Logan Bikeway At DundasCulled from comments to a recent ibiketo.ca thread:
I just got back from the Logan Avenue bike lane opening, and I am impressed! -- Donald
I just got back from the Logan Avenue bike lane opening. I'm not impressed. -- Kevin Love.
That some paint splashed on asphalt can elicit such ambivalence is, well, impressive. It attests to how varied are individual standards and expectations. The lane in question was recently installed on a 400 meter stretch of Logan Ave. between Dundas Avenue and Gerrard Street. It is a segment of the proposed Logan Ave. bikeway (The Toronto Bike Plan Route T33, mislabelled as Carlaw) that will presumably connect the Martin Goodman Trail (MGT) with the Cosburn Ave. bikeway.
Riding this route often leaves me conflicted as well. The two kilometer stretch of Logan between the MGT and Danforth now has three separate bikeways -- now you see them, now you don't! -- totalling less than a kilometer. By turns they evoke appreciation, indifference, and cynicism.
Follow me up Logan, from the MGT to Danforth Ave., and decide yourself how effective are the lanes and how politics and priorities figure in their disappearing and reappearing act.
Contraflow Lane (Logan South of Eastern)Exiting the MGT onto Logan Ave. deposits you in a nondescript industrial park. The Eastern Ave. intersection is about 300 meters north and midway there Logan transitions into a one way street southbound. A contraflow bike lane begins at this point and ends all of 100 meters north at Eastern. (Is the temporary one way street sign still planted there?)
As short as it is the lane makes sense. It facilitates bicycle through traffic on a route that simultaneously restricts autos and (significantly) trucks. The stub is a deliberate feature, not an incidental accessory, of a larger plan.
Weston's Bakery (Logan and Eastern)
North of Eastern Logan sheds the bikeway and becomes bidirectional. Weston's Bakery (right at Eastern and Logan) takes up half the block to Queen; its loading docks face Logan where there's a steady stream of 18 wheelers converging, turning, and backing in. Space is extremely tight: protective bollards are installed on the sidewalk a few feet from the doorways of the row houses directly opposite the docks.
A bikeway here is incompatible. Without a segregated facility for which there's no space (short of co-opting the sidewalk), it would direct cyclists toward heavy trucks. A reliable gauge of the adequacy of bike lane is whether a 9 year old can safely navigate it. Sans a physical barrier I wouldn't want a nine year old anywhere near this place.
Logan Ave. (North of Queen) At Queen, Logan's industrial overtones recede as the strip morphs into a residential and retail strip. If you lay down lanes here something's gotta give, and it's gonna have to be parking. The Battle of Bike Lanes is a block by block campaign and I pity the politician depriving these hard working taxpayers of their God given right to store their cars on a public right of way -- his career trajectory would be positively subterranean. Onward north to Dundas...
It's no coincidence that the Dundas-Gerrard stretch of Logan (topmost pic) was recently adjusted for cyclists: half of it comprises a railway underpass so there are few businesses and houses fronting; it broadens to four lanes with extra wide curb lanes to easily accommodate on street parking; and with light traffic, that stretch allows for the installation of bike lanes at no expense to King Car. There's also a connecting bikeway on Dundas to seal the deal.
So it's a win-win situation, right? Well, actually it's a case of nothing ventured nothing gained: the stakes are so low that while nobody loses, nobody wins either. Yawn, just more spilled paint, ostensibly in the service of cyclists, but really systematizing the status quo -- complete with the usual suspects.
Is it any wonder so many cyclists are ambivalent toward bike lanes? That sentiment reflects the fallacy lurking behind much of the proposition, that is, that bikeways can be effective without significantly affecting auto traffic or parking. Newsflash: their validity depends on doing just that. It's essential that measures integrating bicycles and autos transform the dynamics of traffic flow otherwise why bother? What's the point?
Logan And Gerrard Next stop is Gerrard St., where Logan turns into a one way street northbound until it ends just past Cosburn. With space at a premium it's no surprise we lose the bikeway again. Entering Riverdale, a choice residential district, the street narrows, traffic calming measures regularly obtrude, and curbside parking abounds. (How much parking is too much? This neighbourhood is criss-crossed with back alleys and garages and still cars line both curbs?
The bad news: bike lanes here would be contentious and expensive; they would require the elimination of parking spaces and, owing to chicanes, a redesign of the streetscape. It ain't happening anytime soon.
The good news: we may not need 'em. Traffic calming and a constrictive streetscape with shops, parked cars and numerous stop signs reduce traffic speed to such a degree that even nervous cyclists should find it easy going. A few more stop signs would further reduce speed if not.
Logan Ave At Withrow Park
Halfway between Gerrard and Danforth we arrive at Withrow Park where the bikeway reemerges (strictly northbound now) for another horizon extending 450 meter encore! But this performance is uninspiring. You see Logan forms the park's western boundary for that distance. There are half the home owners (and cars) staking claim to the street, so a bike lane can be installed without much imposition and, accordingly, much benefit. (Here the bikeway doubles as a designated parking lane.)
