[LINK] "Dupont Narrowed: a Cyclist and Driver's First Impression"

[rfmcdonald]

Over at blogTO, Jerrold reports on the effects of the city's changes to the street, and doesn't like them.

While I'm all for bike lanes, I'm not all for a bike lane on Annette and Dupont - at least not how they've been implemented on the stretch of Dupont & Annette between Keele and Lansdowne (I haven't yet tested the stretch on Annette between Keele and Jane to the west).

What the city has done:
- eliminated a full car lane in each direction
- added a super-wide curbside bike lane in each direction
- added some dedicated curbside car parking areas (that the bike lanes pass on the left)
- whatever road was left over sits unused in the middle, bounded by yellow strips

What the effect has been:
- increased vehicular traffic congestion at all times of the day, and well into the evening
- major increases in vehicular congestion during peak time (because what used to be a four lane road during peak times is now a two lane road during peak times).

They also didn't do much to cover up or de-emphasize the old road markings, making the road look complicated and not easily understood.