I feel unsafe driving to the side... then I will exercise my lawful right and take up the whole lane."
Sooner or later the US military is going to run out of money securing access to oil for the 'global market'