Today was the first of two public consultations on the westward extension of the Bloor bike lanes, planned to extend to six points in two phases over the next two or three years. Rob has an excellent summary on his blog. It was hard to gauge how much opposition there was to the proposal. Certainly there was one gentleman who was talking about going to court to block the project. A few others raised the usual objections and suggested that bike lanes keep to side streets. Apparently some people just can’t get their head around the concept of people wanting to shop by walking or biking.
Today’s meeting was at Swansea PS Community Centre. Not quite as crowded as last week’s High Park discussion.
Some of the usual suspects. Nice to see David of the South Etobicoke cycling committee.
I’ll confine my comments to what is happening in Bloor West Village. The current plan is to have the east bound bike lane darting into existing lay-bys, much like this current treatment in front of No Frills.
On the north side, the bike lanes will be straight, and also protected by curbs and bollards.
There are a couple of curious features in the plan. For instance, just west of Runnymede (where the current lanes end), there is a section marked “informal loading zone” which sounds like an invitation to stop a vehicle at will. It is particularly problematic since it is right at the corner. Additionally there is a large cross hatched area (marked with a red arrow) that could just as easily be additional parking.
Note that there is a fairly large decrease in the amount of on street parking according to this panel.
The most active area of discussion appeared to be around the junction of Bloor and South Kingsway. There are some fairly significant changes proposed for this intersection,
I had an extended conversation with a staff member about the raised platforms for loading and the TTC. I pointed out the hazards posed by snow plow damage to the prebuilt ramps that have been appearing in various locations. She was aware of the issue, and she said that staff are working hard to come up with a solution that also allows for adequate drainage. I had assumed that anything made with asphalt would be more expensive than the pre fab platforms, but I was surprised to hear that even a smaller model of the platform costs more than $30K.
At any rate, it looks like a design for phase 1 (as far west as just across Mimico Creek, a little past Montgomery) will go to committee this June, and if approved, construction will start this year.
As Rob and others have pointed out, if we can get as far as Six Points, it is actually easier to install bike lanes further west since that section of Bloor is mostly residential. Pushing all the way to the border with Mississauga will allow a continuous link to what is being planned in that neighbouring city.
One step at a time though. A couple of years ago, it seemed unlikely that we’d be able to get bike lanes through the Kingsway, and now there are plans laid out in black and white.
The city’s materials on this project are here. There is a link to a feedback form in order to comment on the project until April 27.
And there is a second public consultation tomorrow (April 13) at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute (AKA the Mean Girls School) from 6-8.
Biking in a Big City 
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