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General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)

W. K. Lis said:
Going north, the bike path (the diagonal path to the right of the photo) connects with Lundy Avenue (on a hill). Riders then ride west on Old Dundas to reconnect with the bike path (the path under the Dundas Street West bridge). Riders have been known to dismount their bikes because of the hill (especially from riding all the way up from downtown).

There is a foot path that follows the river edge more closer, but riders should dismount to negotiate it (unless you're using a mountain bike). A solution would be to rebuild the footpath as a bicycle path.
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Ah...now I understand. Was thinking Old Dundas on the other side of the river.

It's a fairly narrow path for pedestrians right now. A bike trail would have to be wider than the current path. Since it's on a slope it would probably require a retaining wall either on the up or down-slope of the path (or both). Would cost more than you think but not obscenely expensive. Of course the TRCA would also need to be involved which creates additional headaches.

And of course you have to think about the children! Safety! Handrails would be a must! (which would make it wider again)
 
W. K. Lis said:
Going north, the bike path (the diagonal path to the right of the photo) connects with Lundy Avenue (on a hill). Riders then ride west on Old Dundas to reconnect with the bike path (the path under the Dundas Street West bridge). Riders have been known to dismount their bikes because of the hill (especially from riding all the way up from downtown).

There is a foot path that follows the river edge more closer, but riders should dismount to negotiate it (unless you're using a mountain bike). A solution would be to rebuild the footpath as a bicycle path.
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It's never been obvious to me why this gap exists. It's a perfectly decent pedestrian path that could be upgraded without any addition of right of way. The one further south doesn't really have an obvious solution to me.

For the Weston Gap:

Looks like there's a massive amount of room where the houses are. I'm sure the houses would not be affected at all by a trail. It's near the apartment buildings and that weird construction yard where it looks rather tight. Can't really see the current stairs in this photo.

Oh, and for our concern troll, Weston is indeed one of my least favorite roads to bike on in Toronto. For safety sake, I often choose the option of taking the entire lane which eliminates any tight passing.
 

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W. K. Lis said:
Could downtown Toronto go car-free for one day?

Then again, Paris is not a world-class city by car-centric folks.
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I heard the argument that Toronto couldn't do it because we don't have the transit to pick up the slack.

There was a noticeable improvement in air quality during the car-free Sunday.

Paris has world-class congestion, if that's anything ... the one time I drove there I promptly ended up in a traffic jam along the Seine and a guy in a convertible next to me asked if I knew how to get out of the city.

'Well, where do you want to go?'

'Belgium'.
 
Even though the city needs to improve our on-street network of bike lanes, our flagship cycling infrastructure like the Martin Goodman Trail also needs upgrades. It's too narrow in some areas like in the Humber Bay Shores neighbourhood just west of the Humber Bay Arch Bridge. We're seeing a lot of conflicts in that area between cyclists and pedestrians, which suggests a need for a wider walkway for pedestrians and a wider bike path. I much preferred the width of Windsor's riverfront trail for cycling when I lived there.

A Queens Quay bypass route along Lake Shore Boulevard would be good for when Queens Quay is crowded with pedestrians in the summer. It would also be good to add night lighting--particularly at conflict points with cars like the Boulevard Club driveway in the west end.
 
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junctionist said:
Even though the city needs to improve our on-street network of bike lanes, our flagship cycling infrastructure like the Martin Goodman Trail also needs upgrades. It's too narrow in some areas like in the Humber Bay Shores neighbourhood just west of the Humber Bay Arch Bridge. We're seeing a lot of conflicts in that area between cyclists and pedestrians, which suggests a need for a wider walkway for pedestrians and a wider bike path. I much preferred the width of Windsor's riverfront trail for cycling when I lived there..
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I'm guessing the MGT was initially designed around Humber Bay Shores with a significantly smaller population projection. And with the Mr Christie lands being developed it will only get busier.

We should be encouraging residents to congregate along this stretch. Having a lake-front promenade (as a deck, not as a wall to maximize fish habitat) would move the pedestrians away from the bike path and allow for more use of the area.

At the same time the city and condo's should look at alternatives to increase the potential for retail either in the park or in the condo buildings themselves. The newer buildings have retail units but the older buildings create a dead zone.
 
Take a look at the mouth of the Humber River. Looking at this photo, there are combined pedestrian & bicycle routes at The Queensway (both sides), at the southside of Lake Shore Blvd., and another at the very mouth. However, look at how wide the bridges have given over to automobile.
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Even the railway has more real estate allocated to it than bicycles and pedestrians.
 

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W. K. Lis said:
Libel to hit a pedestrian, however. Better if they add separate new and wider bridges for pedestrian and bicycles.
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The Humber Bay Arch Bridge is actually pretty wide (6.5 m). All it would take is paint to delineate the separate bicycle and pedestrian paths that already exist on both sides of the bridge (3.5 m bicycle path, 3.0 m pedestrian path, maybe?).

 
The problem is that the head honchos at the city are auto-oriented, and consider bicycles a nuisance and a third-class method of transportation. This despite that fact at the turn of the century between the 1800's and 1900's, it was the bicycle that got us the paved roads, instead of gravel or sand. The bicycle should at the very least be given the same road width as given the automobile on our roadways, a lane in each direction.
 
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