On Monday, just four days after I wrote about the dangers of cyclists getting their wheels jammed in streetcar tracks, a rider died.
While details are sketchy at this point, it appears the disused rails on Wychwood south of St. Clair West may have been a factor in the cyclist’s striking his head on the pavement. News of the accident came as a shock. Some stories you’d rather get wrong.
The crash would likely have been less serious had the rider been wearing a helmet, but in the wake of this tragedy there’s a new push on the formerly off-the-radar rail issue.
On Tuesday morning, Cycle Toronto called on the city to launch a comprehensive study of “streetcar-cyclist interactions.” In the meantime, the group wants immediate action on identifying areas where tracks are particularly dangerous, implementing street markings to guide riders through rail intersections, erection of on-street signs to demonstrate the safest way to cross tracks and, most significantly, removal of all unused tracks from city roads.
The tracks on Wychwood haven’t been used since a nearby carhouse was decommissioned in 1978. Sections of the rails have since been paved over.
“Streetcar tracks are a significant hazard for cyclists,” said Cycle Toronto’s Jared Kolb in the group’s statement. “We’ve got to recognize this and get the conversation going on the short- and long-term solutions.”
TTC spokesperson Brad Ross says there are 3.5 kilometres of decommissioned rail sitting idle, and that the commission maintains unused tracks “in a state of good repair so they’re flush with the road and safe to cross over.”
Removing unused tracks like those on Wychwood, he says, is prohibitively expensive and would only be done as part of regularly scheduled roadwork. No such work is currently scheduled for Wychwood. Adelaide, Richmond, and Wellington, which also have derelict rails, are all scheduled to be torn up in the next seven years.
Councillor Mike Layton, head of the Cycling Committee, says he wants to “go as fast as we can” to get staff working on a report and will raise the matter when council resumes. He broadly supports Cycle Toronto’s recommendations, but also suggests less expensive ways to deal with unused tracks besides tearing them up.
“Maybe there’s something that can be done to fill them in,” he says.
Councillor Joe Mihevc, whose ward includes the site of Monday’s accident, says gaps in the tracks could be plugged with a “new material” more resistant than asphalt. “Leaving it the way it is now is not an option.”
bens@nowtoronto.com | twitter.com/nowtorontonews
