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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

turbanplanner said:
Do we realistically think people will do that?
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People *do* do it. Though of course, not here. And I think it would be a hard sell here. But if we wanted to push this, it might work of there was some law and enforcement (which won't likely happen)
 
bearcat said:
A bicycle lane wide enough to accommodate a fire truck. Replace the center lane with a bidirectional bike lane the width of the center lane (obviously flip the position of the former center lane with one of the curb lanes first). Very easy for bicycles to get out of the way onto the sidewalk and grass on the side of the road for an approaching firetruck.
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I don't think I've ever seen that in Canada? especially since it'll force everyone to cross the road on 100% of trips. The only place I can think of with pedestrians in the centre is highway 7 over the 400
 
turbanplanner said:
I don't think I've ever seen that in Canada? especially since it'll force everyone to cross the road on 100% of trips. The only place I can think of with pedestrians in the centre is highway 7 over the 400
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Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear what I meant. As I said flip the position of the former center lane with one of the curb lanes first. That is the curb Northbound lane for example would move to replace the center lane, and itself would be replaced with a bidirectional bike lane.

See 6:06 here on the topic:

.

I am not always a fan of NJB's videos (I think he perhaps exaggerates things at times, especially when it comes to how crappy the state of infrastructure is in North America), but this one makes a lot of good points.

I also don't personally know what view on bike lanes the fire department in Toronto has, and how much they are consulted, if anyone has any info on that, I am curious to learn.
 
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bearcat said:
This is the reply I got from Councillor Malik's office:

"Thank you for your email.

I share your concerns with road safety at Blue Jays Way between Wellington Street and Front Street.

On your behalf, I reached out to City staff regarding the condition of this stretch of road and requested a status update on road resurfacing plans. This is the response I received:

“Our Transportation Services Operations and Maintenance staff have been working on plans to complete major road maintenance repairs on Peter St and Blue Jays Way from Front St to Richmond St W, including the cycling facilities.

There are ongoing utility works in the area this year impacting our ability to perform work at this time. That noted, planning to complete the major road maintenance repairs in 2025 is underway.”

Thanks again for reaching out, Dmitri. I hope thi"s was helpful."

So perhaps something will be done next year?

Still waiting to see what response I get from 311.
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Possibly related
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generalcanada said:
Possibly relatedView attachment 602463
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Thanks for posting this!

"Temporary asphalt" doesn't sound too promising 🤣, perhaps if they plan to work north of here from Front to Richmond for "major road maintenance repairs" as I was told, they will do the same south of Front once this sanitary forcemain replacement is done.
 
bearcat said:
"Temporary asphalt" doesn't sound too promising 🤣, perhaps if they plan to work north of here from Front to Richmond for "major road maintenance repairs" as I was told, they will do the same south of Front once this sanitary forcemain replacement is done.
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To be fair, south of front on blue jays way, the road is actually pretty good.
 
generalcanada said:
To be fair, south of front on blue jays way, the road is actually pretty good.
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I agree it's very much better south of Front, I am just worried "temporary asphalt" that's promised for the sanitary forcemain work you posted for south of Front may mean scattered low quality patches actually making the road worse. We shall see.
 
bearcat said:
This is the reply I got from Councillor Malik's office:

"Thank you for your email.

I share your concerns with road safety at Blue Jays Way between Wellington Street and Front Street.

On your behalf, I reached out to City staff regarding the condition of this stretch of road and requested a status update on road resurfacing plans. This is the response I received:

“Our Transportation Services Operations and Maintenance staff have been working on plans to complete major road maintenance repairs on Peter St and Blue Jays Way from Front St to Richmond St W, including the cycling facilities.

There are ongoing utility works in the area this year impacting our ability to perform work at this time. That noted, planning to complete the major road maintenance repairs in 2025 is underway.”

Thanks again for reaching out, Dmitri. I hope thi"s was helpful."

So perhaps something will be done next year?

Still waiting to see what response I get from 311.
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So................

I poked around...........

My dates are accurate.........but yours aren't wrong..............

Which is to say, the official plan is still for the work to be further in the future..............

