I've long known that Case Ootes is no lover of any form of transportation that doesn't have 4 wheels. It may have been 5 years ago, just after my wife and I had taken part in our first Becel Ride for Heart, when Councillor Ootes (then deputy-mayor/lackey of Mayor Mel Lastman) was on the news saying that it was unacceptable that cyclists shut down major highways for charity on a Sunday morning.
Or, it may have been when the Cosburn bikelanes were put in in 2004, after many delays cased by Ootes whining about bikes slowing traffic down... asking for extra studies and environmental reports... wasting taxpayer money.
Now, Ootes is trying to get the 2 year-old bikelanes removed, whining that they slow traffic down too much. A city staff report shows that the bikelanes have indeed slowed traffic down... but not much.Going westbound between Woodbine and Broadview on Cosburn has gone from 4 min, 29 seconds to 5 min, 27 seconds. A whole minute, Ootes. Why are your knickers in a twist over ONE minute?
Going eastbound, the car commute is a whopping 27 seconds longer. It's truly the end of the world.
Thankfully, the article also interviews councillor Paula Fletcher (Toronto-Danforth), Oote's ward neighbour, and a pro-cycling councilperson.
"We should be making streets more community-friendly," said Fletcher. "If it means it takes you three or four minutes to get downtown that’s not a big price to pay for traffic safety and traffic calming.... If you are simply a slave to the car, why not remove all the bike lanes?"Ootes gives a little quote in the article which I like, and which I think can serve as a great incentive to prove him wrong:
"This is an attempt by left wing councillors to slow down traffic and force people out of cars... People won’t get out of their cars. It doesn’t happen. This isn’t that kind of city,"
It IS that kind of city, Ootes. You (and other Torontonians) just don't know it yet... and THAT is The Ootes Challenge - to prove that Toronto CAN be a city where the car (and planning for cars) doesn't suffocate everything else on our streets.
ps. Case, in case you read this page (I know it's your one guilty pleasure...) you are welcome to participate in BikeFriday. Either on September 29th, or whenever you wake up to the fact that it's politically attractive to support cycing in Toronto.
(photo of Pape & Cosburn courtesy of Boldts.net)
Discuss this topic and a lot more on the BikingToronto Forum