Which brings us to the Logan Ave. bikeway's final departure into oblivion, at the northern edge of Withrow Park. There doesn't seem to be a compelling reason why the lane cannot be extended a further 200 or so meters north to Danforth Ave. Or with Frankland Community School and Center half that distance away, at least to that point.
Logan continues north of Danforth for another kilometer where it intersects Cosburn Ave. (and its bikeway). Why no more bike lanes installed on Logan Ave. north of Danforth? This is now Case Ootes' turf -- it must be a coincidence. Admittedly, the residential character of the northern segment of Logan with obligatory on street parking and speed humps, does much to obviate bike lanes. Still it makes sense to link with the Cosburn Ave. bikeway and there's a school enroute.
But as this short trip up a typical, unassuming Toronto street demonstrates: our bike lanes make little sense. The Logan bikeway's incoherence is representative of the greater jumble of bike lanes muddling Toronto's byways: there's some good, some bad and a whole lot that's indifferent. That's what comes of an agenda whose shambolic implementation is the perfect metaphor for the sorry state of its politics; a program where expediency trumps vision.
Imagine applying the same strategy to building highways as pertains to installing bike lanes: every county and borough could veto the project; routes would disappear at hostile boundaries and reappear on friendly turf, and then exist only where "there's enough room"; the vagaries of petty politicians would reign supreme.
But you don't have to imagine such a scenario. You're a cyclist and it's your reality.
Comments
vic
Logan: Dundas to Gerrard
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 12:02From the photo, it doesn't look like the door-zone bike lane is terribly narrow. it also looks like it may be possible to narrow the regular lanes even more, to make the bike lanes wider, and further decrease the dooring issue. Maybe some of those nice door-zone markers that Hamish has linked to a few times....
Yes, it looks patchy from end-to-end, but maybe the appropriate choices have been made. Some of those sections look like they don't need any kind of cycling infrastructure at all.
I should add this one to my list of "bike lanes I should check out sometime", though I'm rarely out that way.
Tone (not verified)
Articulates it well...
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 13:26This really gets to the heart of the debate in my own head on whether or not its worth it to fight for bike lanes.
On one hand, I commute most days from the west end to downtown, and the bike lane on Davenport likely makes that ride easier and more pleasant than it would be otherwise.
On the other hand -- I would likely continue to do the commute whether the bike lane was there or not. I'm reasonably experienced, comfortable in traffic ... and it's not like the lane even comes close to eliminating the various traffic hazzards the crop up.
And, as Luke points out, the weird patchwork of lanes won't likely make a nervous cyclist feel more confident -- quite the contrary: having lanes end unexpectedly also probably a pretty big deterent for those who don't feel comfortable in traffic.
Will this network ever get to the point where it will encourage those who just won't bike in today's road network to give it a try? And, if so, how soon?
If not -- if cycling is going to remain a mode of transport for people pretty comfortable with the way things are today for the forseeable future -- perhaps we should direct more of our attention to other things. Like encouraging the city to greatly reduce on-street parking, which has got to create one of the biggest safely hazzards for cycling in the city. Or fix the curb lane pavement (ever ride across the intersection at Bay and Bloor?!)
Donald (not verified)
Twisted
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 13:49Twas said the other way around.
Kevin Love wrote:
"I just got back from the Logan Avenue bike lane opening. I'm not impressed."
To which I disagreed, and was stirred to write:
"I just got back from the Logan Avenue bike lane opening, and I am impressed!"
Just thought I'd straighten that out. I doubt I would have been compelled to post my love for a bike lane.
But then again, I do love light blue, so you never know.
Kevin (not verified)
Bike Lanes
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 14:53I tend to think when evaluating bike lanes one must get back to their purpose.
We can disagree on that.
But my take is that bike lanes are not for expert cyclists who feel comfortable in all conditions. (though they are certainly welcome to use them!)
Bike lanes are to get recreation cyclists to try commuting or shopping by bike, or to let someone feel comfortable towing a kiddie-trailer on a main road, or allowing their child (say pre-teen) to bike beyond the confines of side streets unsupervised.
That being the case, I don't think bike lanes on the narrow sections of Logan or Carlaw are all the beneficial. There's nothing wrong with them, but I don't think anyone found riding those streets scary before; and if you do, well you probably won't bike on Danforth no matter what!
Bike lanes than take 4-lane roads down to 2, or that demark space for bikes on 'major' streets with buses where there are 2 huge car lanes, (1 wide one each way) , and cars often do unpredictable things......can be very useful.
In general bike lanes should be part of useful networks, but this won't always be the case, and there are times when safe(r) passage down 1 or 2 blocks on an otherwise safe route can still be rightly called progress.
We now have real north-south corridors in the east end on Jones and Greenwood. That's progress.
Next we need Donlands, the north end of Broadview and the non-streetcar section of Coxwell.
East-West, again there''s much to be happy with, Dundas, Cosburn and part of Eastern.... we had none of these 10 years ago.
