Toronto is congested. Officials didn’t plan well for the future, and now we’re all paying the price.
Cyclists are part of the solution to gridlock, but as a constituency, historically, we’ve been treated as what could diplomatically be described as an afterthought.
In a world-class city, cyclists should not be treated as if they are a problem.
We felt hopeful when Toronto’s first protected bikeway network was installed in the downtown core along Richmond, Adelaide and Simcoe last October. It’s considered a pilot project, but cycling has increased three-fold on these routes, so it seems to be off to a flying start. Some 1,300 cyclists use Richmond every day.
But wait! Less than a year into this precious project, the city announced that Richmond between Church and York would be reduced to one lane and the bike path closed from July 4 until the end of November for road construction. That’s right, November – when it’s time to get the woollies out.
This announcement, contained in a press release that went out to the usual suspects (of whom I am one) meekly suggests that cyclists can use King and Queen as alternate routes. Both are horrendous and often dangerous for cyclists because of on-street parking, streetcar tracks and bumper-to-bumper traffic. I avoid them both if I can because I refuse to ride in a perpetual door-prize zone.
If I must ride them, I go really really REALLY slowly, finger ready on the bell, voice ready to holler out, “Don’t hit me!” It’s no way to bike, especially for the many new cyclists and tourists who have heard that Toronto is a great biking city and who may want to try the expanded Bike Share program.
Other cities plan alternate routes for cyclists.
In la belle province, our beloved Montreal knows how to treat its bike peeps. When a bike lane shuts down, a detour is installed – of course! In one current example, a new bike route to get around construction on Lachine along the canal was widely publicized and picked up by all the major news outlets, including CBC, Global and the Montreal Gazette.
In Toronto, neither the media nor cyclists are given an adequate heads-up.
As I biked down Richmond last week, it was unclear to me if the lane was actually shut down. There were signs indicating construction all right, but there was still space for me to get through on my bike, so I took it, because I’d rather bike on the pavement next to a trench than be stuck behind a tailpipe in the blazing heat with someone honking loudly at me from behind. (Project manager Easan Vallipuram says sharrow markings and additional signs will be installed this week.)
But when asked why planners didn’t consider building an official detour, cycling manager Jacquelyn Hayward Gulati tells me there was no “viable option for a designated cycle-track detour route in the core, as the adjacent routes are also streetcar routes.”
When it’s suggested that Queen is an obvious detour choice if the city would remove on-street parking to make room for a temporary lane, Hayward Gulati replies that there isn’t enough room because of streetcar tracks.
I suggest pylons could work, but the city would never remove precious on-street parking, which is grossly underpriced in Toronto and basically ruining any chance we’ll really embrace the complete-streets concept.
It is standard for pilot projects to take one complete cycling season to gather enough metrics for a proper assessment. Tellingly, the city has been unable to achieve that duration in its very first cycle-track project. Hayward Gulati says staff will recommend the study period for the pilot be extended to fall 2017 when the item goes back to Public Works.
At this time, most cyclists are avoiding Richmond because, like so many other streets in Toronto, it is unsafe.
As one biker told me, “There was a group of six or seven of us today who took over the lane together, but if you were alone it wouldn’t feel good. There is a deep trench on the side [of the road] if you make a mistake or get bullied over by a nasty motorist!”
Lane pain
Tensions were high on Richmond this week as pedestrians, drivers, workers and cyclists all tried to navigate construction on the street. In the short time we were at Bay and Richmond to ask cyclists about the Richmond bike lane closure, a police officer yelled at jaywalking pedestrians, “Don’t come crying to me if you get hit!” and a Beer Store driver wailed on the horn as he gunned his truck through the intersection. Here’s what some cyclists had to say about construction infringing on their space.
“It’s a funny place to ask because it’s the end of the hardest section. Obviously right now it’s brutal.” Miranda
“It’s really making it difficult to get home from work. And it’s a little bit unsafe trying to get past cars as well.” Rebecca
“It depends on the mood of the motorists, for sure. This delays them when they get delayed they get pissed off, and they’re not so happy to see us in what is usually our bike lane.” Susan
“It’s a mess, but what can you do?” Elizabeth
Tammy Thorne is editor-in-chief of dandyhorse magazine.
news@nowtoronto.com | @nowtoronto
