Toronto City Council this week will discuss whether to create designated road space for cyclists on Annette Street between Runnymede Road and Jane Street. But that discussion is about more than a few hundred metres of potential new bike lanes in one neighbourhood. It is also a significant test of council's political leadership and commitment to building a better Toronto.

What should have been the routine approval of new bicycle lanes along six blocks of one wide, largely residential street has become a messy standoff threatening to cause long hours of hot debate when council meets today. "I hope we don't have a 500-kilometre discussion for 700 metres of bike lanes," said Councillor Adrian Heaps, chair of the city cycling committee and champion of a new fast-track process meant to paint hundreds of kilometres of long-planned but backlogged routes. "It's just not worth it."