News   Nov 27, 2024
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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

Since the provincial government is stepping out of their lane to push this, is it possible to get the federal government involved to block this?

Not really, no.

I mean the Feds have the powers of Disallowance and Reservation (essentially blocking or repealing a provincial law), but they haven't been used in something like 80 years, and I don't see this rising to the threshold of getting a moment's consideration in that regard.

There aren't any real grounds for a Federal EA; at least its one hell of a stretch.
 
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A great bike lane to see removed would be on the WEST SOUTHBOUND side of Bayview from Rosedale Valley Road up River to Gerrard.

Leave it one car lane north as it is now, but make it TWO car lanes south as soon as you pass Rosedale Valley Road, up River to Gerrard.

There are already bikes lanes in both directions on the EAST NORTHBOUND side and you don't need bike lanes on both sides.

Also the WEST SOUTHBOUND direction is 99% empty whereas the EAST NORTHBOUND is always in use.

And just to be clear the EAST NORTHBOUND side runs bikes north and south.

Bayview Extension becomes super congested going south nearing River and all the way up River specifically because of this single car lane. Cars waiting to turn left at Gerrard (even with an advanced green) end up backing up the entire road behind it. If we had one additional lane back (as we used to have) cars not waiting to turn left could just go around.

Not to mention that Southbound Truck traffic routinely rips up all the signs on River that have to get replaced literally weekly because that one lane is too tight.

Such an obvious fix. I may just need to email Doug.

Screenshot 2024-11-01 at 12.45.48 PM.png
 
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A great bike lane to see removed would be on the WEST SOUTHBOUND side of Bayview from Rosedale Valley Road up River to Gerrard.

Leave it one car lane north as it is now, but make it TWO car lanes south as soon as you pass Rosedale Valley Road, up River to Gerrard.

There are already bikes lanes in both directions on the EAST NORTHBOUND side and you don't need bike lanes on both sides.

Also the WEST SOUTHBOUND direction is 99% empty whereas the EAST NORTHBOUND is always in use.

And just to be clear the EAST NORTHBOUND side runs bikes north and south.

Bayview Extension becomes super congested going south nearing River and all the way up River specifically because of this single car lane. Cars waiting to turn left at Gerrard (even with an advanced green) end up backing up the entire road behind it. If we had one additional lane back (as we used to have) cars not waiting to turn left could just go around.

Not to mention that Southbound Truck traffic routinely rips up all the signs on River that have to get replaced literally weekly because that one lane is too tight.

Such an obvious fix. I may just need to email Doug.
I agree that the west side of Bayview bike lane is unnecessary but it is also the sidewalk,. However, the bike lanes on the hill between River and Bayview are NOT bi-directional; the one on right side is ONLY southbound bikes, the one on the north side is northbound bikes PLUS PEDESTRIANS. I disagree with you that it is the narrowing of the vehicle space on the hill (and Bayview) that is the main cause of traffic back-ups. From my occasional observations, the problem is mainly, as you note, vehicles getting caught at Gerrard.
 
I stand corrected. You're right.

However, I guess I would ask then, do we really need a pedestrian sidewalk on the west side? I think not.

They can use the east bound side. Cyclists are supposed to respect that it's a mixed use trail same as the MG trail or any other trail. If you're too fast for all that ride on the road as I do.

The westbound side going up River could be eliminated even it means, heaven-forbid, cyclists riding with slow moving traffic for a few hundred meters before the bike lane resumes south of Gerrad.
 
Not really, no.

I mean the Feds have the powers of Disallowance and Reservation (essentially blocking or repealing a provincial law), but they haven't been used in something like 80 years, and I don't see this rising to the threshold of getting a moment's consideration in that regard.

There aren't any real grounds for a Federal EA; at least its one hell of a stretch.

While the federal government technically holds the power of disallowance to block provincial legislation, it’s unlikely the Liberals would use it here. They stand to gain little and would likely face backlash from federal Conservatives for perceived overreach.... oh wait :D

While the federal Liberals are unlikely to use disallowance, Ford has shown no such restraint, frequently employing tools like the notwithstanding clause, bypassing environmental assessment processes through new legislation, and issuing MZOs to bypass other levels of authority. The notwithstanding clause, used only three times in Ontario before 2019, has now been invoked twice under Ford, with additional threats to apply it further. Meanwhile, MZOs, issued sparingly in the past, have been used over 100 times since Ford took office in 2018. I wonder if the next federal government will consider whipping out the power of disallowance for the first time in 80 years.
 
Federal Liberals seem to have their own problems to ever want to wade into this mess. We've only got civil disobedience and perhaps a Mayor that will tell Doug where to stuff this as our only recourse here. /sigh
 
Federal Liberals seem to have their own problems to ever want to wade into this mess. We've only got civil disobedience and perhaps a Mayor that will tell Doug where to stuff this as our only recourse here. /sigh
Just as we had to sacrifice Ontario Place concerns in order for Queens Park to take over the DVP and Gardiner, Mayor Chow will need to offer Ford something else to get him to stay away from Toronto’s bike lanes. How about we build the Rob Ford Ferris Wheel?
 
Just as we had to sacrifice Ontario Place concerns in order for Queens Park to take over the DVP and Gardiner, Mayor Chow will need to offer Ford something else to get him to stay away from Toronto’s bike lanes. How about we build the Rob Ford Ferris Wheel?

I'd 100% be behind that. Huge ferries wheel on the water, dedicated to his brother. He can even take all the credit. Just quietly change this stupid law.
 

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