Driving impressions of Dupont bike lanes: BlogTO

I have been riding the Annette street lanes for a few weeks now and am LOVING it. Parking in the lanes is still a serious problem, especially for those of us riding before 7AM., but it has gotten better. I notice they have made people very happy. I see lots of riders out at the end of the work day and they smile at me across the street and wave. it seems to have really done something for the riders in the neighbourhood. I have also noticed that many families are now taking their children on the road on their bikes, which is great. Parents need to be teaching their children how to ride safely on the road and this is a great way to start.

The Dupont situation is a bit different. The lanes are good, but parking in them is an issue and traffic is heavier along there than on Annette, so getting around a parked car is more dangerous. Also, when traveling east bound, as you go under the bridge on the other side of Dundas, traffic can turn left onto the ramp like road to get onto Dundas (from Dupont). Cars are stopping here to let cars make a left with no concern for bike traffic that might be coming along the bike lane. Very dangerous and should be approached with immense caution. I am also disappointed with how the Dupont lane is working in conjunction with Annette. I have been riding the new West Toronto Rail Path and emerging at the end of the line at Cariboo Street. From there you can travel back south on Osler and get onto the Dupont bike lane. Once you come up from under the bridge, where the heck are you supposed to go to get over to Annette! The only real viable option is to make a right onto Old Weston Road, do a U turn and then wait for the light to change and proceed straight through to Annette. I would LOVE to see a bicycle signal at this intersection to get people coming off the rail trail onto the Annette bike lane. Also, cars seem to think the bike lane northbound on Dupont at Dundas/Annette is a turning lane. Quite annoying.

I'm very happy with the lanes under the bridges at Lansdowne and Dundas West. These passages feel much safer now; traffic has always been very aggressive at these locations.

As a cyclist I really like roads that are single car lane + bike lane + designated left turn lanes in each direction. Without the left turn lanes, cars going straight through often change to the outside lane at intersections to pass, and it puts a nasty squeeze on cyclists. Designated left turn lanes help to organize traffic.

I haven't had any problems with cars parked in the bike lanes, but then I don't really care. I just go around. There's nothing especially unsafe about that.

If I recall a CAN-Bike poster, I think that cars should be using the bike lane as a (right) turning lane, at least in the 5-10m before the intersection. Shifting over to pass on their left may be safer than getting a right hook.

Unsafe?
Do the following sound unsafe?

It sure does. It doesn't mean passing parked cars is unsafe. If you're going to be an idiot about something, it will become unsafe. Please, don't take it personally. I am not calling you an idiot. Just suggesting that the action that would lead to the problems you're describing would have to be pretty dumb (i.e., swerving without checking, passing too close etc.) Sure, passing cars parked in bike lanes can be a major inconvenience, but it doesn't have to be dangerous.

1. Doorprizes: The driver opens his/her door directly in your path because you are hemmed in by traffic in the left lane.

Negotiate with drivers behind you as you're approaching the parked car to make sure that you have plenty of space to go around. Don't pass within inches of the mirror.

2. Pavement Face: Driver behind you doesn't realise you are turning when he/she is turning into the left lane and rear ends/crushes you.

You mentioned the solution yourself. Hand signals and (much more importantly!) eye contact and general awareness of driver's response to your signals (watch the car body language). It also helps to realize that you don't have the right of way in that situation. Some people don't, and get upset when the drivers behind do not yield. That said, it is a courteous thing for a driver to yield because, unlike another driver, a cyclist cannot change lanes way in advance of the obstacle - that would be violating the "slower traffic stay to the right" principle. And in my experience most drivers actually do yield as soon as you extend that left hand. As a cyclist I have my share of complaints about Toronto drivers, but not in this situation

3. Streetcar track-fail: You usually have no trouble hopping into the left lane over the streetcar tracks... for some reason this isn't your day.

I don't recall any bike lanes in Toronto that are directly next to a lane with streetcar tracks. And BTW, if someone honks, "anxiously stumbling out of the way" is not the only possible response, and not necessarily the best.

Dupont is a nightmare! this is my route when I'm driving home, when I'm biking home from work (which I am tonight) I take davenport. The bike lanes are much safer there. My experience with these new bike lanes is that drivers just think it's a driving lane!

If the intersection at dundas/dupont/annette wasn't confusing enough already, now drivers don't know when it's their turn to turn or if they're even in a lane for cars... The whole thing is a mess and in my opinion very poorly implemented and as a cyclist I feel more comfortable on the road with cars where they can see me than in a bike lane that a motorist might dive into thinking they have the opportunity pass.

It's a very dangerous area bike lane or not.

So many places in the word have pleasant cycling environments that put shame in the heart of this Toronto resident: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Portland, Montreal. I've lived in two of these cities, most have lived in none, and few have travelled in any. Most Torontonians are travelling to hopeless American cities in the south, or places in the developing world they made sacrifices to get their families out from. If that's what most of us see, that's what we compare to: the bar is way too low. If more of us travelled to Northern Europe, NE Asia, or the Pacific NW, we'd make this a better city.

Not much of a solution. Sorry.

I live in west Toronto and have been using Dupont to get under the tracks -- my previous route on St. Clair seems to be constantly under construction.

The turn before the tracks used to be a bit hairy -- ok, but not pleasant. Then, one day, there was a bike path. It was such an unexpected improvement that I worried that it was a Urban Repair Squad thing and would be quickly removed. I was so happy when I discovered it was a real bike lane.

I makes the bridge much easier to navigate -- much better than St. Clair. It also lets me avoid the west end of the Davenport bike lane, which -for some reason - seems to freqently have glass and debris in the bike lane.

Perhaps it isn't perfect, but its a massive improvement compared to what was there before. Since there was street parking after rush hour, I can't imagine car traffic is much worse ... rush hour traffic moves more slowly, but it moves. And, we're only talking about a couple of blocks of bike lane -- it terminates after Landsdown, I believe.