Bloor bike lanes one step closer to becoming permanent
Public works committee votes 4-2 to keep the cycle tracks, with council set to make the final decision next month.

TheStar.com
Oct. 18, 2017
Ben Spurr

The Bloor St. bike lanes are a council vote away from becoming permanent.

Following a six-hour debate at city hall Wednesday, the public works committee voted to endorse the recommendation in a city transportation staff report to keep the separated bike lanes.

The bike lanes were installed as a pilot project last August on a 2.4-kilometre stretch of Bloor between Shaw St. and Avenue Rd. The project will now go to council next month for a decisive vote.

“Our City of Toronto staff have stated unequivocally that the pilot bike lane on Bloor not only worked, it was a tremendous success and should be made permanent,” said Councillor Joe Cressy (Ward 20 Trinity Spadina). He isn’t on the committee but his ward encompasses part of the pilot project and he has been a strong supporter of the lanes.

“When you design a bike lane and you implement it well it is a win-win for everybody. That’s what we heard all day long.”

Sixty members of the public signed up to speak at the meeting, and while some left before they were able to speak, the overwhelming majority of those who did address the committee voiced support for keeping the bike lanes.

They included schoolchildren, doctors, environmental activists, cycling advocates, representatives of local business and resident associations, major cultural institutions, an off-duty parking enforcement officer, and people who had been injured or lost loved ones in traffic collisions.

A trio of physicians who co-founded the group Doctors for Safe Cycling said local hospitals regularly see the results of cyclist injuries.

“As doctors we want to stress . . . that the lack of bicycle infrastructure has a real human cost,” said Dr. Peter Sakuls. He called the Bloor bike lanes a “key piece of cycling infrastructure that will improve the health and safety of Torontonians. “

Kasia Briegmann-Samson, co-founder of Friends and Families for Safe Streets, listed off the names of cyclists she’s known who have been seriously injured in crashes with cars, including her husband Tom, who died in 2012.

“Separated spaces for people who are walking, cycling, and driving make it safer for everyone. What else do you need to know to make this decision?” she said. “With all due respect councillors, keep your condolences and build safe streets.”

Some local businesses owners reported the removal of on-street parking spaces to make way for the lanes had hurt their sales, and complained that they hadn’t been adequately consulted.

They appeared to be in the minority, however. Brian Burchell of the Bloor Annex Business Association said the board of his organization “voted overwhelmingly” to make the project permanent.

“Certainly we feel there are more visitors to the Annex, and there’s an increased sense of vibrancy,” he said.

One deputant, John Leeson, said he had come prepared with a speech in support of the lanes, but instead gave up a minute of his allocated three-minute speaking time to mark a moment of silence for a 39-year-old cyclist who was killed in a collision on King St. West Wednesday morning. The victim was the third rider to die this year.

The committee room fell silent for a minute, and then Leeson stood up and left the microphone.

The staff report was released last week and determined the pilot project met many of its key objectives including increasing cycling rates, improving safety and minimizing impacts on other road users.

In the year after the lanes went in, cycling on Bloor increased by 49 per cent to an average of 4,925 riders per day, according to the report. The bike lanes are already the second busiest cycling facility in the city.

The study also found that conflicts between bikes and motor vehicles decreased by 61 per cent. Travel times for drivers increased by a little more than four minutes at the busiest time of day.

Councillor Stephen Holyday (Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre) moved an unsuccessful motion to remove the bike lanes, arguing that while hundreds more cyclists are using the route, that wasn’t worth increasing travel time for thousands of drivers.

“You know what, there are still people here that need to be driving . . . I’m not supporting a project that destroys their commute into the city,” he said.

The motion to adopt the staff recommendations passed 4 to 2, with Holyday and Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7 York West) opposed.

In response to concerns that not enough riders will use the bike lanes in winter, the committee voted to install permanent technology on Bloor St. to get year-round cycle counts.

Councillors who back the bike lanes are optimistic council will make them permanent at its Nov. 7 meeting. There appears to be significant support on council for keeping the project, with left-wing councillors fully behind the idea and Mayor John Tory also pledging his support.