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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

mossynukes said:
new bike lanes on Silver star blvd from I believe steeles to Passmore. they were painted just a few days ago. Does anyone else know about this?View attachment 490064
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Not really new, they were there in 2021, you can see them on Streetview; its just that they didn't have the diamond icon before. Possible they got widened a smidge, as typically, the City differentiates a 'curb line' from a 'bike lane' based on width. Bike lanes are expected to achieve 1.8M wide I think; but don't hold me to that.

From 2021 (Streetview)

1688582262027.png


There's no formal project associated with this as this point, so far as I can discern.
 
mossynukes said:
new bike lanes on Silver star blvd from I believe steeles to Passmore. they were painted just a few days ago. Does anyone else know about this?View attachment 490064
Click to expand...
Looks like a death trap to me, considering that drivers are likely to speed here. I would not feel safe on that strip and would ride on the sidewalk instead
 
Northern Light said:
This is the near-term plan/hope through 2024/25 for eastern North York:

View attachment 489732

Solid Red is designed/approved/implemented. (brighter is new 2022-24)

Pink Dashed is approved.

Red Dashed is subject to study. (some of these studies are already underway)
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply @Northern Light, and for sharing this map! I got this in the mail today:

2D3D3BA3-3C23-4F43-ABC8-905A5A5D4585.jpeg


Nice to see from your map that the lanes will also soon reach just east of Leslie. Will these be raised bike lanes, or painted/buffered?
 
mind_the_gap said:
Thank you for the reply @Northern Light, and for sharing this map! I got this in the mail today:

View attachment 490263

Nice to see from your map that the lanes will also soon reach just east of Leslie. Will these be raised bike lanes, or painted/buffered?
Click to expand...

Uphill, looking west of Leslie:

1688662694058.png


Looking east from here towards Leslie (aerial)

1688662743444.png


So the answer is generally buffered and sometimes raised. The exact details may vary at this point as these renders are from '21.
 
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Is there a city program for cutting curbs where park trails meet roads? It seems to be pretty haphazard which curbs ramp down vs drop off, and it's arguably pretty cheap bike infrastructure. For example 3 of 4 curbs are cut at Fred Hamilton park, but the one near 187 Roxton road is not. I have many places in mind that I would even pay for if it was possible

1688671467841.png
1688671506777.png
 
enter username said:
Is there a city program for cutting curbs where park trails meet roads? It seems to be pretty haphazard which curbs ramp down vs drop off, and it's arguably pretty cheap bike infrastructure. For example 3 of 4 curbs are cut at Fred Hamilton park, but the one near 187 Roxton road is not. I have many places in mind that I would even pay for if it was possible

View attachment 490309View attachment 490310
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You can contact 311 to request a curb-cut. If no response, try reaching out to your local councillor.
 
enter username said:
Is there a city program for cutting curbs where park trails meet roads? It seems to be pretty haphazard which curbs ramp down vs drop off, and it's arguably pretty cheap bike infrastructure. For example 3 of 4 curbs are cut at Fred Hamilton park, but the one near 187 Roxton road is not. I have many places in mind that I would even pay for if it was possible

View attachment 490309View attachment 490310
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So according to my friend who works in the bike lane department of the city, curb cuts are the most difficult thing to get done. They require sign off of three different departments. Its a lot of dumb red tape.

He suggests calling and saying you are disabled and using a mobility device to get around and got stuck here. That usually expedites things.
 
robmausser said:
So according to my friend who works in the bike lane department of the city, curb cuts are the most difficult thing to get done. They require sign off of three different departments. Its a lot of dumb red tape.

He suggests calling and saying you are disabled and using a mobility device to get around and got stuck here. That usually expedites things.
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I've encountered this dynamic, myself. There's also a *deeply* frustrating (but very Toronto) thing where Transportation doesn't like to introduce new curb cuts where there is not a signed, stop-controlled pedestrian crossing right there.

As Rob noted, the Councillor is typically the easiest route to get this sort of shit overridden (depending on the Councillor, of course).
 
ADRM said:
I've encountered this dynamic, myself. There's also a *deeply* frustrating (but very Toronto) thing where Transportation doesn't like to introduce new curb cuts where there is not a signed, stop-controlled pedestrian crossing right there.

As Rob noted, the Councillor is typically the easiest route to get this sort of shit overridden (depending on the Councillor, of course).
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There are still a bunch of uncut curbs on the Beltline, which is extra frustrating when they've put so much money into those "Stations" art project along the trail. The fact that we are romanticizing a failed commuter line that lasted all of 2 years before going bankrupt instead of actually doing things that are useful like curb cuts or extending the lighting along the Beltline is peak Toronto. The irony is so thick you could swim in it.
 
I'll chime in to the above discussion w/this; Transportation has some great staff who are true believers in walking, cycling and transit and do their best to put many of the ideas discussed here forward.

It is also home to some incredibly regressive people outside of that group of dedicated staff who make advancing those priorities a challenge at times.

On top of which, you have other departments which have loud opinions and can make some things difficult to do (sometimes understandably because of different mandates, but often frustratingly, due to intransigence or even incompetence)

Lastly, there are 'community stakeholders' who can be ferocious at times. They can push hard against staff, and lobby Council to scuttle plans into which a great deal of work was put.

Btw, sometimes an area has more than one powerful stakeholder group, and they may not get along w/the other(s) at all.

Can't say more than that at the moment..........

But just to be aware......there are good staff trying to make great things happen, and they often don't lack the good ideas or common sense you may think when you see what does or does not come forward; there's much backstory, some of which
may never be public.
 
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Northern Light said:
View attachment 490004
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Heads up for those thinking of taking the proposed Meadoway detour in Scarborough:

I decided to bike the proposed detour from Ellesmere Gatineau trail section east down to Morningside park this past weekend. The (new) trail section along Ellesmere is paved and open and appears to continue up the opposite side of the ravine for some length (I didn't have time to explore this bit). The portion connecting to Morningside park, however, is still mostly not paved and has deep/large gravel sections with sand. I wouldn't recommend anyone with a road bike (suggest mountain or better) take this route unless you don't mind dismounting several times until you get to Morningside Park rd.
 
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