bike lane

I finally had a chance to look at the Simcoe "cycle tracks" first hand. I saw a bike cop going up and down the street. As he passed I had a quick chat:

Me: Looks like you could spend all day on just this one street.

Bike cop¹: I do actually. I spend my whole shift here.

The paint on the Simcoe "cycle tracks" has dried but city staff are holding off on adding barriers (what makes a cycle track a cycle track) because Transportation Services believes enforcement and signage will do the job. They firmly hope that this will be enough to "stop to illegal bike lane parking once and for all" (and ignore other good reasons for barriers).

Harbord Street with parking on the right side instead of a continuous bike lane into the University of Toronto. (Photo by Tino)

The bright yellow stencil by the Urban Repair Squad resurfaces after being painted over with tar by city workers last fall.

And as for the separated bike lanes downtown, hope springs eternal:

In the many years that I have been riding a bicycle in bike lanes, I have had to share them with a lot of things. From rickshaws, to inline skaters, to joggers…oh yeah cars and trucks and those other things, all sorts of things.

Anyone who loves coffee knows about the Sam James Coffee shoppe on Harbord Street. The little Japanese cubicle that Joe Pantalone dismissed when it first opened is thriving. The line up out its door some mornings is a testament to a bustling business.

A few days ago, the Toronto Star's fixer got excited about getting the Annette St. "No Stopping" signs added next to the new bike lanes. Cyclists everywhere rejoiced, and all was good.

It seems like such a long time ago (December 17, 2008 - last year!) when the Toronto Star reported that the City is considering adding rumble strips to the Lawrence Ave. bike lanes when they are installed. My apologies for taking so long to post something on I Bike T.O. about it...

Confederation Parkway Bridge, Mississauga