Photo by wootam!
Don Mills Road is a popular north-south route for cyclists in the east end of North York continuing to downtown. This may be because of a bus/car-pool/bike lane or it could be because of a lack of alternatives. It's a significantly faster way to get downtown rather than taking the signed routes to the west, however it is mainly attractive to more skilled cyclists.
Don Mills will be having a Transit City LRT built on it in coming years, meaning major changes to the streetscape. One of the objectives is to "identify opportunities to improve the pedestrian and cycling environment, facilities, and multi-modal connections in the corridor".
Like the Sheppard LRT, bike lanes are being included in the changes. Bike lanes are planned for all the sections north of the Don River. The width of this bike lane isn't given, which should be important on a road with speeds as high as Don Mills. Pape and Broadview would have no bike lanes, but would lose a shared lane unless there is a tunnel.
Go to the EA web site to see the details. (Click on Display Panels to see the PDF of the presentation.)
The public consultation is tonight. Details are below.
Don Mills Road Light Rail Transit
Class Environmental AssessmentPublic Consultation
Public consultation is an important part of this study. Two series of public Open Houses will take place during this study process. Our first series of Open Houses will showcase the light rail transit route, alternative design concepts, and the preliminary identification of the issues. Please join us:Thursday July 10, 2008
Westwood Middle School, gymnasium
994 Carlaw Avenue
6:00pm to 9:00pm
A presentation and Question/Answer session will start at 7:00pmYour input is important to us!
Open House Displays
Need more information?
Please contact us to be placed on the project mailing list (email or regular mail) for future updates.Public Consultation Unit
City of Toronto
Metro Hall, 19th Floor
55 John Street
Toronto Ontario M5V 3C6
Tel: 416-392-4331
Fax: 416-392-2974
TTY: 416-397-0831
Email: donmillstransitea@toronto.ca
Comments
Cpt_Sunshine
I'm one of those skilled cyclists
Thu, 07/10/2008 - 18:52I love the way Don Mills is now. It's the closest thing to a bike highway we have in this city. Sure, there are no bike lanes, but the lanes are otherwise quite large. More than enough room to ride a comfortable distance from curb and cars still have enough room to pass without changing lanes. The lack of a bike lane also makes it great for groups of cyclists (like the Donut ride) , because you can take the whole right lane and no cars complain because there are still two gigantic lanes to choose from. It's my experience that big groups don't fare well on roads with bike lanes because drivers have the mentality "We gave you the bike lane, so stay out of mine!!". Plus southbound it's all downhill and you can hammer at around 50km/h (ie around the speed limit), so cars can't really pass you anyways.
But selfish reasons aside, this plan seems very half a$$ed. First off, Eglinton should have a full subway, not an LRT. It has more than enough population density to justify it. Plus a subway all the way to Kingston Rd on Eglinton would do a way better job at connecting East Scarborough to the core, especially with an LRT on Kingston Rd. Secondly, Victoria Park is probably a better choice for a north south LRT because Don Mill is too close the Yonge line. For people traveling from north of Lawrence, it would probably still be faster to take a bus West and then head down on the subway, which is what I think most people living in that area do now. I wonder how much Farview mall is playing into this decision, it's one of the reason the Sheppard line was put (IMO) in the wrong spot.
Anyways, just some selfish ranting from a cyclist that may be losing his one of his favorite training routes.
Anonymous (not verified)
Response from the City on the Don Mills Corridor
Sat, 07/12/2008 - 13:48The change of the project from an Individual EA to a Class EA does not affect the assessment of how bike lanes would be incorporated into the design of the project. The major difference between a Class EA and an Individual EA is the extent of MOEs involvement in the approvals of the project.
A decision to include bike lanes as part of a transit project is a decision of the proponent (City/TTC) and not dependent on the type of EA process followed. As we mentioned previously, we are looking at providing bike lanes along the Don Mills line even though it is not identified in the Bike Plan and will have a better sense of where they can be accommodated for the next public open houses in the Fall.
Regards,
Joanna Kervin, P.Eng., PTOE
Program Manager
Transportation Planning
City of Toronto
City Planning Division
55 John Street, 22nd Floor
Toronto, ON M5V 3C6
Tel. (416) 392-8572
Fax. (416) 392-3821
Mr. Egan and Ms. Kervin
I have heard that the EA s being downgraded to a Class EA. How will this affect the implementation of bike lanes? My understanding is this lessens the objective for bike lanes. Will it happen on the Don Mills LRT?
The project is being managed by Joanna Kervin of Transportation Planning, City Planning Division. Bicycle lanes are being looked at as part of the LRT design. Once the full assessment of the corridor is completed we will have a better sense of where bicycle lanes can be provided. The study team will have more details as they work on the more detailed concepts this summer. If you have any further questions about the project, please contact Joanna Kervin at jkervin@toronto.ca.
Daniel Egan
Manager, Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure
Transportation Services Division
City of Toronto
22 East, City Hall
Tel: 416-392-9065
degan@toronto.ca
Tory (not verified)
freaky
Sun, 07/20/2008 - 23:09I pretty much refuse to bicycle in this area and I bike almost every day, luckily it is rare when I am in that area, partly because I avoid it.
The cars travel faaarrr to fast.
I'm a driver too sometimes, flow of traffic can easily be 70km/h
Why is light rail being discussed so much when it doesn't increase transportation area, poses a hazard to cyclists and doesn't seem any better then buses? I suppose they have they use electricity... but.. not like that is a great source either. I have also seen overhead electric buses :/