City
Twitter reaction to the death of the Jarvis bike lane
It had been hanging in there for a while, cheered on by its supporters, but yesterday city council struck the final nail in the coffin for the Jarvis Street bike lane, voting 24-19 to paint over the kerbside track before the end of the fall.
The markings on the side of the north-south street were painted roughly two years ago at a cost of $86,000; the cost of removal is estimated to be $300,000 when construction of a fifth centre lane capable of handling traffic in both directions is factored in.
This morning on CBC Radio's Metro Morning mayor Rob Ford disputed the two minutes the removal of the lane will save motorists, suggesting it would be closer to seven when the new street layout is complete. Numbers aside, other members of council didn't mince words when the final vote came in.
"You're not going to remove cyclists by removing bicycle lanes. They're still going to be there, they just are going to be riding very unsafely," remarked councilor Kristyn Wong-Tam, whose ward includes Jarvis Street. Trinity-Spadina councillor Mike Layton warned council about the consequences of its decision
"Every time someone dies as a result of a bike accident on Jarvis you'll need to explain to those families why it was so necessary for us to remove these lanes," he said during the debate.
The Twitter reaction to the decision was, as expected, large and mostly against the removal. Here's some of the best tweets from yesterday and this morning. Add your two cents in the comments' section. Is the cost of removing the lane a waste or are cyclists just as well served by the new Sherbourne Street separated lanes just to the east? Is this a net gain for commuters in Toronto or are we moving backwards?
Photo: "R.I.P Jarvis Bike Lane" by Martinho in the blogTO Flickr pool.
Discussion
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At this point, I think it is a waste to put back the centre lane/etc but I think a full study should have been done initially including looking at the revenue the city would have lost getting rid of all of the parking meters along both sides of Jarvis.
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Residents of Toronto Centre and Rosedale who use Jarvis to get to and from work “constantly email me saying ‘Rob, we have to get rid of these bike lanes,’” Ford said.
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Yeah, sure Robbie. Prove it. And please see a psychiatrist to deal with all these imaginary voices constantly calling your cell phone.
And I usually refrain from personal insults, but Mark, your comment reflect very poorly on your intelligence and education if you honestly believe in retrograde and anti-urban traffic planning. I feel very sorry for you that you live in a big city in 2012 and not 1962.
The interests of 15,000 car drivers should not trump those of the 65,000 people who live in that ward. In addition, the lanes were removed because they were dangerous to traffic as both cars used it in the wrong direction to pass other cars, and pedestrians unfamiliar with it use it as a refuge while crossing midblock and looked the wrong way.
From the MOE submission: "Since the bike lanes were installed, the total number of all reported collisions per year along Jarvis Street has decreased by 23 percent - this includes drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. This is despite the fact that cycling on Jarvis Street has increased by 300 percent and the number of motor vehicles has remained the same".
So f**k rationality, now we get a less safe situation for everyone involved at a cost of $300000 because Minnan-Wong thinks the 5th lane is cool.
To remove them no one was consulted, it was suggestion from a Councillor in another ward and supported by Rob Ford. The removal was 'rushed' A purely spiteful political move.
http://www.torontolife.com/daily/informer/political-whoas/2012/08/15/mark-towhey-chief-of-staff/
This is not what the "taxpayers" wanted. It's what our immature, petulant, anti-city mayor wanted. PLEASE stop dragging the "taxpayers" into it. Because over the past 2 years, I certainly haven't felt very respected.
I hope Olivia Chow, John Tory - someone, ANYONE for that matter, runs against this clown in 2014. This joke simply isn't funny anymore.
Anyway regardless if you originally supported the Jarvis bikelanes or not, ripping them out is hardly beneficial to anyone considering the cost to do so.
Rob Ford is an embarrassment to conservatives everywhere. I'm pleased with the union peace, and with the garbage outsourcing experiment -- both are well in line with best practices with other cities and whether credible to the recession or Ford they are worthy goals. The problem is the other 98% of actions, or non-actions as it were. John Tory would have been a vastly superior, less clownish mayor, and deep down you know it.
Again, I'm very sorry that you live in a city when you hate cities, where the majority of residents are labeled a minority in your mind simply because their views are not yours. I guess you view a 42% approval rating as a majority too, right?
Now with Council putting faster car traffic in again, the first wealthy person to get hit by a car is going to sue the city... and probably win.
Could we educate car drivers please?