General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)

[TossYourJacket]

This city is an embarrassment sometimes. They promise so many things and do basically none of them.

 

[interchange42]

One problem we have with design of the trails seems to be that they are designed by non-cyclists. As a cyclist, I would like to avoid hills, especially the uphills. The designers don't consider that hills become a barrier for the elderly, kids or novice, or physical challenged (AKA out-of-shape).

Are you suggesting some bike trail express tunnels, such as from South Humber Park avoiding the second hill on Stephen Dr with an outlet at Berry Road, then another tunnel avoiding the third hill on Stephen then popping out again in Kings Mill Park, and finally a tunnel from the base of the hill by the Toronto Humber Yacht Club popping out at its other end beside where Park Lawn Cemetery is atop the hill? Because I am.

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[W. K. Lis]

Are you suggesting some bike trail express tunnels, such as from South Humber Park avoiding the second hill on Stephen Dr with an outlet at Berry Road, then another tunnel avoiding the third hill on Stephen then popping out again in Kings Mill Park, and finally a tunnel from the base of the hill by the Toronto Humber Yacht Club popping out at its other end beside where Park Lawn Cemetery is atop the hill? Because I am.

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And reduce the mazes bicyclists have to use.

 

[ShonTron]

They need to stop the ban of e-bikes on the trails. Then they become more accessible.

Toronto is a hilly city. Gonna have a hard time avoiding hills.

If it changed to permit pedal-assist bikes, I would be all for it. What I don't want on the multi-use paths are the Daymak DUI scooters.

 

[robmausser]

If it changed to permit pedal-assist bikes, I would be all for it. What I don't want on the multi-use paths are the Daymak DUI scooters.

I agree, on the nature trails.

The Finch/Martin Goodman/Gatineau corridors are downtown or under hydro wires, hardly anything I feel like we should be "preserving" for a nature walk.

They should be bike highways, and i think that should include e-scooters.

 

[Patch]

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere but the info session for the Brunswick/Borden bike lanes is on Monday, Feb 3.

Info slides and feedback questionnaire found here: toronto.ca/BrunswickBorden

General plan:

College/Borden/Bellevue Connection:

 

[mickael]

View attachment 227753

I don't know how I feel about the bidirectional part. I get why it's there, but I feel like there has to be a better design unless the plan is to continue a bidirectional lane along the rest of College.

 

[W. K. Lis]

I don't know how I feel about the bidirectional part. I get why it's there, but I feel like there has to be a better design unless the plan is to continue a bidirectional lane along the rest of College.

In the 1950's, I rode my bike the wrong way on one-way streets without a problem. We always assumed the "one-way" sign was meant for motor vehicles, not bicycles. Ditto for the "stop" signs.

 

[Johnny Au]

In the 1950's, I rode my bike the wrong way on one-way streets without a problem. We always assumed the "one-way" sign was meant for motor vehicles, not bicycles. Ditto for the "stop" signs.

I must admit that I have done the same, even to this day.

 

[robmausser]

In the 1950's, I rode my bike the wrong way on one-way streets without a problem. We always assumed the "one-way" sign was meant for motor vehicles, not bicycles. Ditto for the "stop" signs.

Lol that reminds me that last year I was biking in the reverse direction bike lane on Shaw and a car yelled at me for going the wrong way.

 

[ShonTron]

I don't know how I feel about the bidirectional part. I get why it's there, but I feel like there has to be a better design unless the plan is to continue a bidirectional lane along the rest of College.

I like it. If you're confident, you can turn left as a vehicle onto College from Bellevue. Otherwise, take the short bi-directional lane to the lights.

 

[Northern Light]

Just in case anyone thought that other cities sometimes have slightly more ambitious cycling plans....get a load of this from the Paris Mayor's (Anne Hidalgo) re-election platform...

Every Street In Paris To Be Cycle-Friendly By 2024, Promises Mayor

Hidalgo wants to effect what she calls an "ecological transformation of the city," aiming to improve the "daily life of Parisians."

www.forbes.com

From the above link:

Hidalgo unveiled more people-first plans for Paris during a huntings hosted in a bike shop on January 28, including for every street in the French capital to have a cycle path, and for all of the city’s bridges to have protected cycleways.

 

[TossYourJacket]

Half our council would burst into flames if you proposed that here.

 

[salsa]

Just in case anyone thought that other cities sometimes have slightly more ambitious cycling plans...

It's not hard for any city to leave Toronto in the dust, when we only managed to install ~3km of bike lanes last year, and are way behind on both the 10-year cycling plan [2016] as well as the less-ambitious sequel to it.

 

[mickael]

I like it. If you're confident, you can turn left as a vehicle onto College from Bellevue. Otherwise, take the short bi-directional lane to the lights.

That's fine but are we gonna do this at every similar instance? I know of a couple spots elsewhere in the city that this would work for, also. I think consistency is something we lack in Toronto's cycling infrastructure.