The next scheduled Public Works and Infrastructure commitee meeting on Friday October 10th at 9:30am. The agenda is available. The only bike lane on this agenda is the Annette Street bike lanes.
We did have a good turn out at the last PWIC meeting, but not good enough, and not as good as when we were fighting for bike lanes on Annette the first time. We're not likely to lose Annette now. We've done so much and come so far. Let's put on that last push for the finish, let's aim for the win.
Please do your best to come on down for the PWIC meeting at 9:30am in Committee Room 1 at City Hall and make your deputation supporting the proposed bike lanes and to support more movement on the rest of the bike plan. We have to show our support at these meetings on the floor and in person.
It is shameful that we have to fight for every little 0.5km segment of bike lanes, but that's what we're going to need to do. Convenient and free parking for cars is just one of our enemies; we cannot let ourselves become divided like we did at September's CM.
I'm also sorry to say that it's not looking like we'll meet the 50km of new bike lanes, even though we seemed to have started off the year looking really great! If/when this does get approved we'll only have 37.6km of new bike lanes. There is only one more PWIC meeting this year and that's in November. I just hope that staff and the councillors can follow up on their promises.
The other "bikey" thing on the agenda is item 19.9: a Request for Report on Strategies to Address Illegal Parking in Bike Lanes and Strategies to Reduce Dooring-Related Collisions which originally came from the Education and Safety Sub-Committee of the Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee.
One of the things that they mentioned but is not being specifically brought forward to this meeting is separating the bike lanes from the rest of the motorized vehicles. this prevents the incursion to begin with, making active enforcement, (i.e: tickets, which is what is being discussed) nearly redundant. As we are talking about persistent problem areas, and a lack of any current active enforcement, we should be talking about prevention.
Comments
jnyyz
actually it's 0.7 km along Annette
Mon, 10/06/2008 - 22:47but I'll be there anyway ;) The recommendation from city staff was made on the basis of very strong public support for the bike lane along Annette. However, it is against the wishes of local business, and the local councillor. Therefore it is essential that we get as many people as possible speaking in favor. It would be especially helpful to get people from Ward 13.
AnnieD
37.6km
Mon, 10/06/2008 - 08:29Is that the number approved, or the number that have actually gone in? Shaw was approved for a contra-flow lane in the spring, but there's still no sign of it. How much time is left this year to put in lanes that have already been approved?
Darren_S
Number
Mon, 10/06/2008 - 17:12Getting confused. I knew that the 37.6km number included a lot of approved but not laid bike lanes. Is the total amount on the ground 0.7km? Thought it was around 12km.
Regardless. Where is the good Councillor Heaps leading the charge? Should he not be at least appealing to cyclists to show up to this meeting?
Kevin (not verified)
Progress
Wed, 10/08/2008 - 09:46Although approvals have come slowly as of late, and we certainly need more of them...
i consider the biggest failure of the year to be not getting approved lanes painted.
The transformation that will occur when roads like Pharmacy and Wellesley; Lower Yonge and Conlins get bike lanes will be substantial. It should really help build support and awareness of cycling.
But, some of these lanes were approved over six months ago and there's no sign of paint.
We also need to get more bike lockers.... ALOT more bike lockers; totally non-controversial and very helpful.
As a final note though, why only Annette at this meeting? Certain councillors.... who shall remain nameless were told that various bike lanes in their wards were coming to the Sept. meeting of PWIC and they never showed up; now there not there in October either......
8sml (not verified)
waiting for Shaw Street
Wed, 10/08/2008 - 21:56I've been waging a one-sided communications war with the City these past two months trying to find out when the Shaw Street bike lanes are going in (I have a good reason for asking, but I'll spare you the details). My councillor passed me to his assistant, who passed me to Dan Egan, who never replied...so I followed up a few weeks later, and he passed me on to Lukasz Pawlowski and Dave Dunn, who haven't replied after a week. I've also emailed bikeplan@toronto.ca, with no reply. You would think one of them could at least have given me an "I'm not sure yet" response. However, the cuts in the road on Shaw that appeared this week suggest that they are about to install speed bumps, so I suspect (and hope) that the lane will be painted at the same time.
jnyyz
Very bad outcome
Sat, 10/11/2008 - 09:44so no bike lanes on annette; just sharrows. All that public consultation co-opted by a backroom deal between Heaps and Saundercook.
However, if you read to the end of this article, there might be a ray of hope to get this decision reversed.
http://insidetoronto.com/article/57155
AnnieD
Re: very bad outcome
Sat, 10/11/2008 - 10:25Despite all the testosterone on the committee, there was an obvious shortage of testicles.
jnyyz
speaking of testosterone
Sat, 10/11/2008 - 11:06I knew we were doomed when Councillor Carroll was absent.
Also, Giambrone spoke in favor of sharrows as a compromise. One can only surmise that he switched his vote in favor of cyclists (i.e. against the motion to swap sharrows for bike lanes) when it was safe to do so. Glenn de Baermaker spoke out strongly in favour of bike lanes.
theo1 (not verified)
hmm..
Sat, 10/11/2008 - 11:12with property taxes on the rise so that the city balances the budget I doubt these lanes wil be installed.
maybe the city council should give themselves another raise on Christmas eve or Miller should fly off to Beijing again...(and stay there).
i really like diamond lanes so sharrows aren't that bad, better than nothing.