PL1
Senior Member
(What I assume is a ) "bike lane" NB Bayview between roughly north of Broadway and Glen Valley. There's one SB, too. Just painted lines. So useful!
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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)
- Thread starter MetroMan
- Start date
Northern Light
Superstar
PL1
Senior Member
What's the point? Not wide enough for a moped, so cars can't park there. If a taxi/Uber stops there, another car couldn't pass.
bearcat
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PL1
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Anyway, back down to Donlands/Pape/Millwood. First the *most dangerous* crossing ever. E-W green, while SB green (to Donlands and Pape, but only one lane). Yes, greens at 90°... slightly unsafe for pedestrians! (I've reported this to 311Toronto).
WB Donlands at Millwood:
And machinery in NB Millwood, presumably to work on the bike lane on the bridge:
WB Donlands at Millwood:
And machinery in NB Millwood, presumably to work on the bike lane on the bridge:
bearcat
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Yeah, from what I can tell looking at this stretch of road on Google Maps streetview and the photos in this thread, the curbs were completely redone (see red lines) to get rid of what is presumably an old bus layby on the west side and the rightmost lane for a bus stop on the east side (both shaded yellow). I am genuinely curious why the new curbs could just not be done at the curb line.
PL1
Senior Member
They got rid of all bus laybies except at the CNIB afaik. Also remove the NB stop at Glen Vale. The centre lane north of Kilgore is also reduced. Still...
turbanplanner
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PL1
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The bridge was redone in the ?1990s?? I don't know if the lights were retained, or were deliberately kept of the style.
turbanplanner
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DSCToronto
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Yes, there are some of these lines on Adelaide & Richmond near Jarvis; there they are to show future curb line but I agree it is very confusing, esp. as extending the sidewalks out is not a small job and there are no actual plans to do it.
Northern Light
Superstar
It was last rehabbed in 2004/2005, so 20 years ago.
It hasn't had a true gut since it was widened in 1969.
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Its not that old..........its a very slightly more elaborate version of the conventional cobra-style fixture that's been in use since the late 1970s.
I'm not sure when those lights date from, could be the '05 re-do, but I think they look older than that, maybe early 90s.
There were no cobra lights in the 1960s, never mind 1927 when the bridge was built.
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I would like to see them converted LED as well though, but I would prefer a more decorative pole and fixture for the bridge.
This is a picture of the bridge from 1928:
Credit James Salmon - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaside_Bridge#/media/File:LeasideMillwoodBridge.jpg
Last edited:
Toronto1834
Active Member
Construction notice dated August 30. Work starts September 9, estimated completion October 6, 2025.
Northern Light
Superstar
Some improvements to the Dundas bike lane/cycle track, east of Logan:
Before:
After:
Source: Councillor Fletcher's Newsletter for August 30th, 2024
Before:
After:
Source: Councillor Fletcher's Newsletter for August 30th, 2024
Fred.S
Active Member
Moving a curb is not as easy as it may seem. Some reasons why:
- The road profile is a big one. The roadway is sloped so that it drains outward to the gutter beside the curb. The sidewalk/boulevard would drain inwards towards that same gutter. Moving the curb would change both of these slopes, and so there are practical limits to how much you can move a curb without flattening out the roadway or sidewalk, or potentially backdraining the sidewalk onto the private property which would be a problem. If you wanted to move the curb say a meter on a relatively narrow street, you end up having to reconstruct the entire roadway and boulevard to reprofile it.
- Stormdrains are under or close to the curb, connected to the catchbasin embedded in the gutter or side inlets in the curb. Moving the curbs a lot could mean rebuilding/repositioning the storm drains under the roadway, which again means means reconstructing much of the road.
- Utilities are also very plentiful under the street, and many are under the curb lanes and boulevard between the curb and sidewalk, or the sidewalk if it's against the curb. Moving curbs could mean having utilities move their underground infrastructure, and often there just isn't room. Many utilities, such as water and gas mains have required offsets to other utilities. Ther are lots of pipes and electrical and communications cables under there.
All of the above can be overcome, but it usually requires a lot of money and design effort that often is only justified if the street already needs to be fully reconstructed. With normal street re-paving, contractors are only really fixing existing curbs and redoing the top level of asphalt, not dealing with utility relocations, redoing the entire road base and reprofiling the street. Often road surveys and engineering design are not required. Road markings are easy, so narrowing the road with paint, while not a perfect solution, is an improvement that is much cheaper.
What gets me are roads that are completly redone, with sub-standard cycling infrastructure, i.e. bike lanes (instead of cycle tracks) on parts of the Eglinton LRT or some VIVA bus ways. Usually a result of being contractually committed to obsolete designs that were tendered 10 years ago, but being constructed now.