Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[Northern Light]

There is this perception on this thread that street parking is only useful to visitors to a neighbourhood and therefore it’s expendable. That’s fine but I’ve been stressing that parking is also important to building and business servicing.

Building servicing is not a secondary use of the road space, it is arguably the primary purpose of the road in the first place. Some of the glaring deficiencies of the existing Bloor bike lanes are in areas where building servicing was never considered at all as a function, let alone a primary function of the road.

Building servicing includes where deliveries or input or outputs can’t be brought into reasonable or convenient proximity to buildings. Garbage collection is an obvious example where we have seen the dubious compromise on this thread. Consider others like where say a restaurant needs regular grease-trap pumping which takes place from a truck that parks where if the building has no rear lane of appropriate width and is fronted by a bike lane?

Those uses require accommodation, as do things like pickup/drop off of disabled passengers etc.

But I'm not convinced the answer to that is maintaining a vast supply of street parking.

Cities around the world function without that.

There are a slew of options; these could include, widening/improving laneways, maintaining one layby on each block, vacuum systems for garbage (can go all the way to a transfer station, or just to a central spot in a neighbourhood); as well as smaller service vehicles, including garbage trucks, courier trucks etc. and restricting certain servicing to overnight/off-peak periods.

Also, if traffic volumes are suppressed enough, is removing the centre-line on a road and allowing vehicles to maneuver around service vehicles adjacent to a curb.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Building servicing is not a secondary use of the road space, it is arguably the primary purpose of the road in the first place. Some of the glaring deficiencies of the existing Bloor bike lanes are in areas where building servicing was never considered at all as a function, let alone a primary function of the road.

It's a good point. Whenever I see a UPS truck, document shredding truck, etc. in the bike lane, even as a cyclist, often my first reaction is to ask myself, where is that truck supposed to go? Some countries or cities require such deliveries at nighttime, but that's often not possible and still the truck will be in the bike lane unless there is a dedicated delivery/loading dock somewhere. @Northern Light suggestion of layby on each block is good, provided it's available when needed - perhaps a booking app is a good idea. On the other hand, I want to enact strong anti-violation measures, including commercial vehicle seizure and auction (minus any parcels in the courier truck). Seeing them get towed away like in this article is somehow empowering.

People are upset that FedEx keeps parking in Toronto bike lanes

It's every downtown cyclist's prime annoyance (aside from maybe getting bugs in the eyes): Finding a vehicle smack dab in the middle of your bike l...

www.blogto.com

On my language, @smably fair enough, and good points. I'll bring some humanity back into what I write. I've lost both my parents to addiction in their 60s and almost my brother in his 30s, and I find I've become more hardened to it, rather than more compassionate - it's something to work on. Often I feel like I'm under a Walking Dead like siege in this city to the point where I want to lower the portcullis. Just last week an intoxicated panhandler kicked and dented my wife's car when she politely declined, and my experience riding up Sherbourne's bike lanes can be a circus. We have laws against public intoxication and nuisance, but we seem to turn a blind eye, neither getting permanent, long-term help for those in need nor enforcing the law. Instead we pick the third option, do nothing beyond emergency shelters, harm reduction/injection sites and inclusive language. Anyway, I've taken the thread OT, and I hate a threadjacking, but I wanted to let you know I heard you. I'll say no more on this.

Now back to bike lanes....

 

[Admiral Beez]

Here's what we need to clear the bike lanes of cars. It won't clear trucks, but it's a start.

 

[vic]

If they are going to rebuild the underpasses, they would likely be able to get rid of those girders in the middle of the roadway and the girders between the sidewalk and roadway.. Enough room for snow windrows. Hopefully there would be no sewer grates along the bikeway.

That would be nice for the underpass between Symington and Lansdowne. They're rebuilding the bridge, I believe, for the Davenport Diamond project. If they can make a bridge without pillars/girders/whatever, that would make the streetscape so much more flexible. (Not an engineer...so I don't know if that makes it prohibitively difficult / expensive)

Doubt this would happen for the underpass between Symington and Dundas West. There are four separate bridges there: Railpath, brand new unused bridge for future track, bridge with 2 tracks, and bridge with 4 tracks. There's no way they'll rebuild that anytime soon just to accommodate bike lanes.

But yes, I agree that what you propose would be ideal.

 

[salsa]

Another new cycling project is in the works.

The city is proposing contra-flow bike lanes on Brunswick Ave and Borden Street, which is essentially an extension of the existing Bellevue Ave lanes in Kensington Market to the Annex.

The project will also include a short two-way cycle track on College Street, which will address the jog between Bellevue Ave and the signalized intersection at Borden Street. This will require the removal of three parking spaces.

