Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[MisterF]

Get ready to say goodbye to Richmond, Adelaide and the Danforth bike lanes as well.

New: Campaign Research, Ford's preferred pollster, had a survey out over the weekend asking not just whether the Bloor, University and Yonge bike lanes should be ripped out, but also those on Richmond, Adelaide and the Danforth.

also here is the wording of this completely unbias "survey"

• Some people say the Richmond Street bike lanes cause too much traffic congestion and lead to too much of an increase in travel times for drivers, and that they should be removed immediately.
• Other people say that the city should continue to keep this stretch of bike lanes in place

If Ford gets reelected he's definitely not going to stop at Yonge, Bloor, and University, so this doesn't surprise me at all. And he's not going to stop at bike lanes either. The Fords have ranted about streetcars for decades, maybe those will be next in his crosshairs. Maybe the long dead freeways throughout the middle of the city will be revived. His attacks on Toronto aren't going to stop.

 

[afransen]

Get ready to say goodbye to Richmond, Adelaide and the Danforth bike lanes as well.

New: Campaign Research, Ford's preferred pollster, had a survey out over the weekend asking not just whether the Bloor, University and Yonge bike lanes should be ripped out, but also those on Richmond, Adelaide and the Danforth.

also here is the wording of this completely unbias "survey"

• Some people say the Richmond Street bike lanes cause too much traffic congestion and lead to too much of an increase in travel times for drivers, and that they should be removed immediately.
• Other people say that the city should continue to keep this stretch of bike lanes in place

If those bike lanes come out, the city should just replace them with sidewalks to spite the province.

 

[Northern Light]

If those bike lanes come out, the city should just replace them with sidewalks to spite the province.

I like the spirit of the idea, but let me play with it a bit.........

How about a liberal landscaped boulevard....... in which we plant highly endangered species that will immediately qualify the boulevard for some level of environmental protection, under both provincial and federal legislation.

Now, if we were to lay those plants out as dominant on one side of the boulevard, with the balance being more common and low value species, we could provide space for a future cycle track.......(or we could just lay one down now as a differential surfaced multi-use path.)

Lets see.......Oak Savannah boulevards............. Butternut Trees.............. PawPaw groves......... I'm liking it......

 

[afransen]

I like the spirit of the idea, but let me play with it a bit.........

How about a liberal landscaped boulevard....... in which we plant highly endangered species that will immediately qualify the boulevard for some level of environmental protection, under both provincial and federal legislation.

Now, if we were to lay those plants out as dominant on one side of the boulevard, with the balance being more common and low value species, we could provide space for a future cycle track.......(or we could just lay one down now as a differential surfaced multi-use path.)

Lets see.......Oak Savannah boulevards............. Butternut Trees.............. PawPaw groves......... I'm liking it......

Maybe a different textured "sidewalk" next to the existing sidewalk with 'cycling strictly prohibited' signs in tiny font...

 

[goreckm]

I like the spirit of the idea, but let me play with it a bit.........

How about a liberal landscaped boulevard....... in which we plant highly endangered species that will immediately qualify the boulevard for some level of environmental protection, under both provincial and federal legislation.

Now, if we were to lay those plants out as dominant on one side of the boulevard, with the balance being more common and low value species, we could provide space for a future cycle track.......(or we could just lay one down now as a differential surfaced multi-use path.)

Lets see.......Oak Savannah boulevards............. Butternut Trees.............. PawPaw groves......... I'm liking it......

These are games that he will more than happily play and win as red meat for his base, and because they're popular outside of downtown. He thrives on this kind of conflict, and probably makes him more popular. The only solution here is an electoral defeat of Ford and Fordism. The first one will be difficult enough, and probably require a unified liberal / ndp. The second is tougher and will require dealing with the causes of the anger amongst voters, and something nobody is seriously tackling.

