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General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)

the lemur said:
Which routes are MTB-only?
Click to expand...
A marginal example I quickly found is Milkman's Lane. It's steep with loose gravel, which made it pretty tough with a road bike with skinny tires.
https://goo.gl/maps/SGOqD
Doable, but not a route I would really suggest to someone with a road bike.

Of course the most annoying (and hard to avoid steps) are the ones where you have to get off the Humber River Trail in Rexdale
https://goo.gl/maps/I2rM3
I so wish they would build the path through this section. It's a terrible place to bike in traffic too with cars not used to bikes going quite fast in a bit of a rough neighbourhood.
 
Napoleon said:
Of course the most annoying (and hard to avoid steps) are the ones where you have to get off the Humber River Trail in Rexdale
https://goo.gl/maps/I2rM3
I so wish they would build the path through this section. It's a terrible place to bike in traffic too with cars not used to bikes going quite fast in a bit of a rough neighbourhood.
Click to expand...

A feasibility study on closing the gap in the Humber trail is due in 2015/2016 according to the city's website. But for now, the best place to get off the Humber river is not at the very end where the stairs are. Instead, use this exit located at Weston Rd & Conron Pl. There are no stairs here.

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salsa said:
A feasibility study on closing the gap in the Humber trail is due in 2015/2016 according to the city's website. But for now, the best place to get off the Humber river is not at the very end where the stairs are. Instead, use this exit located at Weston Rd & Conron Pl. There are no stairs here.
Click to expand...
I used to do that when I first started riding the trail as the newer bit was closed or washed out or something. Weston road really is bad for cycling, but I guess I probably prefer it to stairs.
Glad to hear there's a study to close the gap, but come on, it's not even half a kilometre. It really can't cost very much to build a half kilometre of trail. I wish they'd taken some small fraction of money they spent on the Pan Am Path signs and art and put it towards actually improving the trail.
 
nfitz said:
Cool - I've never noticed that little pathway before - I didn't know there was an entrance at Danforth ... hmm, though that's the other side of the river. I don't know the path system down the Don Valley very well. My bike rusted to a solid lump before I moved to Toronto, and quite frankly, I don't have the the patience to be out there on a bicycle in traffic. I know my limits.
Click to expand...

When I first became aware that you could bike into the valley and not have to deal with cars, I thought it would lead to a trail all the way downtown along the east side of the Don. Another time I took the DVP onramp (whoops, no bikes allowed) from Bloor E to a trail just west of the Brickworks and found myself stuck at Bayview and Rosedale Valley. Perhaps not the best idea to check it out on the way to work either ... https://goo.gl/maps/II8PO

However, finding the Belt Line entrance on Moore after much map reading was what really opened up a new world https://goo.gl/maps/cNG5X
 
salsa said:
A feasibility study on closing the gap in the Humber trail is due in 2015/2016 according to the city's website. But for now, the best place to get off the Humber river is not at the very end where the stairs are. Instead, use this exit located at Weston Rd & Conron Pl. There are no stairs here.
Click to expand...

It's a bit steep though.
 
Napoleon said:
I used to do that when I first started riding the trail as the newer bit was closed or washed out or something. Weston road really is bad for cycling, but I guess I probably prefer it to stairs.
Glad to hear there's a study to close the gap, but come on, it's not even half a kilometre. It really can't cost very much to build a half kilometre of trail. I wish they'd taken some small fraction of money they spent on the Pan Am Path signs and art and put it towards actually improving the trail.
Click to expand...

I assume some of the delay was for the train bridge widening. I would have expected that the city would have finished the project during the construction phase of the rail bridge and then immediately started construction but within a year or so isn't bad.

They of course should not be doing construction near the river during the salmon run (late Sept/Oct). And have to be careful during the spring floods so it leaves a very small window of time for construction at the rivers edge.

...which reminds me that the salmon will be running soon. Highly recommended for people to get of the subway at Old Mill and walk through Etienne Brule park when they do. You can walk/bike both sides of the rivers (crossing at Dundas St Bridge and Old Mill bridge). For the bikers the West side is one way going south.
 
Napoleon said:
I used to do that when I first started riding the trail as the newer bit was closed or washed out or something. Weston road really is bad for cycling, but I guess I probably prefer it to stairs.
Glad to hear there's a study to close the gap, but come on, it's not even half a kilometre. It really can't cost very much to build a half kilometre of trail. I wish they'd taken some small fraction of money they spent on the Pan Am Path signs and art and put it towards actually improving the trail.
Click to expand...

It looks like there's a bit of unofficial trail past the Weston/St Phillips intersection and around the next bend in the Humber, but it seems like it gets really narrow beyond that, under the tracks and past whatever this site is:

https://goo.gl/maps/QLOzv
 
smably said:
From next week's PWIC agenda: Ten Year Cycling Network Plan: Project Update and 2016 Implementation Program

Most exciting items, at first glance: Bloor Street pilot project from Shaw to Avenue, and repaving of the notoriously potholed Gerrard lanes. (Or maybe a cycle track upgrade? Report is vague on specifics.)

Also, initiation of corridor studies for Yonge and Bloor.
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Looks fairly promising from what I can see. Also some off-road work in the Don Valley, although I don't know if that includes improving the terrible condition of the Don valley trail south of Gerard.
 
Napoleon said:
This is one of those few times that I have to confess to biking on the sidewalk.
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I don't mind riding on the street where the trail gap is but I once biked south on Weston for some distance (don't remember why) and it was pretty grim.
 
Napoleon said:
Glad to hear there's a study to close the gap, but come on, it's not even half a kilometre. It really can't cost very much to build a half kilometre of trail. I wish they'd taken some small fraction of money they spent on the Pan Am Path signs and art and put it towards actually improving the trail.
Click to expand...

On Monday I attended a public info session on the planned improvements to the Lower Don trail. I asked one of the city staff about the gap in the Humber river and how they plan to fix it. It turns out that section is private property! Yup, the homes lining the river have property rights all the way to the water. As absurd as that sounds, I also found out that even at some parts of the Scarborough Bluffs the homes along the top have property rights that extend to the lake 100 metres below.

So what are the options?
1) The city could buy back the land to build the trail, but that would cost millions and every homeowner would have to agree to it. Most of them are alright with it, but a few of them "don't want a damn trail in my backyard". Yup, even if you handed them a half million dollar cheque for their sliver of land that they probably never use, they are still opposed to the trail.
2) Build new land into the river to bypass the privately owned land, which is opposed by the Toronto Region Conservation Authority and would also be expensive.
3) Convince the owner of the golf course on the other side of the river to give up some land. Good luck with that.

Looks like the situation is more difficult than I ever could have imagined.
 
Expropriation - this was exactly what was done for the Mimico waterfront promenade.

Property owners wouldn't play ball? Well we just take your land anyway.
 
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