Ride the South Kingsway Cloverleaf

South Kingsway and Queensway Interchange

One of tomorrow's Bike Month activities is a ride around the South Kingsway / Queensway cloverleaf, presented by the Toronto Urban Renewal Network (TURN).

When: Tuesday May 26, 2008, 7:30am
Where: Meet on Bloor St. by the main High Park entrance. Ride down to Queensway for 8:00.

You're probably thinking to yourself right now: "Uggh.... Why would I ever want to ride through that awful highway-style arterial interchange?"

Well, that's precisely the point of this ride.

As part of a local re-urbanization effort, the City of Toronto planned to make this intersection more pedestrian and cyclist friendly. Really, The City was mostly on our side! However, last year the Swansea Ratepayers Association protested, and along with Ward 13 councillor Saundercook had the Environmental Assessment cancelled, with the intention of leaving this intersection exactly as it is now.

The Toronto Urban Renewal Network was formed to re-open this issue and work towards getting this intersection fixed. Together with TCAT and the Toronto Pedestrian committee, TURN was able to get the City's attention again.

If this intersection is so awful, why don't we just ignore it and avoid riding there? Well.....here are a few good reasons:

• The eastern part of the Queensway's bike lanes are already in place. It would make sense to continue this farther west.
• This is an important north-south connection between the Swansea / Bloor West Village area and the waterfront / Martin Goodman Trail area.
• To the west of this interchange is an entrance to the Humber River trail system. It makes sense to connect it easily to High Park.
• There are new condos, townhouses, etc. that are being built in the area. A pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly environment is critical.

Now is the time for cyclists, pedestrians, and forward-thinking urbanists to get together and push for a more human-friendly intersection re-design. Join TURN on the ride tomorrow to examine the current conditions, discuss improvement possibilities, and to find out how YOU can get involved in making a difference.

More information about the background of this project can be found on TURN's website.