Cycling advocate and BikingToronto reader Todd Tyrtle attended the Ward 29 Bikes Public Meeting last Wednesday, and brings us this report of things Dan Egan (Manager of Cycling Infrastructure for the city) talked about at the meeting:
(originally posted in the Ward 29 section of the BikingToronto Forum)You'll have to forgive me for taking terrible notes. Next time I go I'll bring the digital recorder and can provide an mp3 of the audio if you like. Fortunately it appears that 29bikes.ca is going to be publishing an account of what happened in better detail than I'm about to provide.
And frankly, I only took decent notes on Dan Egan's (Toronto Mgr of Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure) presentation. By the end of that one I was more engaged in the presentations than my notebook. Some interesting things came up in his presentation that I, for one, hadn't heard about.
- Richmond and Adelaide bike lanes have been on hold for a while waiting for disposition of what to do with the Gardiner. They've decided that they don't want to hold up any longer. Though he didn't give a target date for their installation, he did say that the project has been resurrected and that a lane separated by bollards is a likely choice for installation.
- He mentioned that other similar bollard-separated lanes may also be considered for other places like Bayview south of Moore. Along with this he mentioned that the city would need to investigate a dedicated means of snow removal from bike lanes if this were to go forward since trucks could no longer be used for this purpose.
- Hydro corridors are being heavily investigated. Gatineau and Finch corridors are major contenders and could add 40 km of dedicated paths. The challenge, of course, is that there are other stakeholders involved since the land is not city-owned.
- They are looking in to a remedy for conflict zones at the Bloor Viaduct both westbound and (YAY!) eastbound as well.
- They did mention that maintaining traffic flow and parking are a priority. (I'm conflicted on this one. On the one hand, I totally understand the motivation, on the other hand, if you say that a bike lane can't go in that affects traffic or parking we're not going to get far)
- They are investigating the possibility of a bike lane on the uphill side of Pottery Rd up to Broadview. At the same time there is talk about redesigning the Bayview/Pottery Rd intersection to be less like a highway interchange and more like a city intersection.
- Bayview extension may get bike lanes and the idea of adding curbs and sidewalks to make the area more like a city street than a highway is being investigated. At the same time they are looking at improving connections between Bayview and infrastructure (better connections, for example to belt line and Don trails)
- Millwood rail underpass is being investigated for improvement.
- Connection between Millwood and Bayview via Redway is being pursued.
- A greenway trail is being looked at to parallel the Allen expressway
And while I realise that none of this is definite, it is encouraging to see so much activity. I have much more of an impression that people within the city government are working towards the same goals as we are. Sure, not all will be approved, some might not be funded but the intentions are there. It is clear that the city wants to work with us and that feels pretty darned good.
Photos from Ward 29 Bikes
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