An ‘awkward, tortuous’ journey: Council debates next step for separated bike lanes in Toronto

National Post
May 14, 2014
Natalie Alcoba

Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong has been on a mission for the last four years to establish a separated bike lane network in the downtown core.

It has been, by his own admission, an “awkward, tortuous” slog and one that’s not done yet. On Wednesday, the public works and infrastructure committee that he chairs gave the green light to a crucial piece, approving a pilot project for separated lanes on a section of Richmond and Adelaide streets.

The trial run still requires city council to sign off, and a decision on making them a permanent fixture will not come until next year, once an environmental assessment is complete.

“This is a fantastic step forward for the City of Toronto,” Jared Kolb, with advocacy group Cycle Toronto. “There have been some low points and some high points [this term]. Today is one of those high points.”

The decision by this city council to remove bike lanes from Jarvis Street qualifies as one such “low point” for the cycling community, and it still burns for some two-wheel commuters. The city also removed lanes on Birchmount and Pharmacy, in Scarborough, at the request of local residents.

As a trade off, a separated downtown network began to take form. It started with a tiny stretch of Bloor Street, over the viaduct, then lanes separated by a curb on Sherbourne Street and bollards on Wellesley Street (although on the latter route, the bollards are spaced out to such a degree cars can still park in between).

On Wednesday, the committee also approved upgrading existing bike lanes on Harbord and Hoskins into separated lanes and sharrows into proper bike lanes.

Councillor Minnan-Wong defends removing the Jarvis lanes. He says there are limited options for motorists trying to get in and out of the downtown core, and Jarvis is one of them.

But he pushed for a separated bike network because “you’ve got to build something for cyclists because they’re a recognized form of transportation. I’m not going to be the guy that’s going to advocate for bike lanes on every street, but on certain streets, do them and then leave it alone.”

He learned that, fundamentally, people are in favour of bike lanes as long as they don’t live or work on that street. On Harbord, for example, the tricky balancing act between local businesses and differing points of view among cyclists resulted in a “watered-down” version of bike lanes, he said.

They also come at a cost: by removing about 40 street parking spots to accommodate the lanes, the Toronto Parking Authority forgoes $295,000 in revenue. The proposal is to separate the lanes on Richmond and Adelaide with a painted buffer and flexi-posts, at a cost of $390,000.

Mr. Minnan-Wong was never able to turn Beverley Street’s lauded bike lane into a separated one, blaming a “certain level of opposition” from the local councillor, Adam Vaughan.

Mr. Vaughan, who has resigned his council seat to run for MP, said he was neither in favour or opposed to separated lanes on Beverley, but what was proposed was done without consultation. “We wanted to know what the design would look like so we could have a conversation but they just pronounced, we’re going to put in bike lanes,” he said.

Still, Mr. Minnan-Wong’s efforts on Richmond and Adelaide earned praise from Councillor Mike Layton, a member of the public works committee and an avid cyclist.

“Notwithstanding those black eyes [of removing lanes], in an era where there could have been no movement, this is I think a step in the right direction,” he said.