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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

From TPS News Release, at this link...


Published: Friday, August 4, 2023, 6:46 PM


The Toronto Police Service is making the public aware of an arrest made in a Personal Injury Collision investigation.
On Wednesday, July 19, 2023, at approximately 8:23 a.m., police responded to a call for Personal Injury Collision in the Yonge Street and Ranleigh Avenue area.
It is alleged that:
  • the cyclist was travelling northbound on Yonge Street, approaching Ranleigh Avenue
  • the accused was operating a brown 2005 Buick 4-door sedan, also travelling northbound on Yonge Street approaching Ranleigh Avenue
  • the cyclist and the accused stopped at a red light at Yonge Street and Ranleigh Avenue
  • the cyclist and accused got into an argument
  • the traffic light turned green to proceed northbound on Yonge Street
  • the cyclist proceeded through the intersection, when the accused accelerated and struck the cyclist
  • the cyclist fell off his bicycle
  • the accused pulled over to the side of the road and waited for police to attend
  • the cyclist was transported to hospital with minor injuries
On August 4, 2023, Yurii Karpenko, 28, of Toronto, was arrested and charged with:
  1. Dangerous Operation of a Conveyance - Causing Bodily Harm
He is scheduled to appear in court at the Ontario Court of Justice, 10 Armoury Street, on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, at 2:30 p.m., in room 204.
 
The project is identified. I know, reading these can be a pain:

View attachment 499603

I will have to check w/staff to see how many raised bike lanes at bus stops this buys.

As promised.........I checked...........

About 70 platforms/stops

So apparently these are ~65k a pop.

That seems really hefty. I admit to being surprised.

***

So I just looked it up for myself..........

Oakland California bought these in 2018, at $50,000USD a pop; so the price we're paying is not out of line.

Scratching my head on why these are so costly.
 

For those lacking Twitter previews, and/or the click-averse........


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On the subject of the temporary bus platforms, the only reason I've been given that make some sense in terms of the cost is that they are all shipped (literally shipped) in from Spain where they are made.

I do think that would add to the cost; but still, they really seem remarkably simple, and I'm confused by what about their construction could put them in that price point range, other than they have only one manufacturer.

But I must confess, at first blush, I don't see anything patent-worthy that would justify exclusivity of manufacture.

Perhaps UT's engineering set could offer more insight.

I will ask @reaperexpress if he has any insight on this....
 
As expected, the City are now working on moving the Adelaide St bike lane/track from south to north side of the street. It is virtually finished from Bathurst to George and they are now workig from George to Parliament. None of the new bike signals seem to be working yet but the work is moving along. Of course, the section between York and Victoria is a war zone as work goes on with the underground infrastructure and then the TTC/City will be laying the new (replacement) TTC tracks - the new rails are all on the street just west of Church.
 

Some things don't change as quickly as they should.......

But things do indeed change.

I did two counts of queues at lights, while on my big walk on Wednesday.

On College, at McCaul, going west, cyclists outnumbers cars.

On Dundas, wb at University, the queue was 10 cyclists, 14 cars in rush hour.

That is remarkable change from a few years ago.
 
Now for some good news.

Consultation for a new Bikeway on Portland is moving forward this fall, with an eye to implementation next summer.

You want to see it happen? Be sure to attend the meeting and say supportive things and fill out applicable surveys and comments.


From the above:

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Looks like an improvement

But I'd like for the sidewalks to be widened on Portland as part of this - they are pretty narrow as is and are often crowded, especially in the evenings, and many people just end up walking on the road

Really no need for street-parking on Portland at all either - just convert that space to wider sidewalks / patios / etc.
 
Looks like an improvement

But I'd like for the sidewalks to be widened on Portland as part of this - they are pretty narrow as is and are often crowded, especially in the evenings, and many people just end up walking on the road

Really no need for street-parking on Portland at all either - just convert that space to wider sidewalks / patios / etc.

Submit this as feedback, its an important part of getting the project right.

Even if staff cannot address that issue in this project, if they are aware of that concern, it will be advanced into the to-do list,
 
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I'm not sure why they would need a cycle track at all north of Front. With the proposed one way changes and the filter at Wellington Street it will become impossible for motorists to use Portland as a through route, so traffic volumes will be minimal. The street would become a local street, which therefore has a 30 km/h limit per Toronto & East York policies. I assume this project would also redesign the geometry to enforce low motor traffic speeds.

Having just a contraflow bike lane instead of bidirectional bike lanes helps reduce the complexity of intersections, which can actually improve safety on low-volume and low-speed streets compared to a bidirectional path.
 
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