Cycle Toronto organized a ride down the Sherbourne Bike Lanes to solicit comments from users. Fifteen riders showed up, including two members of the City Cycling Infrastructure staff, as well as Cycle Toronto representatives from both Wards 27 and 28.
Here are Paul (Ward 28 Captain), Dan Egan (Manager of Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure), and Chris (Ward 27 Captain) at the start. 
Before we got going, Dan gave a general overview of the entire project. He mentioned that initial snow clearance of the bike lane was done in tandem with the plowing of the street, but additional sweeps were necessary afterwards since the bike lane would get blocked by snow from intersecting driverways, etc.
He also explained that there were two distinct designs for the bike lane, north and south of Gerrard St. North of Gerrard, the bike lanes are segregated from traffic by raised curbs with rounded tops. South of Gerrard, due to the much higher density of driveways, they used a rolled curb design. If they had gone with the raised curbs in the southern section, there would have been so many gaps that only about 40% of the length of the bike lane would have curbs. Finally, he noted that the green markings are incomplete at this point. Any place where there is a green stripe will be filled to the full width of the lane next spring, to make it look like the southbound section nearest Bloor. The material needs to be applied in warmer weather.
The ride got off to an inauspicious start because taxis were blocking the bike lane, just south of Bloor.
Here we are headed south on the northern section. The windrow left by clearing snow from both the road and the bike lane actually enhances the separation from traffic.
We paused at Gerrard St. to discuss what we had seen so far.
This is what the rolled curb section south of Gerrard looks like. There was little or no snow left on the rolled curb divider, which was more like a concrete ditch.
Here is a section of the rolled curb with a little snow.
Here is signage telling cars making right hand turns to yield to bikes. I wish they had these signs everywhere.
The ease with which cars can ignore the rolled curb caused problems, such as here, just by Moss Park Arena.
Do you think that the City uses enough salt?
Here is the group headed back north.
Approaching Gerrard from the south, we were going to make a left turn into the park to talk some more. Here is the sign indicating how to use the special bike box.
This is a picture of the similar bike box at Wellesley, where you can see the road marking.
Here is our group trying to use the bike box. It is a bit confusing since the bike box is not meant to be used for bikes travelling in the east-west directions.
During the second session, there was a question about bi-directional bike lanes. Dan explained that they would require separate signaling for bikes at intersections (this is what is done on the Hornby bike lanes in Vancouver to the best of my recollection) and that would cause too much delay for transit along this corridor. Bidirectional bike lanes are being considered for parts of the Harbord/Wellesley lanes, in particular the section through Queen’s Park.
We wrapped up the ride at Bloor and Sherbourne. Comments were generally positive, although there were some differences of opinion about issues such as the relative merits of the two bike lane designs, and the utility of specific features such as the marked bike boxes dedicated to indirect left hand turns. Cycle Toronto is soliciting feedback on the Sherbourne bike lane for the next several weeks with this online form. Here Dan is talking about having caught a fish THIS BIG. (Actually I was too far away to hear what he was saying).
This feedback will be important since the City is open to further enhancements such as increased signage, more road markings, and installation of flexible bollards. In addition, the City will be monitoring usage as well as other issues such as snow clearance, and police enforcement of illegal parking. They will use what is learned here in the implementation of other separated bike lanes to be rolled out elsewhere in the downtown area.
You can compare today’s photos with the renderings posted by the City during the planning stages.
Overall, it was a very informative event, and it I also enjoyed riding the bike lanes with many like minded cyclists. It was also good taking a second look since snow clearance issues changed my earlier impressions.
So glad I have moved away from that side of the city. No way I am queuing up to ride a narrow ditch between ridges of concrete and slush. Manoeuvrability is what keeps me safe on a bike, and this destroys that. Toronto doesn’t need bike lanes, it needs consistent and punitive enforcement on selfish driving. That would make ALL users safer.
Thanks for the report, jnyyz! I’m glad people are taking a close look at Sherbourne for improvements and to find out what can be learned for Wellesley and Harbord.
I could list the vast number of cities, even in the United States, that are building cycle tracks (NYC, Chicago, Vancouver, Portland,…) and have learned from the decades of experience that Netherlands and Denmark have in these facilities. Good to see we’ve started and I’m confident we’ll get better at it.
This is what the average person needs to feel safe and comfortable on a bike on the road. It definitely wasn’t built with just messenger-style or hardcore cycling in mind. Those cyclists will figure things out, they always do.