New Bike Lanes on University, Bay, Spadina, and Other Roads

[barrytron3030]

Dedicated bike lanes coming to downtown this summer

Pilot project would start in July and run for about 12 weeks

Paul Moloney
Urban Affairs Bureau
The City of Toronto is proposing a major expansion of its bike lane program this year, including on University Ave. and other major streets.

Under the plan, two lanes of University Ave. would be removed and replaced by protected bike lanes from Richmond St. W. to Wellesley St. W./Hoskin Ave.

Cyclists would ride in the lane adjacent to the centre median under a pilot project that would begin in July and end in September.

University currently has four traffic lanes in each direction with a centre median, but it could be reduced to three lanes, with one lane given over to bicycles, a staff report says.

Having bikes run in the centre lanes beside the median would allow the curb lanes to continue to be used for stopping, parking, vendors and taxis, the report added.

Impact on motor traffic would be manageable.

“Traffic capacity analysis indicates that Univesity Avenue could operate with three travel lanes in each direction in the peak periods with little impact on the current levels of service,” the report said.

Other recommendations for new bike lanes include:

• Bay St., from Queens Quay to Front St. west and from Dundas St.W. to College St.

• Landsdowne Ave., from Bloor St. west to Dupont St.

• Rathburn Rd., from Mimico creek to Kipling Ave.

• Spadina Cres., from Spadina Ave. to Spadina Ave. N.

• York Mills Rd., from Scarsdale Rd. to Lesmill Rd.

• Westhumber Blvd., from Martin Grove Rd. to Kipling Ave.

• Brunswick Ave., from College St. to Bloor St. W. (further community consultation needed)

• Modify existing bikes lane on Annette St. between Runnymede Rd. and Westholme Ave. and between Beresford Ave. and Runnymede Rd. to provide additional parking along the north and south sides of Annette.

• Pharmacy Ave.—move the start of the bike lanes from a point 30 metres south of Alvinston Rd. to Alvinston Rd.

source: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/art...ike-lanes-coming-to-downtown-this-summer?bn=1

 

[PinkLucy]

I posted this in the "bike transit" thread; is it better to have its own thread or incorporate it with the broader subject?

 

[barrytron3030]

hmmm...better to let the MODS decide, i am incapable of making rational decisions!

 

[TOareaFan]

The debate over bike lanes in this city will rage forever.....I happen to be of the mind that they deliver benefits to few at the cost of the many and that we have bigger needs and more impactful areas to spend our money.

My opinions aside, I would suggest that people in support of bike lanes not make statements like this:

“Traffic capacity analysis indicates that Univesity Avenue could operate with three travel lanes in each direction in the peak periods with little impact on the current levels of service,”

Anyone who has driven on University Avenue at the following times:

- morning rush hour
- evening rush hour
- pre/post - events at ACC and SkyDome

Know that this is not a road that has one lane in each direction sitting empty. It is a heavily trafficed road that moves a lot of people north-south. To suggest, then, that it could lose a lane in each direction (and not the one that people are currently allowed to stop/park in) will be taken as an insult by the people who do sit in traffic during those times.....I am not saying this is the right or the wrong thing to do (although you could probably guess) I just think that language like that will end up being inflamatory.....and, yes, be interpreted as a continuation of a "war on cars".

 

[Catapult]

Seems like most of these bike lanes (and least downtown) run north - south. Don't people bike east - west in this city!?

 

[Design Wallah]

But the quote seems to have come from city officials, not from a UT forum member. Surely these transit officials are qualified to make these kinds of assessments?

As for me, I say "hallelujah". Toronto may soon join the 21st century, transportation wise.

In NYC, which added about 500 miles of continuous bike paths, city hall studies confirm what is said above: there isn't an impact on car traffic times. Moreover, such lanes have a "if you build it they will come" quality.

Drivers can continue to moan, but the future of transport in Toronto is clear, and it's two-wheeled.

 

[GraphicMatt]

I'm incredibly happy that the city is actually trying something with a simple pilot project, instead of handwringing and talking in circles for years before half-assedly implementing.

If the University bike lanes cause an incredible spike in gridlock and end up underused by cyclists, then we can always go back to the status quo. Those who are confident that this is a bad idea don't have anything to worry about.

Pilot projects are awesome, and I'd love to see more of them. It'd be great to trial some street closures for pedestrian malls over the summer.

 

[TOareaFan]

But the quote seems to have come from city officials, not from a UT forum member. Surely these transit officials are qualified to make these kinds of assessments?

I don't think I said it came from a UT forum member....if that came across I am sorry. I am sure if you count the number of cars that move in a day along University Avenue and divide by the number of hours and the number of lanes you would come to conclusion you could lose a lane in each direction. When you factor in that people can/do stop/stand/park in the right lanes you realize that for large stretches of road and large stretches of time the road is already reduced to 3 lanes and what these bike lanes actually mean is a reduction to 2 lanes.

