[URBAN NOTE] "Five Things You Need to Know about the Bloor Bike Lanes"

[rfmcdonald]

At Torontoist, Jacob Lorinc blogs about the apparently controversial Bloor Street West bike lanes.

There’s a development in the seemingly endless battle for bike lanes on Bloor Street, and it comes in the form of a City Council vote next month. If approved, temporary bike lanes will dawn the Annex-Bloor region, running between Shaw Street and Avenue Road this summer.

The project, however, is no more than a pilot—as mayor John Tory has strongly emphasized as a condition of his support—and is aimed at evaluating the impacts of cycling infrastructure along the downtown thoroughfare. As such, the pilot project is subject to removal if the lanes are deemed detrimental to the flow of traffic.

[. . .]

1. The pilot project does not have the committee’s approval.

Members of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee met on April 25 to vote on the proposed pilot project. The project was supported by Councillor Anthony Perruzza (Ward 8, York West) and Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon (Ward 32, Beaches-East York), but rejected by commiteee chair Jaye Robinson (Ward 25, Don Valley West) and Councillor Stephen Holyday (Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre). Due to the split decision, the proposal will head to Council without the approval of the committee.

2. The pilot project does, however, have the approval of others.

Despite the stalemate, some of the city’s loudest proponents of the issue lie outside of the committee. Councillors Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) and Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), whose wards fall within large stretches of the proposed pilot, have previously joined forces to promote the bike lanes, and recently hosted a public rally prior to the committee vote. Mayor John Tory has also given his support for the pilot project—“pilot project, underlined twice, it’s a pilot project,” he emphasizes—so long as the project is studied “carefully from every single standpoint.” Beyond the legislators, 96 per cent of cyclists and 85 per cent of pedestrians have voiced support for the bike lanes, while 46 per cent of motorists think the project is a good idea.