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I was biking around the city this morning checking out the BikeFriday events, and went to check out Lansdowne, and was pleased to see new "sharrows" painted.
Sharrows, or "share arrows" are two chevrons with a bike symbol, often painted on roads where it may be too narrow for a full bikelane. It is meant to be a reminder to car drivers that they should be prepared to share the road with cyclists.
I didn't have my camera with me this morning, but Martin Reis did, so here's a photo he took of them.
If anyone else has photos of them, contact me and I'll post them, giving you full credit of course.
The re-constructed Lansdowne looks good, by the way. Nice and calm (and not at all congested) after having all the traffic-calming and pedestrian-friendly initiatives installed.
Labels: infrastructure, news
Not sure if I'd agree with the "not at all congested" thought... I was at MacGregor park this afternoon (Saturday) and there was a never-ending queue of cars stretching up Lansdowne for, well, as far as the eye could see. Moving quite slowly, too. Now granted, this was a Saturday (car hell) but anecdotally I've heard from several folks that the reconstruction has gummed things up pretty good.
But getting on topic, biking up or down this stretch of Lansdowne has actually become pretty... uhhh... harrowing. Yes, there are now Sharrows, but look at the picture in the post and you'll see that things are pretty tight, especially when you've got a bus coming up yer butt. The reconstruction has made it more dangerous for cyclists.
As far as I'm concerned, yes, this is going to slow down traffic (good) but there is really nothing here for cyclists, "sharrows" notwithstanding. Bit of a cop-out, really.
By 
, at
9:40 PM
These paintings/signs/whatever they are called don't seem to be much as I was minorly hit by a car Saturday afternoon almost at bloor when an suv decided to pass up beside me, and start squeezing me into the curb where I started banging on the side of the vechicle and using it to support me.
By , at
1:57 AM
Anonymous - well it wasn't congested on Friday morning during rush hour - but I was there on Saturday afternoon and I saw the lineup you are talking about - but the city did not take away a lane of traffic or anything - they just took away some parking - so that congestion would've been there even without the reconstruction.
Tory - I have to agree with you - I thought the lanes were supposed to be wider, but it's a tight squeeze through there.
As a person living in the neighbourhood, I'd like to correct Joe. The city did remove a lane of traffic as well as parking.
This is excatly what the neighbourhood was concerned about, no proper bike lane as promised by Adam Giambrone.
I now use alternative routes on my bike, the "sharrows" leave you little options, unless you'd like the doorprize!
By , at
3:48 PM
"Anonymous" is incorrect - before the reconstruction there was one traffic lane each way with parking on both sides. Now there is one traffic lane each way with parking on one side.
Same number of traffic lanes, less parking.
If you don't believe me you can check out the satellite photos on Google Maps, which are pre-reconstruction.
By bikingtoronto, at
4:24 PM
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