Ok, so I promised a look at how I would do things with respect to cycling infra, in Scarborough.
Let me start by saying, if politics and money were no obstacle, I would put cycling infra everywhere, which is where it ought to be, in the longer term.
But in the real world, we want to grab low-hanging fruit (infrastructure which will generate less opposition, and or sufficient support to ensure it stays in place once approved).
We want to look for projects that require as little study, and as little expense per km as possible, to maximize gain.
But we also want to choose logical routes, and aim for relatively quick uptake.
Rather than do all of Scarborough, I'll take a look at 2 spots I see as being of near-term interest.
1) Scarborough South-West.
This is the area directly abutting East York, generally south of Eglinton, and east of Victoria Park Avenue, down to the Lake.
Here's what I would do:
Legend:
Blue: approved and funded Cycle Tracks, Danforth, Dawes to Victoria Park
Red: Priority Cycle Tracks
Purple: Phase 2 cycle tracks
Here's the details:
Red:
Danforth Victoria Park to Birchmount.
This is a logical extension of the existing Danforth Cycle Track and will therefore have built-in ridership interest.
This section of Danforth is not prone to heavy congestion overall, with some minor congestion in rush hour in the primary direction of travel.
The local councillor has expressed openness to the idea (Crawford)
This would make parking permanent (ie remove rush-hour parking restrictions) for local businesses and residents (this creates an additional positive stakeholder).
It sets up a logical connection to key destinations, including, Victoria Park Station, Shopper's World, Warden Subway Station, and major Recreation amenities on Birchmount south of Danforth.
Birchmount south of Danforth:
A short stretch of road which connects Danforth to the Waterfront, and to major recreation amenities including a Community Recreation Centre, Leisure Pool, Arena, and Stadium.
Credit Streetview
As one can see there is sufficient road width along the bulk of this road in the form of a parking lane that is lightly used, because City facilities here all have off-street parking.
Additionally, the City is the land owner for ~ 90% of the land on the east side of Birchmount, along with the TDSB, meaning adjustments in road width could be made fairly easily without much if any land acquisition, should they be needed.
Warden Avenue, Danforth (or Clonmore) to St. Clair:
This section of Warden is low-volume for traffic, its rarely, if ever jammed.
Local residents are concerned about vehicle speed, and that creates additional stakeholders for something narrows lanes of traffic.
This affords a connection to Warden Station.
Purple:
Kingston Road from Victoria Park to Birchmount.
Parking is currently permitted on both sides of the road, except in rush hour.
So long as most parking remains, or enough parking remains to meet current demand, business and residents would likely be pleased by the removal of rush-hour restrictions.
This is good and represents additional positive stakeholders. It will, however, increase congestion modestly at peak times.
It also has fewer destinations and lower feed-in cycling traffic than Danforth, and is therefore a lower priority.
Same Councillor as Danforth, you won't get both at once.
Victoria Park, Crescent Town Road to Gerrard.
Looks controversial, as the VP/Danforth intersection here experiences significant congestion at peak times.
However, I believe many of those issues might actually be better resolved with bike lanes, than without.
They require dedicated right-hand turn-lanes approaching Danforth, and the elimination of those travel lanes on the opposite side of same.
That said, because it may seem counter-intuitive and involves the same Councillor as Danforth, this should rank as a lower priority.
www.thestar.com