However, Transportation has come to realize just how bad things are, and it can't wait.

There is good news and bad news in that........

Just can't wait means sooner..........but it also means rushed design...........put another way, an overhauled Peter/Blue Jays Way has not yet gone through detailed design......and if its deemed critical, it will done very quickly.

Very quickly means............give your input now.............because if you wait...........it may already be done, and not quite the way you were hoping.

That's not a suggestion of any anti-cycling bias.............rather, its just a suggestion that when things are deemed urgent..........enhancements are often overlooked.
 
Northern Light said:
So................

I poked around...........

My dates are accurate.........but yours aren't wrong..............

Which is to say, the official plan is still for the work to be further in the future..............

However, Transportation has come to realize just how bad things are, and it can't wait.

There is good news and bad news in that........

Just can't wait means sooner..........but it also means rushed design...........put another way, an overhauled Peter/Blue Jays Way has not yet gone through detailed design......and if its deemed critical, it will done very quickly.

Very quickly means............give your input now.............because if you wait...........it may already be done, and not quite the way you were hoping.

That's not a suggestion of any anti-cycling bias.............rather, its just a suggestion that when things are deemed urgent..........enhancements are often overlooked.
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Thanks a lot for looking into this.

I got this e-mail this morning:

"Senior Transportation Services staff reached out to our office to share the following update with you:

“Blue Jays Way from Front St to Richmond St is tentatively planned for Critical Interim Repairs in 2025 subject to coordination with other construction activities, available funding and competing priorities. The scope of work for Critical Interim Repairs typically includes the milling and paving of the worst sections of asphalt to provide an improved surface condition until the road can be included within the capital works program for more extensive repairs.

We would like to thank you for raising these concerns to our attention. If you do become aware of specific areas of concern, we also recommend that these are submitted through 311 so that staff can investigate and address the issues at the respective locations. This is important for us to ensure we have records pertaining to the issues and actions taken in response.""

So from this the e-mail what it sounds like to me is that next year the plan is to just repair areas of poor pavement, but not really change anything with regards to the bike lane setup or markings, other than presumably putting fresh paint where the asphalt is replaced.

I think I will reply to this e-mail asking specifically regarding the bike lanes (including the plan regarding adding them between Wellington and King) and if there is any plans for improving the bike lane protection.
 
crs1026 said:
Upcoming public meeting re the Bloor West Complete Street project. Should prove interesting.

www.ambermorley.com

Community Meeting – Bloor Complete Street Extension

City Councillor, Etobicoke–Lakeshore
www.ambermorley.com www.ambermorley.com

- Paul
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Could be related to where she mentions the Bloor street issues
She said that they are working with the councilor there to find a solution to the issues.
Also notes that she has spoke to Ford about the bike lane bill basically saying the above, "give us time, we will fix this"
 
Coolibop said:
Becky Katz is leaving as manager of the cycling projects team (not surprisingly after being there for the past 10 years between here and Atlanta).
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I want to take a moment here to say that I think Becky Katz doesn't get the credit she deserves for the difference she's made to cycling in this City.

When she arrived a painted line was pretty much the gold standard, maybe with flexiposts if you were lucky.

In the last several years bike lane design here evolved from painted line, to parking curbs, mini-jersey barriers adapted to allow drainage and often adorned with art, to raised cycle paths, to buffers with green landscapes. That's alot of evolution in a short time.

The Cycling Unit also grew in size, substantially, by more than a factor of three.

(I remember in 2010, I could name every single person in the Unit without looking at the directory, not so, anymore.)

Add to that, the introduction and now rollout of raised platforms at bus stops which reduce cycling/passenger/bus conflict, among many other positives.

I'm glad she's staying w/the City and applying her skill set to a different unit in the City, and I can only hope her successor is well chosen, and that the province doesn't end up putting its nose where it doesn't belong.

In her new role, I expect she'll be less visible at first, and her work less scrutinized here at UT; but she has more than her share of challenges ahead of her as she moves forward, and I certainly wish her all the best. If she does anywhere near as much for Operations, as she did Cycling, we'll all be grateful.
 
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