Day Four after the snow storm and the bike lanes are still mostly unrideable. Whatever the snow isn't blocking is blocked by a car that is forced away from the curb by banks of snow. Tino has his entire snow in the bike lane on flickr set to document our frustration!
Comments
The EnigManiac
I contacted the Mayor and councillors...
Wed, 02/06/2008 - 00:17...with the following email:
Toronto received 16cm of snow on Friday, commencing at about 4am and concluding almost 24 hours later. 5 hours after the snow began to fall, plows were out clearing the main streets and they continued throughout the day. Unfortunately, on the few routes where there are bicycle lanes, the snow was deposited directly in the bike lane rendering them completely unusable and forcing intrepid cyclists to occupy the middle of the adjacent lane where many motorists continued to drive over the speed limit, thereby endangering cyclists as they bravely made their way into work on Friday and Saturday (and Sunday and Monday, etc.). This was the third occasion this season where heavy snow-falls essentially eliminated any and all bike lanes.
The city has the responsibility of clearing travel routes to ensure relatively safe passage for commuters trying to get to and from work and other destinations safely, yet the city purposefully denies cyclists the use of their lanes and willfully forces them into harms way. Is the city liable for any death or injury for such negligence and intentional endangerment? Perhaps. I was advised two years ago that the city had purchased de-icers/melters that were supposed to be used specifically on the pitiful few routes that feature bike-lanes, but I have yet to see one on Davenport or Harbord, the two routes I use most often. Instead, cyclists must wait 5-10 days for the snow and ice to melt naturally, thanks to Mother Nature, before they can commute to work. Is the city prepared to reimburse car-free, cycling home-owners for the lost hours of pay or the companies that employ them for the lost man-hours because it prevented cycling commuters from getting to work? Every effort was made to accomodate pedestrians, motorists and transit riders, but not only was no effort made to serve the large number of cycling commuters, their actions actually discouraged and deprived cyclists of their chosen mode of transportation. It is criminal, in my opinion.
For city councillors who publicly pronounce how 'green' they are, how pro-cycling they are, they sure do behave contrary to those sentiments. Where are the de-icers/melters? Why are they never deployed? Why aren't sidewalk plows employed to clear bike lanes with the same efficiency as other lanes? We pay (increased) property taxes too, yet we receive no service whatsoever. Why should cyclists be given no other option but to take public transportation (and incur unnecessary costs) when motorists are not similarly imposed upon? It is flagrantly discriminatory, favourtism and contrary to the the City's publicly stated agenda. Perhaps we should simply not pay our taxes. Why would anyone pay for services that are never provided, after all? We are promised---yes, promised---a certain number of lanes each year and every year the city fails to deliver on their promise. And when we do get a few kilometers of bike lanes---far below what was promised---they are used as dumping grounds for snow so that cars can travel at unreasonable speeds.
All I ask for is fairness, equality and the same consideration as the City is so eager to grant other users of the road.
I received the following reply:
Directors:
Would you kindly have staff investigate the concerns in the attached email, forwarded to Gary's office by the Mayor's office staff, regarding snow on bicycle lanes.
Thank you,
Patti for Gary
Anonymous (not verified)
The fastest way to clear the
Wed, 02/06/2008 - 10:07The fastest way to clear the streets is to have plows push the snow aside. Where else will the snow go but into the curb lane?
I don't have a problem with this for the first 48 hours after a major storm, but after that we need snow removal for bike lanes.
I'm more pissed that sidewalks still aren't cleared, let's get the city to crack down on this immediately after a storm. Too many residents also aren't shoveling, let's blitz them with major fines.
The EnigManiac
Sidewalk plows
Wed, 02/06/2008 - 11:41Sidewalk plows in my neighbourhood are pretty prompt. I was out shoveling my sidewalk at 10am this morning when the sidewalk plow came by (and made a mess out of my nice neatly shoveled sidewalk---lol).
As for snow in the curb lane, my councillor told me two years ago that melters would be deployed on bike-lane routes promptly after major snow-falls, but in the two years since, I've never seen one nor the evidence of one. It's usually a full week or more before I can use a bike lane if the weather cooperates. To me, that's ridiculous. Who am I paying, the city or Mother Nature? It's not like we have much in the way of bike lanes anyway, so it wouldn't take the melters long to eliminate the snow.
I completely concur about laxy residents not clearing the snow and ice within 24 hours after a snowfall. Why the city doesn't send their rarely used by-law enfocement officers out to issues fines is beyond me. Once again, the City is missing a potential source of revenue while actually serving communities.
Darren_S
On the flipside good news.
Wed, 02/06/2008 - 11:56We have endured excuses for years that bike lanes cannot be put on roads because they would increase traffic congestion too much when the car lanes are reduced. I have seen some residential streets reduced to one lane for both directions and some of the multiple lane roads reduced by one lane each way... road dieting by nature. Has the world come to an end? No complaints about any new traffic jams, just the same old on the radio. This has come about in one of two ways, cars simply do not need all that space or people move to transit instead of driving.
Darren_S
Listen to the radio in the bike lane.
Wed, 02/06/2008 - 12:03Martino will be talking bike lanes and snow on the radio Thursday morning, sometime after 6am. CBC Radio 1 - 99.1FM
anthony
reactive vs proactive snow removal
Tue, 02/12/2008 - 02:50It seems that the city will be reactive to bike lane clearing requests rather than proactive in clearing bike lanes. Not great, but fair enough. Heaps and staff have mentioned, and now published the number for the Snow Removal Hotline (338-SNOW) in this month's Cyclometer.
But the next issue, at least in my neighbourhood, is what number do I call about getting the post and rings on the sidewalk unburied?