General cycling issues (Is Toronto bike friendly?)

[salsa]

I found this really interesting proposal by Cycle Toronto for improving the safety of the Yonge & 401 interchange for cyclists and pedestrians.

[video=youtube;UhPvI1j9XbU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhPvI1j9XbU[/video]

 

[ehlow]

I found this really interesting proposal by Cycle Toronto for improving the safety of the Yonge & 401 interchange for cyclists and pedestrians.

Great idea. This is quite a prominent gap in terms of walkability on Yonge.

South of Yonge Blvd (half way between York Mills & Lawrence) down the lake, the street is pretty much continuously pleasant to walk on, with lots if interesting areas.
North of the 401 to Finch, you've also got a walkable, dense urban neighbourhood with North York Centre.

The 401 & Yonge intersection is confusing & unpleasant to walk through, and you've also got the huge hill which is physically difficult.

Many years ago, I decided to try to bike from the Finch & Bayview area to a job at York Mills & Yonge. I remember biking on the sidewalk to cross the 401 because cars are going 70-80 km/h on this stretch and there were no pedestrians at all. If I remember correctly, there aren't many options for crossing the 401 on bike.

 

[the lemur]

I found this really interesting proposal by Cycle Toronto for improving the safety of the Yonge & 401 interchange for cyclists and pedestrians.

Certainly seems more practical than the route I would currently take via Old Yonge St and Lord Seaton Rd (and the sidewalk where you're not actually supposed to bike, under the 401).

 

[Watts]

Great idea. It would also be nice to link up the East Don Trail with the Don Mills Trail (Leaside Spur Line) and the Betty Sutherland Trail (would involve decking over the GO corridor). Something like this:

A link could be made from the Duncairn walking path to the eastern section of Bond Ave (over the GO tracks) by removing the eastern most section of the parking lot at Bond Park.

The northern extension of the Don Mills Trail (currently under construction) could go past York Mills and up to Leslie, where it would fork at the CN rail bridge, like so:

 

[Markster]

When I was in Los Angeles, I noticed that it was remarkably common for people to bring bikes onto transit - even more so than in Copenhagen, where the S-Tog is covered in bike symbols. My best guess is that the explanation is their longer distances, awful arterial roads and faster transit routes. It also could be that they have a much worse last-mile problem that we do (poor frequencies of connecting bus routes) and/or their bicycle parking at bus or train stations is not as good.

Last mile is indeed an issue in LA. A lot of neighbourhoods are served by infrequent or unpredictable local circulators.
Also, bus-to-bus transfers are not free, you need to pay a full extra fare ($1.75). If you can bike to your longest-haul route, then you effectively get half off your fare.
And this isn't getting into the issue of the mish-mash of a dozen different little transit agencies for a dozen different little cities.

 

[ehlow]

I would love to see more bike parking facilities in major transit nodes outside of downtown, so people can bike to the subway station.

Eglinton station would work well for that I think. Many in the area walk to the subway station to go downtown, but providing bike parking greatly extends the area the subway station could serve, especially places away from the feeder buses on Eglinton (to the north or south for example). Someone who lives 20 min walk away could bike for 5-10 min instead.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

I've previously suggested as much. Secure bike parking, similar to what we've done at Victoria Park Station, would be fantastic encouragement for more people to use their bikes. I would almost always opt for biking from my home to the station rather than taking the bus/streetcar.

 

[calimehtar]

The yonge street proposal is impressive.

Not to change the subject but I have had the opportunity to test out the Richmond Adelaide bike lanes a few times since they have been installed. Most recently today and yesterday while attending a conference downtown.

It's amazing how they suddenly seem indispensable. The bike traffic during rush hour is already not far off from the car traffic, and the disruption caused by construction near Simcoe near Adelaide is really terrible with people either biking on the sidewalk or weaving around cars.

Assuming these lanes stay I think it will have a lasting impact on biking in the city and also on the vitality of Richmond and Adelaide which are a bit desolate right now.

 

[WislaHD]

Yonge street proposal is impressive. I would like to see that go through too.


As for bike parking at stations, for sure sounds like a great idea. I don't personally see myself using it though as I've always lived in front of a bus stop and a station of the Eglinton LRT will be within 50m of my place. If I were living on any of the side streets here in Midtown though, coupled with the new bike lanes coming to Eglinton, why the heck not!

 

[innsertnamehere]

the yonge street interchange is probably the most pedestrian unfriendly interchange on the 401 in the city, which is ironic because it is also probably the only one with a somewhat significant amount of pedestrian and cyclist traffic.

 

[salsa]

Hopefully there will be improvements when the interchange gets reconfigured. Do you know when that will happen?

 

[LNahid2000]

the yonge street interchange is probably the most pedestrian unfriendly interchange on the 401 in the city, which is ironic because it is also probably the only one with a somewhat significant amount of pedestrian and cyclist traffic.

So true. I've started biking to work on Fridays (Yonge/Bloor to North York Centre) since it only takes 5 minutes longer than the subway. The Yonge/401 interchange is fucking scary. I've done the trip a few times now and I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to it. I've biked through Bathurst/401 before and it's far less scary because there is only one on-ramp northbound and none southbound.

 

[salsa]

So true. I've started biking to work on Fridays (Yonge/Bloor to North York Centre) since it only takes 5 minutes longer than the subway. The Yonge/401 interchange is fucking scary. I've done the trip a few times now and I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to it. I've biked through Bathurst/401 before and it's far less scary because there is only one on-ramp northbound and none southbound.

I bike through Bathurst/401 quite often and it's definitely better than most interchanges. It would be nice to have bike lanes there but that will never happen without widening the tunnel. But the sidewalks are terrible: dark, extremely narrow, dirtier than a sewer. To think that we almost ended up with many more highways criss crossing the city is cringeworthy. That would have been a public realm disaster.

 

[LNahid2000]

I bike through Bathurst/401 quite often and it's definitely better than most interchanges. It would be nice to have bike lanes there but that will never happen without widening the tunnel. But the sidewalks are terrible: dark, extremely narrow, dirtier than a sewer. To think that we almost ended up with many more highways criss crossing the city is cringeworthy. That would have been a public realm disaster.

I like Cycle Toronto's solution far better than just painting bike lanes on Yonge (if it is actually feasible) since it avoids the hills at Hoggs Hollow. Going southbound on Yonge between York Mills and Yonge Blvd takes a ton of effort with that hill, and I often see people just walk their bikes on the sidewalk. Great workout though!

 

[salsa]

I like Cycle Toronto's solution far better than just painting bike lanes on Yonge (if it is actually feasible) since it avoids the hills at Hoggs Hollow. Going southbound on Yonge between York Mills and Yonge Blvd takes a ton of effort with that hill, and I often see people just walk their bikes on the sidewalk. Great workout though!

I meant bike lanes at Bathurst.