Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[Admiral Beez]

Lower Don Trail update and more $$

This looks like another City Project which was poorly thought out initially; having eight requests for more $$ seems excessive to me!

This is so frustrating, with the trail now out of service for years. There was nothing wrong with the Lower Don Trail as it was. The bumpy, rough surface slowed cyclists and deterred aggressive Mamils with their "on your left!" It was fine as is.

All we wanted was the ramp from the green bridge to replace the stairs. Leave the rest as it was.

 

[PL1]

This is so frustrating, with the trail now out of service for years. There was nothing wrong with the Lower Don Trail as it was. The bumpy, rough surface slowed cyclists and deterred aggressive Mamils with their "on your left!" It was fine as is.

All we wanted was the ramp from the green bridge to replace the stairs. Leave the rest as it was.

I think it was dangerously narrow and prone to flooding, and wasn't awesome to use as a runner, so I think it needed upgrades. But can you imagine if the city decided to close the Gardiner Expressway for repairs that ended up taking years? This is nuts!

 

[Northern Light]

This is so frustrating, with the trail now out of service for years.

It is.

There was nothing wrong with the Lower Don Trail as it was. The bumpy, rough surface slowed cyclists and deterred aggressive Mamils with their "on your left!" It was fine as is.

I concur with @PL1 above that there were issues with it as it was. Raising the grade slightly, improving the drainage slightly, widening just a bit and repaving were the bare minimum effort. Then there were just a few modest add-ons

Replacing a beat up old fence, adding some native plants, adding a few seats (there are very few on the trail today) the new ramp and the stairs from Dundas.

This was not a complex project.

Now the initial delays were partly on Mx........ I wont' go into the details here, I'll just say they were unhelpful.

But then there were a series of other issues.........

And there was a change in contractor, read into that what you wish.....

 

[DSC]

I think it was dangerously narrow and prone to flooding, and wasn't awesome to use as a runner, so I think it needed upgrades. But can you imagine if the city decided to close the Gardiner Expressway for repairs that ended up taking years? This is nuts!

Agree 100%. It was dangerously narrow in places and some parts were eroding into the Don and it flooded but it has taken FAR too long to do and the reason seems to be that 'someone' did not examine the site carefully before they started!

 

[Admiral Beez]

Agree 100%. It was dangerously narrow in places and some parts were eroding into the Don and it flooded but it has taken FAR too long to do and the reason seems to be that 'someone' did not examine the site carefully before they started!

I liked the narrow places. Again, it slowed down the runners and cyclists and instead presented a riverside hiking trail. But I appreciate that doesn't appeal to or serve everyone's needs, so I support fixing the site. But just do your damn homework before taking the trail out of service. It's like the Humber Bay Pond, where I used to sail my r/c boat - it was removed for construction in 2021 and has no schedule to come back at all.

 

[just east of the creek]

I just checked into my hotel on the Old Town/Old Port area of Montreal and drove by the construction on Rue Saint Antoine. This appears to be a serious project that does not do away with the car, but moves it correctly down the hierarchy of importance related to the human on foot or on a cycle.

The EBN coming to Le Sud-Ouest

Discover portion 2 of the Réseau express vélo (REV) in Le Sud-Ouest.

montreal.ca

 

[generalcanada]

The staff report on bill 212 is out.

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-250545.pdf

The headline grabber is 48 million base cost and the city arguing it should be paid another 25 for the cost of installing them in the first place
A bigger piece is that the staff note an almost 2-year construction timeline for full removal of the Bloor Street bike lanes.
Staff note the conflict between the transition periods for the law and the proposal to remove them from University with the contract already awarded

 

[Admiral Beez]

The staff report on bill 212 is out.

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-250545.pdf

The headline grabber is 48 million base cost and the city arguing it should be paid another 25 for the cost of installing them in the first place
A bigger piece is that the staff note an almost 2-year construction timeline for full removal of the Bloor Street bike lanes.
Staff note the conflict between the transition periods for the law and the proposal to remove them from University with the contract already awarded

Maybe we should have checked with the province first? The Premier has been groaning about bike lanes since 2018. A call from Mayor Tory's office to request MTO guidance on a province wide bike lane policy regarding congestion impact review would suffice.

 

[kotsy]

Maybe we should have checked with the province first?

Why should we have? Municipal roads were strictly a municipal government decision up until now.

 

[TheGrimSweeper]

The staff report on bill 212 is out.

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-250545.pdf

The headline grabber is 48 million base cost and the city arguing it should be paid another 25 for the cost of installing them in the first place
A bigger piece is that the staff note an almost 2-year construction timeline for full removal of the Bloor Street bike lanes.
Staff note the conflict between the transition periods for the law and the proposal to remove them from University with the contract already awarded

I have no idea how anyone can take all this into account and still want to proceed with removing them.

 

[generalcanada]

I'm going to ask people not to get tied up the politics of bike lanes/cycle tracks here to excess.

I feel like we're getting quite off track.

I totally get that we can't ignore the province's signalling, but neither should we spend a lifetime discussing it here.

On that note, Bike lanes south of Lakeshore on Dan Leckie are almost ready to go. Signal lights, bike lane paint, only thing left is the bike ramp to the MGT

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

On that note, Bike lanes south of Lakeshore on Dan Leckie are almost ready to go. Signal lights, bike lane paint, only thing left is the bike ramp to the MGT

The new one on the bowed portion Davenport between Bedford and Dupont is also taking shape nicely.

 

[Northern Light]

Redirecting this thread back to discussing its intended subject.......the installation of new cycling infrastructure....

The City is proceeding with community engagement on the Davisville Complete Street from Yonge to Mt. Pleasant.

The intent is to introduce cycle tracks and enhanced sidewalks/streetscapes. No firm decisions have been arrived at yet.........

Landing page for the project is here:

Davisville Avenue Complete Street

Share your comments on where improvements are needed on Davisville Avenue between Yonge Street and Mount Pleasant Road by December 5 using the interactive mapping tool. The Davisville Avenue Complete Street project is an opportunity to reimagine Davisville Avenue from Yonge Street to Mount...

www.toronto.ca

For now, the City has a Social PinPoint (Interactive Map up) where you can leave suggestions/concerns/comments. Following review of those, there will be further engagement in early '25 with an eye to construction late summer or fall next year.

Social Pinpoint - Davisville Complete Street

A Place to engage your Community

toronto.mysocialpinpoint.ca

 

[Northern Light]

Consultation on the Bathurst Complete street (Bainbridge to Steeles) isn't yet open.......but it will be happening shortly:

Bathurst Complete Street

The City of Toronto is proposing to complete road safety improvements and install new bikeways along Bathurst Street from Bainbridge Avenue to Steeles Avenue. The improvements are planned to be implemented as part of programmed road resurfacing for Bathurst Street between Steeles Avenue West and...

www.toronto.ca

 

[TheGrimSweeper]

On that note, Bike lanes south of Lakeshore on Dan Leckie are almost ready to go. Signal lights, bike lane paint, only thing left is the bike ramp to the MGT

The city should just keep building out the backlog, not minding any Bill 212 commentary. Good to see this done!