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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

TwinHuey said:
For those of you who cycle in south Scarborough:

This morning I was going to ride the Highland Creek Trail (one of my favourite loops) for the first time this year.

View attachment 569424

Riding eastbound I was surprised to see the Waterfront Trail closed at the Highland Creek Treatment Plant (Copperfield and Beechgrove).

I had assumed the shoreline work had been completed last year.

View attachment 569425

Phase 1 was completed and they are now working on Phase 2, with a proposed completion date of June.

View attachment 569426

I should have checked the TRCA website before riding.

trca.ca

Erosion West of Highland Creek Shoreline Protection Project

TRCA is undertaking shoreline repair and erosion mitigation along part of the Waterfront Trail between East Point Park and Port Union Waterfront Park.
trca.ca trca.ca
Click to expand...


I rode there the Waterfront Trail eastbound towards Highland Creek this morning, intending to take a detour up Beechgrove at the treatment plant, but the gate was open.

There was a TRCA truck alongside the trail with a crew sweeping the new asphalt. Looking good!

IMG_9255.jpeg


I cycled the complete section and accessed the Highland Creek Trail, but the work crew may be closing the gate when they're done so I'm not going back until it's officially open.

I'd sent an email to the TRCA project manager earlier this morning, and received this response after I got back from my ride:

"We are in the final restoration stage this week and will have the trail reopened for the July 1st long weekend. The project website (
trca.ca

Erosion West of Highland Creek Shoreline Protection Project

TRCA is undertaking shoreline repair and erosion mitigation along part of the Waterfront Trail between East Point Park and Port Union Waterfront Park.
trca.ca trca.ca
) will be updated later this week and we will also notify to the Waterfront Regeneration Trust so their trail map can be updated once the trail is open."
 
afransen said:
Mississauga has launched an escooter/ebike rental scheme through Lime and Bird, with 300 bikes, 900 scooters located at 600 POIs around the city.

www.mississauga.ca

Get ready to roll, Mississauga: City launches shared e-bikes and e-scooters system

Shared e-bikes and e-scooters are now available for rent across Mississauga for a fee.
www.mississauga.ca www.mississauga.ca
Click to expand...
Anyone got more info on this?
Not seeing much on the Bird and Lime websites.
Bird has a blog post dated April 2024 about coming out of Bankcrupcy protection which doesn't inspire confidence.

Edit:
I downloaded both apps and you can already rent ebikes/escooters in Mississauga on both apps.
 
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elcorrerador said:
Anyone got more info on this?
Not seeing much on the Bird and Lime websites.
Bird has a blog post dated April 2024 about coming out of Bankcrupcy protection which doesn't inspire confidence.

Edit:
I downloaded both apps and you can already rent ebikes/escooters in Mississauga on both apps.
Click to expand...
Same, I downloaded both apps to check it out. I think Bird has a lot more scooters/bikes. Some areas have pretty impressive density, including PC area.

I think the cost is around $1.50 to start + 0.35/minute, min $2.50/ride. Something along those lines. Lime has passes, so $9 for 3 days/60 minute duration and unlimited rides. So not likely to be better than the bus cost wise. They also have a 300 minute/30 day pass for $32.

Could be useful as an alternative to Uber, which I sometimes use for one-way trips where I don't have my car and the bus requires a transfer. I'm only willing to invest so much time in local transit trips).
 
The City has a Report on their winter plans for snow clearing, this caught my eye: SEE: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-246830.pdf

Improvements for the Upcoming 2024-2025 Winter Season

Operational Route Improvements

The addition of new cycling infrastructure every year impacts how snow is cleared from the road. There is a difference between how snow is cleared on separated bike lanes versus on non-separated bike lanes. Therefore, the existing service levels for bike lane clearing were developed using different maximum operating times for plowing and salting of separated cycle tracks versus non-separated bike lanes. To simplify the winter maintenance expectations for people using bike lanes, a consistent level of service is proposed to be approved by Council for salting and plowing both separated and non-separated bike lanes. Dedicated equipment will clear snow off all cycling infrastructure starting when there is at least 2cm of snow on the ground, and all cycling infrastructure clearing will be completed within a maximum of 8 hours. The desired outcome will remain the same for the various cycling infrastructure. The definition of “safe and passable” for bike lanes means that the pavement in bike lanes will have at least 60% of the width free of loose snow, slush and ice. See Attachment 3 for the revised Winter Service Level table.
 
I've been more frequently cycling on Gerrard between River and Parliament and so thought I'd take another look at this study/proposal from 2022.


The proposal calls for a a bi-directional cycle track through Regent Park. Though I think this is misstated, as the cycle track would travel alongside Regent Park rather than through it. Either way, a bi-directional track looks interesting, and something I would use and support. Ideally I'd like to see it run the entire 6.2 km length of Gerrard from Coxwell to University as a bi-directional track (with car parking on the northside), rather than forcing westbound cyclists to switch mid-ride between the southside bi-directional track and a single track or open curb lane on the northside.