All the metrics aside, the true test is to sit in a car during peak times on this road and then decide...."mmmmm, what if this lane did not exist"....no matter what your views on cars are, I doubt anyone could sit there during a peak time and conclude that less road would move this same amount of cars without any impact on commute times (a person who wants to create an incentive for people to not drive may view that as a good thing...that is fine....but to say there would be no impact is just false).

 

[GraphicMatt]

Analyzing traffic patterns and road capacity is an actual science and involves a fair bit more than sitting in a car and thinking 'Hmm, this road sure looks busy!'

 

[TrickyRicky]

^I brought my bike to New York. Judging only Manhattan and some parts of Brooklyn it is not what I would consider a bike friendly environment. If you judge a city by bike use and attitude towards bikes I would say it is very far behind Toronto.

Bike paths do not make a city bike friendly, and not all bike paths are meaningful additons to the city. The Harbord bike lane for instance is a wonderful thing and an important piece in the transportation puzzle. The new bike lanes on Dupont between Lansdowne and Dundas on the other hand are bike lanes for the sake of bike lanes coming from a mindset obsessed with statistics not transportation.

 

[TOareaFan]

I'm incredibly happy that the city is actually trying something with a simple pilot project, instead of handwringing and talking in circles for years before half-assedly implementing.

If the University bike lanes cause an incredible spike in gridlock and end up underused by cyclists, then we can always go back to the status quo. Those who are confident that this is a bad idea don't have anything to worry about.

Pilot projects are awesome, and I'd love to see more of them. It'd be great to trial some street closures for pedestrian malls over the summer.

I get what you are saying about pilot projects but if this project is to determine the need for bike lanes on University Avenue on a permanent basis...I would want there to be a pilot in January and February too.....the amount of cyclists attracted to this route is going to be skewed upward by the fact that the weather is conducive to cycling from July to September....the amount of gridlock is skewed downward by the fact that a decent percent of downtown commuters would be on vacation during those months.

If the pilot is to see if each summer we can lose a lane each way from car traffic fine....but if it is to determine the need/value of permanent bike lanes then they should study both peorids....height of summer and dead of winter!

 

[TOareaFan]

Analyzing traffic patterns and road capacity is an actual science and involves a fair bit more than sitting in a car and thinking 'Hmm, this road sure looks busy!'

Exactly my point....it is very easy when you are not stuck on a road to say "man, that road has plenty of capacity...there is no need for all those lanes.".... I don't actually drive on University Avenue....my office overlooks it though (coincidently looking north from, roughly, Richmond) it is not just on "unusual" days that traffic is crawling along bumper to bumper at speeds significantly below speed limits.

 

[GraphicMatt]

I get what you are saying about pilot projects but if this project is to determine the need for bike lanes on University Avenue on a permanent basis...I would want there to be a pilot in January and February too.....the amount of cyclists attracted to this route is going to be skewed upward by the fact that the weather is conducive to cycling from July to September....the amount of gridlock is skewed downward by the fact that a decent percent of downtown commuters would be on vacation during those months.

If the pilot is to see if each summer we can lose a lane each way from car traffic fine....but if it is to determine the need/value of permanent bike lanes then they should study both peorids....height of summer and dead of winter!

Isn't that like saying we don't need eight lanes of vehicular traffic on University Avenue because those lanes are underused in the summer?

 

[TOareaFan]

Isn't that like saying we don't need eight lanes of vehicular traffic on University Avenue because those lanes are underused in the summer?

No.....the traffic gets marginally lighter in the summer so the impact of the bike lanes will be slightly less obvious in the summer...that is all I am saying. Similarly, the impact on attracting cyclists will be much greater in the summer.

I drive along Adelaide every morning....from, about, March to October I have to become very aware of the cyclists around me and cognizent of our ability to share the road.......the other 4 months of the year all I see is the odd random cyclist or bike courier.

 

[whatever]

I think this is a stupid idea and figure the lanes would make more sense on quieter streets, like Elizabeth to the east. But if for some reason it really is necessary to throw bike lanes up an urban arterial why then would they be over to the left? It seems like common sense to me that slow traffic ought to be to the right. And how will entrance/exit from the bike lanes work? Are cyclists going to use the crosswalk to walk their bikes over to the median at Richmond and then go from there, or can I look forward to people trying to suicide themselves in front of my car as they do a no-look three lane crossover?

The visibility of oncoming cyclists is going to be terrible as well for left turning traffic. Cyclists will be difficult to see when they're biking alongside the trees and hedges on the median. These things really should be on the outside lanes, if anywhere