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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

W. K. Lis said:
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Walter, don't go there again please.

Treat your audience here as people who know the issues, and do not need 'educating' for the most part.

If someone gets their facts wrong, by all means provide a polite correction.

Otherwise, try to stick to 'news', and information that is directly applicable to new cycling infrastructure in Toronto.
 
There is currently a lot of hand-wringing over the Bloor/St. George protected intersection on the Reddit r/bikingtoronto sub.

I think there are some valid points amid the usual complaining about something new, with the caveat that as some have noted, the bike signals have not gone in yet. (Why those always take months or even years to be activated is another whole question).

Screen Shot 2024-09-10 at 12.30.28 PM.png

I agree with the Reddit OPs main point. When I rode the intersection at normal speed recently I was pretty jostled by this lip on the roadway. It's not the curbs you have to go around but an actual integral part of the bike lane surface. It's just not designed or angled properly. If it was meant as a "speed bump" it would have to be clearly marked which it isn't at all.

Another issue I've noticed is cars blocking the bike lane through the intersection. The bike and pedestrian setbacks form such a wide area, that drivers get part-way through before stopping for pedestrians, but end up blocking the bike lane while they wait.

Others have similar experiences, but hopefully signals will help there:
Screen Shot 2024-09-10 at 12.31.28 PM.png

Someone there commented that the intersection is "under review" due to some serious pedestrian collisions. I haven't heard anything about that, but I would assume and hope that ANY new and untested infra like this would be under some kind of review period to improve and tweak it.
 
The lip is definitely too much -- it literally knocked the items I had in my front basket straight up and out of it the first time I rode it.
 
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IMG_5574.jpeg

You can get a bit of a better sense of it from here. It grows in height from right to left as you approach it, so it’s less severe if you stay as far right as possible. Same issue on the eastbound side.

The woman ahead of me this evening was nearly thrown off her bike when crossing it. It really does need to be re-poured or something.
 
bearcat said:
This was.linked later in the Twitter thread:

September 9, 2024 - Help the Family of Sally Danto and Cyclists in Toronto.pdf

drive.google.com drive.google.com
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I didn't immediately realize what the link was about, so below are the contents of that letter asking for help from the son of the woman who was injured here. Shocking that she's still unconscious.

On Friday, August 30, 2024, at about 12:45PM, Sally Danto suffered serious injuries while riding her bicycle at Bloor and St. George. She was wearing a helmet. No vehicles were involved, as far as we know. The intersection was (and remains) under construction. She was seen by paramedics at the roadside and brought to the ICU where she remains today. She has not regained consciousness since the accident. She has serious brain injuries. The prognosis is for a lengthy rehab.

She fell after her bike hit the newly-constructed curb on the northwest corner of the intersection, as she traveled west in the bike lane, across St. George. Pictures to help contextualize the corner appear below.

Sally is a well-loved member of the administration of a Toronto high school. She is an active member of “Don’t Mess With the Don” and loves to volunteer her time cleaning up and exploring Toronto. She bikes to work, and to get around town.

I am one of her two sons, Justis Danto-Clancy. I am trying to put together as much information as I can about my mother's accident and the intersection of Bloor and St. George. Observing the intersection, I have seen other cyclists hit this curb, lose their balance and fall, or nearly fall.

Can you help identify witnesses to my mother’s accident, others who have had accidents there, and/or the relevant players who participated in the planning and execution of the construction there? Are you one of those people? Do you have other information that you think is relevant?

If so, please email me at justis@jdc-law.ca.

Thanks very much for your time and consideration of my requests.
Justis
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I'm not gonna lie, the new Dutch crossing feels like a different kind of danger.

I've ridden it twice and navigating through that intersection is more challenging now (again in its own way) due to:

  1. the narrowing of the bike lane you're on on the other side of the intersection (splits into a turning lane and a go-straight lane) right as you hit the curb,
  2. the corner curbs, while slowing down cars, impedes on bike traffic as well forcing riders to swerve/turn to go around them,
  3. lack of visual differentiation between what is a curb, car lane, and bike lane makes it confusing, and
  4. the location/height of the traffic lights makes it difficult for riders to both keep an eye on the already complex design of the bike lane and the lights (first time using it, it was green when I was about to enter the intersection, but turned red when I cleared before I was fully able to clear it).

I'll have to try it again, but in the 2-3 times I've used it, it hasn't been very smooth.
 
The truck apron is asphalt. The Dutch would use cobblestones or brick. However, the automobile lobby wanted a smoother and FASTER drive around the corner, so the city appeased the motorist, not the pedestrians.

Same reason for replacing cobblestones between streetcar tracks with a smoother surface. So the motorists could get a lane to drive fast on. It's always the motorist getting priority in Toronto. Ditto with driveway ramps on monolithic sidewalks leading to driveways, so the motorists could enter and egress the driveway at a fast speed, but resulting in a tripping hazard for elderly pedestrians.
 
W. K. Lis said:
The truck apron is asphalt. The Dutch would use cobblestones or brick. However, the automobile lobby wanted a smoother and FASTER drive around the corner, so the city appeased the motorist, not the pedestrians.
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The automobile lobby was not consulted in the intersection design. Making things up is not helpful Walter.

W. K. Lis said:
Same reason for replacing cobblestones between streetcar tracks with a smoother surface. So the motorists could get a lane to drive fast on. It's always the motorist getting priority in Toronto. Ditto with driveway ramps on monolithic sidewalks leading to driveways, so the motorists could enter and egress the driveway at a fast speed, but resulting in a tripping hazard for elderly pedestrians.
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Walter..........you are way past testing patience; you're filling multiple threads with non-facts, non-sequiturs and unrelated tangents.
 
Northern Light said:
The automobile lobby was not consulted in the intersection design. Making things up is not helpful Walter.



Walter..........you are way past testing patience; you're filling multiple threads with non-facts, non-sequiturs and unrelated tangents.
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It's odd how he disappeared for many months and now has just started posting the same repetitive stuff again right where he left off as if he'd never been gone.
 
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