Project website:

Contra-Flow Bike Lanes on Brunswick Avenue & Borden Street

The City of Toronto is inviting residents to learn more and provide feedback on proposed new bikeways: Contra-flow bike lane on Brunswick Avenue from Lowther Avenue to College Street Contra-flow bike lane on Borden Street from Ulster Street to College Street Contra-flow bike lane on Ulster...

www.toronto.ca

Information panels: https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/8da5-Borden-Brunswick-Slides-2020v10.pdf

Public drop-in event:
Date: Monday, February 3, 2020
Time: 6 to 8 p.m.
Location: Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church (427 Bloor St. W)

 

[BejewelledCarp]

That looks great. I wish they could do that to the rest of College St.

 

[Northern Light]

To get a sense of Bikeshare expansion this year.........you could read this report........or just the maps/graphics below. Don't have station sites yet, but do have areas.

Report Link: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2020/pa/bgrd/backgroundfile-145358.pdf

 

[WislaHD]

That is a weird black hole in Leaside. It isn't even predominantly in the commercial/industrial area.

Definitely think they are focusing too much on northern expansion at the moment. South Etobicoke and South Scarborough would make more sense for expansion, as does filling in St Clair. I would be disappointed too if they didn't expand aggressively into the Junction, High Park, Swansea, Old Mill, Kingsway, and Sunnylea neighbourhoods on the west end.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Why can't any stairs be made accessible to wheelchairs, strollers, and bicycles?

From link. Or will the stair designs not be considered because the designers are not handicapped, have kids, or ride bicycles? The usual excuse.

 

[dob467]

They're finally expanding Bike Share to the Islands? About time! Hopefully they don't just put one station on Centre, but include Hanlan's and and Ward's too.

 

[Northern Light]

Well........change is afoot.

 

[innsertnamehere]

I believe the Adelaide lanes are scheduled to shift sides this spring as well.

 

[Allandale25]

A thread with maps:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1224887715113644032

 

[W. K. Lis]

Want Action? Here’s How to Photograph a Pothole
If your streets department won't build a protected bike lane, the least they can do is fix the streets you've got.

From link.

Local leaders often have no idea how bad streets really are for their non-driving constituents. But to quote the planet’s oldest cliche, a picture is worth a thousand words — and a good picture can motivate an apathetic streets department worker to break out the blacktop repair mix.

Writer Drew Ross has a background in photography and journalism, and he shared some great tips at Streets.MN about how to take a pothole photo that really grabs an apathetic politician’s attention. “A photograph conveys a lot of information: perspective, proportions, scope, and emotion,” Ross said. “In a world heavy with reports and plans, photographs are a welcomed relief.”

Here are a few of his best tips on how to raise awareness and help get those potholes filled. (Or if you’re impatient, have a little money to spare, and don’t mind risking a little trouble…the fine folks at PBS made you an excellent guide on filling potholes yourself. Just sayin.’

1. Outline it

Ross didn’t actually break out the spray paint to take this picture — the staff of a local bike race did to warn riders of hazards. But there’s nothing to stop you from doing it; spray chalk is cheap and doesn’t violate most cities’ graffiti laws.

2. Scale it

Throwing a ruler into your pothole for scale, as Ross did in his first photo, is a good strategy. But you know what’s even better? Showing that your roadway hazards are four times the size of a human skull.

3. Get the angle

“This photo caused people to gasp,” Ross said, and it’s not hard to see why. When you get low and shoot with an eye to really showing the depth of a pothole, not just the breadth, it’s more obvious just how easy it would be to snag a tire in one of these things.

4. Dramatize it

Someone who doesn’t ride a bike might have no idea what horrors can happen when you hit a crack in the pavement that runs parallel to the path you’re riding. Show them, though, and voilà: they get an instant mental image of a cyclist flipping their handlebars — and a stronger incentive to get that thing filled.

5. Skip the people

Your first instinct might be to put a human face on your city’s pothole problem. But Ross points out that personalizing a photograph can distract left-brainy engineers from the simple technical problem they need to solve. This photograph makes the that issue crystal clear: this seam in the road is wide enough to grab this mountain bike tire. Better fill it.

However you photograph your pothole, don’t keep it to yourself. Drop a pin so your streets department knows exactly where that sucker is. Follow your city’s official process for reporting roadway hazards, yes, but then tag that councilperson of yours on Twitter, too. Don’t be afraid of making noise and demanding the safe roadway you deserve.

And if you don’t get a response, maybe steal a page from this hero’s book and make yourself a sign: “The person who didn’t fill this pothole is an asshole.”

 

[sche]

To get a sense of Bikeshare expansion this year.........you could read this report........or just the maps/graphics below. Don't have station sites yet, but do have areas.

Report Link: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2020/pa/bgrd/backgroundfile-145358.pdf

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Why does that pilot zone along Finch not go to yonge to get to north york centre or go into York U? seems like a really random low density area for the pilot