Bikes On Bloor
I just got this photo in my inbox. I was wondering what an unfurled bike lane might look like.
Update: The National Post has an article too.
Updated again: Many more photos on flickr.
Update #3: Torontoist
Photo here and on the flickr page by Tino.
Comments
Martino (not verified)
Bike Lane Fun
Mon, 03/03/2008 - 17:09It should be noted that the bike lane cost $27 bucks to produce. Not bad for 100 feet.
;-)
Great event. So much fun.
Svend
Nice tribute to Tooker, glad
Mon, 03/03/2008 - 18:21Nice tribute to Tooker, glad to see the fun got some media attention.
hamish (not verified)
yup - it was great fun.
Mon, 03/03/2008 - 23:35It was also great to have some of the blogosphere there, though there are a couple of glitches on the Torontoist post - the big one being it seems the merchants/BYBIA have already agreed to remove the street parking on both sides of the street from Ave. Rd to Church - and it's often been the possible messing with the parking that's been a bikelane killer.
And one commenter on the Torontoist has never handled tar paper before - the wind did gust a bit, but any bike could ride over tarpaper, and it's not like there were too many potholes under the "lane"...
unlike the rest of Bloor, which is truly rough now with all of the utility diggings.
Yup - great fun - thanks for being there folks, and for the pix!!! and links!.
Martino (not verified)
144 Feet
Tue, 03/04/2008 - 10:58I stand corrected. 144 feet. Even better!
Alex G. (not verified)
While I'm almost universally
Tue, 03/04/2008 - 13:21While I'm almost universally in favour of bike infrastructure, I do have one major reservation about a Bloor St. bike lane, especially in Yorkville. I think it would have to involve some means to prevent vehicles from stopping in the lane, beyond a white line on the road. I find that the College bike lanes are often rendered useless by parked cars and delivery trucks, not to mention the ridiculously narrow parking lane. Maybe pylons every 10 feet or so would work, as is done in Montreal on some lanes. I've always found Yorkville to be one of the worst parts of Toronto to bike through (I always opted for Wellesley when I lived in the East End) and it seems very likely that any bike lane would rapidly fill with Purolator trucks and cabbies.
That being said, it's great to see people pushing for bike lanes anywhere in the city, so keep up the good work!
Hamish (not verified)
yes, Bloor's bad in Yorkville
Wed, 03/05/2008 - 09:54I do tend to agree with Alex - there's a HUGE amount of stopping at the curb in this area, maybe more than others, and having a white line to ignore won't necessarily make it all better for cyclists.
The merchants have agreed to take out the on-street parking already - which is a major deal.
But what's most unfortunate about how limited our repertoire and process actually is that we can't consider alternative options for this 1km that would solve some of these problems, ie. going to a Euro-style of bikeway with strong swaths of colour to highlight the bike lane, or bollards or both.
I know there are valid concerns about an increased risk of crash in having bike lanes "hidden" on the former sidewalk, but if the parking is being removed, that should take away the biggest reason for not seeing a cyclist.
This road will likely be lasting for 50 years or more, and it's a shame that it's poised to get ok'ed by the politicians without it being critiqued by the cycling community, or having much in the way of public input, as I don't believe there have been any public meetings about it, not that Mr. Rae would necessarily want to inform pesky cyclists anyway....
The BYBIA is paying for much of the work, if not all of it - but not the staff time, and it's galling how rough other parts of the bike lane network is, and what the City can repair and rebuild.
Ask about for cyclists who live in Rae's ward to put some heat on him please for truly making a big difference for bikes, and not just a wide curb lane, and maybe not even with sharrows.