Fresh Paint and Big Box Stores

Normally I avoid car-oriented shopping meccas like the bad plague. But I was desperate, laundry was piling up and I was out of detergent. The brand I liked (Method Free + Clear) appeared to no longer be stocked at the two pedestrian-friendly Shoppers Drug Mart stores I checked. I grabbed my trusty shopping bike, an old Raleigh Twenty with a milk crate, and rolled off towards nearby big box hell at Lakeshore and Leslie.
Fresh Paint on Eastern Avenue
Hmm, odd this wasn't here yesterday I thought, of the new white line that has popped up on Eastern Avenue. Sweeeet! My own personal bike lane to big box hell! Despite my own personal excitement, what is this bike lane actually doing here?

Is it part of the city's official bike plan? Nope.
Are cyclists demanding a bike lane here? Nope. Eastern Avenue is barely used by cyclists. A bit of an industrial wasteland, the road serves as an arterial for suburban commuters. The road has little destination appeal. As an east-west cycling thoroughfare in the east end, more pleasant alternatives exist: an offroad pathway on the north side of Lakeshore, a bicycle lane on Dundas Street, or the generally pleasant slow moving and cyclist-heavy Queen Street.

Your guess is as good as mine as to why this bike lane was pushed through city council, without apparently too much objection from the suburban councillors seeing an arterial cut from four lanes to two. I consider Eastern Avenue a "neighbourhood" street, so I'm happy if it will encourage fast-moving traffic to stick to the more appropriate major arterial Lakeshore Avenue instead.

Most likely it was an attempt to thwart Walmart. Despite the seemingly nice "community place" promises and nice looking artist rendition sketches, the land immediately adjacent to this bike lane is slated for a big box development. Currently the city is fighting the developer at the OMB. The proposed development will have 1900 parking spaces. That aint no neighbourhood place.

Eastern has so much potential - with an industrial past, and most of that industry moving out, the land, albeit polluted, could be urban design done right. A move towards development that doesn't tie us to the automobile.

When I got to my shopping destination at Lakeshore and Leslie, I had a hell of a time finding an entrance to the store I wanted to go to without going through the giant parking lot. The facade facing the sidewalk was truly that - only a facade, and pedestrians could not enter that way. Sections of sidewalk were disjointed, and I had to lift my bike over landscaping while trying to find bike parking and the door. There was no shortage of bike parking, but of course it appeared in random islands - nowhere near store doors. Exiting the parking lot, I was forced out onto the busy arterial Lakeshore, where I wanted to turn left onto Leslie about 4 lanes over. Which I did of course because I didn't want to feel the space had been taken over by the exclusive use of the automobile. I'm sure all the drivers wondered who the crazy helmetless cyclist on the little milkcrated bike was splitting the left turn lane with them. (yeah too impatient to get into the big long queue).

Should this lane be a welcome addition anyway? Its a short 1.1 km stretch (between Logan and Leslie) On the plus side, it shifts space and reallocates it to bicycles. The few bicycles that are usually in this stretch ride on the sidewalk, and this will encourage them to ride on the road. (Despite my refusal to step aside for a bicycle on the sidewalk when I stroll to the grocery store, few people walk here either) It makes a great neighbourhood connection for Leslieville residents trying to get to the Lakeshore Path or Leslie Street Spit.

On the negative side, do I dare now turn left onto my residential side street blocking the only lane of traffic on this fast moving arterial? While most streets are getting dedicated left turn lanes, mine is not, and so will traffic pass a car waiting to turn left using the bike lane?

The setup is also typical of new bike lane installs in the city. Take one four lane road. Reduce it to two lanes, remove one side of the street of parking, stick the bike lane in the door zone on the other side. Parked cars that once could not park on the street during rush hour now have no set time to ever move the car. In the winter, this means snow cannot be effectively cleared from the road. The only clear patch is a narrow car width lane in the centre. Yes I will take any space I need to, but four mostly clear lanes makes for much less rage against a cyclist.

What do you think? Will you use the new Eastern bike lanes?