 

[turbanplanner]

These are games that he will more than happily play and win as red meat for his base, and because they're popular outside of downtown. He thrives on this kind of conflict, and probably makes him more popular. The only solution here is an electoral defeat of Ford and Fordism. The first one will be difficult enough, and probably require a unified liberal / ndp. The second is tougher and will require dealing with the causes of the anger amongst voters, and something nobody is seriously tackling.

Look at the Liberals pick? I don't believe in the "downtown elites" Narrative but Crombie is basically the spitting image of that.

How does everyone think the Fords and all the other incredibly scummy councilors stay in power? They know the people who elected them don't think of 20 year plans, due process, or the intricacies of how the government machine works. They vote for the guy who suddenly makes the potholes disappear or makes the garbage they forgot to leave out get picked up (at great expense to the city) He pretends to be a man of the people and a lot of the province is eating it up.

The other politicians give the impression to voters they're in an ivory tower disconnected from the struggles of the average person, though a man who never worked a day in his life some how tricked people into thinking otherwise about him!

 

[evandyk]

If people think of Bonnie Crombie as downtown elite, that's no good for her, since the downtown elite think of her as a reddish Hazel McCallion.

 

[MisterF]

How the cheapest form of transportation ever got associated with elitism of all things is one of those things that will break your brain if you try to make it make sense.

 

[evandyk]

Yup. All the stats show that the richer you are, the more likely you are to drive to work and everywhere else, and to own multiple cars per household. The poorer you are, the more likely you are to bike and take transit. And yet every discussion of tolls, bike lanes, congestion charges, etc. etc. are always "How are all the poor and working class driving folks going to live with this?"

And yes, we should have better transit and bike lanes so that the poor and working class people using those for transportation have options to get around. Subsidizing driving doesn't do that.

 

[Admiral Beez]

If those bike lanes come out, the city should just replace them with sidewalks to spite the province.

Dual use sidewalks.

 

[robmausser]

If those bike lanes come out, the city should just replace them with sidewalks to spite the province.

I believe the law that prohibits bikes on sidewalks is a municipal one too. Could change the rules so that bikes are allowed on special sidewalks that specifically allow for it. (aka the ones being installed)

 

[bearcat]

I believe the law that prohibits bikes on sidewalks is a municipal one too. Could change the rules so that bikes are allowed on special sidewalks that specifically allow for it. (aka the ones being installed)

Again, Doug can just pass another bill to disallow that. Nothing to stop him. Or even better, wait until these are installed and then force the city to remove them.

 

[afransen]

I believe the law that prohibits bikes on sidewalks is a municipal one too. Could change the rules so that bikes are allowed on special sidewalks that specifically allow for it. (aka the ones being installed)

I think if they allowed bikes on sidewalks you couldn't remove car lanes to expand them (as in multi use paths). You can remove car lanes for other purposes, as long as bikes aren't permitted (which goes to show how capricious the rule is).

 

[afransen]

Dual use sidewalks.

The law specifically prohibits multi use paths as well.

 

[Admiral Beez]

One long-term benefit we may see with the total tear out of our bike lanes is a total rethink of bike infrastructure by the mid to late 2030s. Toronto's experience with bike lanes is such a hodgepodge mess of sometimes just paint, sometimes bollards, or curbs or metal railings, sometimes with separations ending before intersections, sometimes with bike-only traffic signals, sometimes not, with bike lanes often in the gutter. Clearly were we learning on the go. For example, we never seem to be able to combine streetcar ROWs and curb separated bike lanes, instead we put in the ROWs without any thought to bikes whatsoever - demonstrating that the different branches of government have an issue working together.

But the demand for bicycle infrastructure is not going away, and by the mid 2030s Torontonians (by then closing on 4 million of us) will likely be demanding safe and efficient cycle options. My hope is that by then the MTO has clear guidelines or regs and that we can apply the best bike infrastructure from across the globe, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel or learn on the go. But we must first endure a decade of darkness.