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Above you'll see a photo of one of Toronto's most bike-friendly councillors, Joe Mihevc, trying out the brand new Vaughan Road Bike Lane (which runs from St. Clair East to Winona).
From Joe's Newsletter:
The City installed a new bicycle lane on Vaughan Road between St. Clair Avenue and Winona Drive last month. The installation included a dedicated, signed bike lane with pavement markings on the north-bound side of Vaughan Road and a wide curb lane on the south-bound side. The wide curb lane is not considered a dedicated bike lane, but it will have signs installed indicating it is a bike route. The installation of the bikeway route signs were not part of this work, but should be installed later on in the Fall.
Parking on the north-bound side of Vaughan Road is not affected by the proposed bike lane and there currently is no parking on the south-bound side of Vaughan Road.
I am looking forward to trying out these new bikelanes the next time I'm in the area.
I have heard that some "advocates" in Toronto cycling circles are criticizing these new bikelanes, citing things such as the opening doors of parked cars encroaches on them, as well as that they're aren't many cyclists that use Vaughan Road.
Can you believe those reasons?
I can't.
Firstly, I agree that bikelanes right up against where cars park are a problem. New cyclists often forget about opening car doors (since they are usually pre-occupied with the moving vehicles on the other side fo them), and car occupants often forget to check for bikes before opening their doors. This is NOT a reason to abandon painting a new bikelane. New bikelanes create a sense of security for new and established cyclists alike, whether the "dooring" risk is present or not.
The argument that this bikelane is "not where cyclists are" does not make sense. Using this logic, there should never be bikelanes installed anywhere in the city (or the suburbs) where there are no cyclists. There are very few cyclists in places like Scarborough and North York because the roads are planned around the car. The installation of bikelanes in areas like this tell residents that the road is now safer for them if they are on their bikes.
Thanks for your work in support of "active transportation" Joe Mihevc. The more bikelanes the better, especially where cyclist numbers are low (for now).The Vaughan Road Bikelane has been added to the Toronto Bikelanes Map.
Labels: infrastructure, news
I have been biking on Vaughan for several years now, have you? It doesn't sound like it...
I am typically pro-bikelanes... I believe that they are effective when designed properly and marked well. However, the Vaughan bikelane is a disappointment. Since there is only one northbound bikelane, the lanes have shifted... cyclists have lost space overall... for example I am now pinched against the curb going southbound. Going northbound the bikelane is next to the parked cars and cyclists are at risk of the door prize. Why wasn't the bikelane placed in the lane without the park cars?? Sharrows would have been a better choice here... this was a decent road to cycle, not so now...
And I am not the only cyclist that feels this way... http://www.ibiketo.ca/node/2451
By 
, at
8:47 AM
Thanks for the input Brandon.
Maybe you can explain to me what "only one northbound bikelane" means? Are there supposed to be two or more?
Are the new bikelanes narrower than the standard 1.5 metres?
Look at this from a regular cyclist' perspective, not a cycling advocate perspective. Bikelanes are good, no matter where they are put.
Most bikelanes in Toronto that are near parked cars are in the "door zone" - does that mean the city should take them out? Of course not.
"Bikelanes are good, no matter where they are put"
I'd have to disagree with that statement for a few reasons. From a traffic engineering perspective, the north/west bicycle lane came at the expense of space available for south/east bound traffic. This creates a conflict for cyclists going southbound as the available space for a driver to safely pass them has been decreased. Drivers are sometimes caught driving over the yellow line and onto oncoming traffic to avoid cyclists, that is if they are considerate enough to even move away from a cyclist. The implementation of a single bicycle lane can also be confusing, both for cyclists and drivers. Those unaware of how bicycle lanes function (and unfortunately, there are a lot of them) think that having one lane means it is possible to use it for both north and south traffic. This can lead to cyclists dodging each other or drivers angrily yelling at cyclists going southbound to go on the bike lane.
Another issue I have is the whole 'If it ain't broke don't fix it.' Cycling along Vaughan Rd. was no problem for me, I've been doing it for years, because there was ample space north and southbound. However, I'm getting the feeling that City Hall is implementing bike lanes in areas with very little consideration as to the impact but are doing it in areas where it would be easy to do so just to satisfy their bicycle lane 'quota' (The bike plan proposed to have what, 700km of bikeways by 2012? Have we even reached half of that yet?). I would have preferred to see a bike lane on a street where safe cycling can be compromised by poor infrastructure, frankly, I don't think Vaughan Road is one of them.
But then again, this is just my opinion.
By , at
10:32 AM
joe- have you biked vaughan yet?
my feeling on the vaughan bike lane is congruent with most other cyclists that use this route (btw, its a great route to get into the downtown core from the NW side).
There was not enough space on Vaughan to keep parked cars and have a bikelane on both north and southbound lanes. So the planners (whoever they are) choose to keep only one bikelane... and they put it on the side next to the parked cars! Now cyclists are in the door zone northbound and pinched next to the curb southbound. Sharrows (i am told) will be on the other side, but I can't see how this will work (other than to put it in the centre of the lane).
In this case, a poorly designed bikelane is not better than no bikelanes.
Regards, Brandon
"I am looking forward to trying out these new bikelanes the next time I'm in the area."
I have friends in the area, but I don't live or work there, so I haven't biked them yet.
It'll be interesting to try them out when I get a chance.
Just because a bikelane is right beside parked cars doesn't mean every cyclist there will be doored. It means that cyclists have to be aware of their surroundings and what cars have people in them and ride accordingly.
Have you talked to regular, non-advocacy cyclists on the route?
agreed, not *every* cyclist will get doored. but were looking at risks (or the liklihood) of a dooring event (nothing is ever a certainty). i believe the 'risk' of a dooring event has increased (even in aware cyclists- dooring happens in split secs)... and the net safety of cyclists has decreased on this street.
before cyclists on Vaughan had sufficient space to navigate away from the parked cars... but now cyclists must ride in the bike lane or get horned by motorists thinking "why isn't this guy in his lane".
i have been biking for 20yrs over tens of thousands of miles on city streets and will likely avoid Vaughan now on (at least goin southbound).
if you come to our neighborhood please come up Christie from Dupont. this is a great bikelane (maybe because it had public consult).
cheers, b
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