Let's avoid this back and forth like in Ohio below if we can. But heck, it's far better than nothing so I'll take it.

6-20.PNG


Hopefully the bi-directional track will have bollards or other bike-safe means to prevent cars from entering it. Regardless, anything that slows down car traffic and improves cyclists safety on Gerrard between River and Parliament gets my vote.

Now, if I can just get the city to remove the Dundas East ramp to the DVP North, where turning vehicles zoom past pedestrians and cyclists or hold up eastbound streetcars while they wait to turn. The DVP North can still be accessed at the Gardiner, and onramps at Lakeshore, Eastern, Queen, Bayview, Bloor and Don Mills, so us DVP drivers south of Eglinton still have lots of options. But one thing at a time.....
 
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Question, on pedestrian head start signals (aka leading pedestrian interval or LPI) are the cyclists supposed to wait for the vehicular green light or can they go on the cross walk signal? Almost every cyclist seems to proceed on the walk signal, leaving me sitting alone on my bike by the stop line waiting for the green light. Interestingly, where there are separate bicycle signals I am certain I have seen them turn green both simultaneously and after the walk signal. I shall try to record when I next see this inconsistency.
 
Danforth Kingston Complete Street:

I attended the in-person public meeting tonight.

For those curious, I'll be brief:
  • City staff did a remarkable job (as usual) working the room, greeting guests as we arrived and answering questions one on one
  • Upon commencement of the formal presentation, Councillor Kandavel gave opening remarks - reinforcing his position supporting protected cycling infrastructure only if there is no removal of traffic lanes. For those not familiar with the proposed plan, the Kingston Road section (8 km) does not require the reduction of traffic lanes, but the Danforth section (4 km) requires the removal of one lane in each direction.
  • After the presentation, the floor was opened to the public.
  • Of approximately 20 who spoke, only one was against, ALL the others were supportive. WOW!
  • Two of the speakers who live in the Danforth section were quite upset with the councillor for being against the plan for their neighbourhood. One said that she wants her young children to be able to "independently travel" on their bikes.
  • One of the last speakers was a woman representing Friends and Families for Safer Streets. She said "Our members are survivors of traffic collisions and friends and families whose loved ones have been killed or severely injured by careless drivers or dangerous conditions on Toronto streets." She finished by saying that she would gladly sit in traffic for an extra few minutes to bring back the life of someone killed. Powerful words. She was given the longest round of applause of any of the speakers.
In his opening remarks, Councillor Kandavel asked that everyone be respectful of differing opinions and that "...this is not Etobicoke.." :)

At the end of the evening, I took the time to speak with Councillor Kandavel who was pleased that I identified myself as in his riding.

I thanked him for supporting the 8 km Kingston Road section of the plan and asked how he can move it forward. He confirmed he's doing what he can to get it done.

One step at a time.

IMG_9280.jpeg
 
Admiral Beez said:
Question, on pedestrian head start signals (aka leading pedestrian interval or LPI) are the cyclists supposed to wait for the vehicular green light or can they go on the cross walk signal? Almost every cyclist seems to proceed on the walk signal, leaving me sitting alone on my bike by the stop line waiting for the green light. Interestingly, where there are separate bicycle signals I am certain I have seen them turn green both simultaneously and after the walk signal. I shall try to record when I next see this inconsistency.
Click to expand...

I recall seeing a comment by a councillor or someone in city staff that the future intent is to have bike lights in sync with the advance pedestrian lights, but this was a passing comment with no official capacity. I can't find my source.

For me personally, I wait and count to 3 (as most of the advance lights are set to 3 seconds) and go, so I am entering the intersection roughly when the light goes green.
 
afransen said:
Mississauga has launched an escooter/ebike rental scheme through Lime and Bird, with 300 bikes, 900 scooters located at 600 POIs around the city.

www.mississauga.ca

Get ready to roll, Mississauga: City launches shared e-bikes and e-scooters system

Shared e-bikes and e-scooters are now available for rent across Mississauga for a fee.
www.mississauga.ca www.mississauga.ca
Click to expand...

Maybe this will finally force the city of Toronto to realize that the world will not burn down through the legalization of escooters
 
goodcitywhenfinished said:
Maybe this will finally force the city of Toronto to realize that the world will not burn down through the legalization of escooters
Click to expand...
Not that the current prohibitions seem to stop anyone at all - everytime I'm in the city I see more scooters than I did the previous time. It doesn't seem as though anyone at all cares that they're not allowed, and rightfully so.
 
T3G said:
Not that the current prohibitions seem to stop anyone at all - everytime I'm in the city I see more scooters than I did the previous time. It doesn't seem as though anyone at all cares that they're not allowed, and rightfully so.
Click to expand...
It joins the long list of things Toronto has rules prohibiting that are totally ignored and unenforced.
 
I think there would be more of them if they were expressly allowed under the same rules e-bikes are (minus the silly rules about pedals). And of course there's the issue of the scooter rental companies, which would cause use to really take off if allowed.
 
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