Toronto council votes to make the Bloor St. bike lanes permanent

Following a year-long pilot project and decades of advocacy by the city's cycling community, council backs separated lanes between Shaw St. and Avenue Rd.

Thestar.com
Nov. 7, 2017
By Ben Spurr

The Bloor St. bike lanes are here to stay.

Following a year-long pilot project and decades of advocacy by the city's cycling community, council voted Tuesday to make the separated lanes between Shaw St. and Avenue Rd. permanent.

The vote was 36 to 6, with Mayor John Tory voting in favour. Two of his four deputy mayors, Denzil Minnan-Wong and Stephen Holyday, were opposed.

A city staff report released last month found the pilot project met its key objectives and recommended it be kept. Transportation department staff said the study, which included traffic counts, public surveys, and economic data, was the most extensive evaluation the city has ever conducted of a project of this kind.

Councillor Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), who represents part of the pilot area and is a major supporter of the bike lanes, told reporters council's decision to keep a bike lane on one of downtown's major streets marked a "tipping point" in efforts to build cycling infrastructure in Toronto.

"Today's decision I think puts to bed the old debate that it's bikes versus cars, or bikes versus business. What this vote and the staff report in support of it has shown is that when you build a bike lane and you design it well, it's a win-win for everybody," he said.

"And now the task becomes to build bike lanes in other areas, all across the city."

The report determined the bike lanes, which were installed along a 2.4-kilometre stretch of Bloor last August, increased cycling rates, didn't have an overly detrimental effect on car travel times, and had the broad support of cyclists, drivers, pedestrians, and local residents.

The report found the lanes had also improved safety and reduced conflicts between all road users by 44 per cent.

Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon (Ward 32, Beaches-East York) argued safety should outweigh all other considerations. Moments before the vote she put up photos on the overhead screen in the council chamber of three Toronto cyclists who have died this year, including 5-year-old Xavier Morgan.

"Providing proper cycling infrastructure is the difference between life and death. This should be a unanimous vote," she said.

The Bloor bike lanes are already the second-most travelled cycling facilities in the city, behind only the Richmond-Adelaide separated lanes. Roughly 5,220 riders used the Bloor lanes on an average weekday, according to city counts, which represents an increase of 56 per cent compared to before the lanes went in.

However, adjacent cycling routes on Dupont and Harbord Sts. saw declines in rider volume, which partially offset the increase on Bloor. City staff told council that when all three streets are taken into account, the Bloor lanes led to 370 additional daily cycling trips in that part of the city, or about a 3 per cent increase.

Critics of the project argued that wasn't enough new riders to justify inconveniencing drivers. The city report determined travel times for motorists on Bloor increased as much as 4 minutes and 15 seconds, to about 15 minutes and 30 seconds after the lanes went in.

"What is the cost to people that simply just want to get home after a day's work, and need to get to work on time in the morning?" asked Councillor Holyday (Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre).

"Sometimes people need to drive. People know that there's a cost to doing that. I just want to make sure that people's lives remain livable."

In a speech to council, Mayor Tory dismissed arguments against the lanes, said that while the layout of the lanes could be improved, making them permanent was "the right thing to do, the balanced thing to do, and the far-sighted thing to do."

"We are not talking about a revolutionary change here," he said.

Local business associations supported the bike lanes and the city's economic impact study found the project didn't have a detrimental effect on retailers. The report found just 10 per cent of people who travel to Bloor arrive by car.

However, several councillors raised what appeared to be the concerns of a minority of merchants who have reported the lanes have hurt their bottom lines.

In a letter sent to council Monday a group called the Annex Business Bike Alliance claimed the city data was inaccurate and their sales were down as a result of the bike lanes. The group asked the city to change the bike lane design to "mitigate the disruption to our businesses." Council approved a motion to consult with the group on potential changes.

City staff were already planning to make tweaks to the bike lanes. The public works committee voted last month to direct the city to consider modifications to improve traffic flow, pedestrian safety, and loading for local businesses, and also to perform cycling counts during the winter. Council approved that direction Tuesday.

There are tentative plans to extend the bike lanes further east on Danforth Ave. Council is expected to consider that option in early 2018 as part of a review of the city's 10-year cycling plan.