But its Danforth we all want. Finishing Eastern would make good sense too.
Bike lanes are very much worth pushing for and getting excited about. The small pieces are sometimes let downs, but that doesn't mean we should be indifferent, and keep in mind, the next big victory is just around the corner! (if we lobby hard)
geoffrey (not verified)
Birchmount bikelanes are too keep motorists away from bad paveme
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 20:20Between Danforth Ave and St Clair. Grrr. Where are the bikelanes? Where the pavement is horribly broken. That says something, no?
Where are the utility cuts on Roncesvalles and St. Clair? Where do the bicyclists ride or rather where do motorists push bicyclists to ride?
Kevin Love (not verified)
I'm still not impressed
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 20:59The passage of time has not changed my opinion of the new bit of Logan Avenue bike lane. As the original post correctly points out, it is non-continuous and not part of a rational bike network.
The new bit in particular is unimpressive becauses it has zero physical barriers to keep the cars out. Moreover many motorists are wont to park their cars in a way that the door zone extends so far across the bike lane that there is inadequate room to ride a bike in the teeny-weeny bit that remains.
When I left the bike lane opening I judged it safest to simply ignore the bike lane and to "take the lane" in the general traffic lane.
What would impress me?
What would impress me would be bike lanes on both Yonge Street and Bloor/
Danforth all the way across the city. Bike lanes with physical barriers (ie 15 cm granite curbs) keeping the cars out. Bike lanes with zero adjacent parked cars so there is no dooring issue. Bike lanes that are at least 2.5 metres wide so that faster cyclists can safely pass slower ones. Bike lanes that connect to a whole network of less sophisticated "feeder" bike lanes throughout Toronto so that one is never more than 200 metres from a bike lane.
What would impress me is making Yonge Street south of Bloor a car-free zone, just like we did in the 1970's. What would impress me is steadily expanding the car-free zone, with a steep congestion charge in the rest of Toronto. And road tolls that triple on "smog alert" days so car pollution doesn't kill 440 people in Toronto every year. One of whom, by the way, was my father.
What would impress me is having every subway station on Yonge and Bloor/Danforth have handicapped elevators so that bicycles could be easily taken on the subway. Not to mention allowing disabled people on the subway!
What would impress me is having no peak hours restrictions on taking bicycles onto the subway. In order to do that it would be necessary to shift half the people riding the Yonge line onto the parallel Richmond Hill GO train line. With Richmond Hill GO trains running every five minutes to provide an express alternative to the Yonge subway. This is in the recent Metrolinx plan, but with implementation scheduled for the distant future.
Our present reality ranges from unimpressive to pathetic. Our present political culture holds out little hope for the future. What we really need is a revolution in Saudi Arabia to bring our insane car culture to an abrupt end.
And what would really, really impress me is rebuilding our city to reflect principles of social justice instead of unbridled greed and exploitation.
Postscriptum: For those following my career, I've just been placed at St. John the Baptist, Norway (at Woodbine and Kingston Road). I'll let everyone know when I'm scheduled to preach. Their web site is at:
http://www.stjohnsnorway.org/
Tanya Q (not verified)
thoughts on Logan pieces (one is not a bike lane)
Sat, 09/27/2008 - 21:24I like the contraflow lane south of Eastern and use it to connect between the MGT and Eastern.
The middle piece is a whatever piece, it was fine before, nice and wide for sharing. The zigzag approaching Gerrard is a bit strange. Overall, it could end up being worse if debris/snow accumulate in the lane.
By Withrow park, the line that is there sure looks like a bike lane doesn't it? According to the city (and if you look at the city bike map) - surprise its NOT. Its apparently an "edge stripe" similar to the edge stripe on Spadina, albeit much wider. The problem is many motorists driving up Logan particularly at speed can't seem to stay to the left of the edge stripe and overlap the line while driving. And I don't really like the idea of cycling in an edge stripe regardless...
Steph (not verified)
Actually no laneways
Mon, 09/29/2008 - 10:22This is my neighbourhood and I find the Logan lanes pretty good. It's not a busy area (compared to Bloor/Danforth) so I don't feel the need for bike lanes in the same way around these parts. Though the Bakery area is still tough (I have a nine-year old and we stay away from there).
North of Gerrard until about Withrow park, there are actually very few laneways for car parking and it's a major problem. Riverdale, Simpson, etc. have almost no driveways and most people only have one car, but there is still a need for parking on both sides of the street. I don't fault people having a car; Riverdale is still a walkers' neighbourhood but you can't bike everywhere, especially when you have a couple of kids. My car often stays in my driveway (I got lucky when I bought a house) 6 days out of seven.
What I want to see if more traffic calming measures in the residential areas to keep those safer for active transportation and more bike lanes on the busy streets like Bloor/Danforth, Wellesley etc so that cyclists have a way to get into the downtown core during their commute.
And I would like a bit more respect from cars (like not driving in the bike lanes). But that does without saying ;)