Within the past several years, the City of Toronto has tried to increase its dedication to ‘going green’ and being environmentally friendly. Part of their plans for achieving this status is to increase the number of alternate modes of transportation available to Toronto residents, such as subway lines and bike routes. Creation of bike routes, however, has become a sticky topic for individuals, businesses, and city council members in the Bloor Danforth neighbourhood. The reason for this is because of the proposed creation of 24 km of bike path in the area, which is a portion of the city’s total investment of $70 million to the Bike Network for 2009/2010. These lanes will not be limited to the downtown core, but will in fact span from east to west, paralelling the Bloor Danforth subway line. Two major critics of the plan are upcoming mayor candidates, Rocco Rossi and George Smitherman, both of which have noted that that traffic along Bloor and Danforth Ave is congested enough as it is. The addition of bike lanes will only complicate matters, and not to mention, bring about traffic safety issues. The latest update on the matter (Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/bloor-danforth-bikeway-plan-rolls-on/article1501635/) is that the City of Toronto is continuing to move forward with bike lane plans, having requested an environmental assessment of the streets in question. The city’s final decision for the paths will not be unveiled until April/May 2010, at which point both the assessment and cost will be finalized.
The reason why I decided to discuss this topic in my blog is because of its relevance to the topic of ‘the built environment and otherwise’. The subject of bike path installation is one in which I remain torn. Don’t get me wrong: I am all for creating ways of improving transportation in Toronto, encouraging physical activity through cycling, and moving forward with ‘green’ initiatives. HOWEVER, I can see the disadvantages of creating bike paths in the proposed neighbourhoods. Should I ever get the chance to present my opposition the City of Toronto council, these would be top 5 reasons against installing bike paths in these circumstances.
#1 – Traffic Congestion & Safety
As a regular commuter to the downtown core, I can say with absolute certainty that traffic will only worsen should bike paths be created. Lanes in these neighbourhoods are already tight as they are, and parked cars along the sides cut into this space. Should a bike lane be included along these streets, where will the customers of surrounding businesses parks? What about residents that live in the area? More importantly, what about bike safety? In the neighbourhood I live in, many of the cyclists do not use the available bike lanes, and swerve in and out of traffic. Rarely do they signal, and it’s a miracle if they even acknowledge you as a driver. When you start putting cyclists on the street beside vehicles that are 10 times more powerful, you automatically run into issues of safety. I would even go as far as saying it would be negligent on the part of the city to put cyclists in the path of danger like that. The way I see it is that if you’re willing to add bike lanes to busy city streets, then you might as well allow cyclists to use the shoulders on freeways. Clearly, this isn’t legal practice because it’s just too dangerous. So then why can’t city counselors see the same for this issue?
#2 – Consideration of the Downtown Structure
When we talk about the built environment, we have to be aware of the infrastructure the city already has in place, and how it will be affected by new initiatives (e.g. bike lanes). Toronto’s downtown core was built many moons ago, during the days when society frowned upon women for wearing pants. The University of Toronto, for example, was only established in 1827, indicating that creation of neighbouring homes and businesses took place much earlier. Roads were designed quite simply so that people could get around easily by foot or horse. After all, the first automobile was only sold in Germany in 1888 (by Karl Benz of Mercedes Benz). Based on this history then, one could say that the design of the Bloor Danforth line has not deviated much from when it was first created. Thus, it may not ever be feasible to have bike lines because of the way this environment has been built and structured. In suburban areas with wider streets, bike lanes may be possible; but definitely not downtown.
#3 – Weather
Someone should send a friendly reminder from Mother Nature to Mayor Miller, reminding him of her obligations to cover the city in snow from about November every year until about March. We do live in Canada, and weather interruptions are inevitable. So my question then is: why would we as a city invest $70 million on bike paths that will only (if at most) be used for 8 months out of the year? And for those of you that will rebutt saying that pedalling through 30 cm of snow is realistic - please think again. This is Canada, eh? :)
# 4 – Pollution
This point is short, simple, and builds off of point #1. With increased congestion, the number of idling cars will soar, and thus contribute to pollution. Is that not the complete opposite of what the city is trying to do by adding in bike lanes? I thought we were trying to go green, and be environmentally friendly! Just when they thought they’ve finished fixing one thing, the city has inadvertently gone and broken another.
#5 – Better Use of Funds…Bike Trails Anyone?
Instead of investing money into bike paths on busy downtown streets where inattentive cyclists are likely become the hood ornament of some car, it would be better for the community to invest in bike trails. In fact, I will give credit to the city for penciling in a 30 km trail by ‘Toronto’s hydro and rail corridors’. This will not only add to green space to the community but promote healthy living a lot better than underused bike lanes on busy city streets.
Hopefully city council will give considerations to the ‘built environment and otherwise’ before proceeding and finalizing the bike lane initiatives. It will only be a month or two before the city of Toronto will know for sure.
As an avid bicyclist, I must disagree with you. I don't live in Toronto, or even Canada (I live in Indiana) so my words may fall of on heedless ears. #1 Bicycle safety:
ReplyDeleteWhat you are saying is that bicyclists ride in car lanes and don't signal when changing lanes. I am assuming that this behavior is increased in your busy downtown area due to a lack of boundaries for cyclists. Having a bike lane would actually increase the safety of bicyclists in the downtown area due to an obvious separation of cyclists and motorists. Most cyclists, no matter the country, tend to ride in the bicycle lanes to insure their own safety. Most motorists don't use the bicycle lanes (that is, if law enforcement does its job correctly).
2. I don't feel this particular argument has relevance. I feel it would be more relevant if you wanted to keep cars from being on such an infrastructure, though such an argument would be illogical.
3. I'm not sure how your road and street maintenance is during the winter, but as you live in a location prone to snow and ice, I am assuming that snow and ice removal is nearly immediate. Also, these lanes could be painted another color than standard lane lines (ie, green or blue), allowing for another lane to be painted over the bike lane for use during the winter months.
4. The point of these bike lanes is actually to decrease the number of cars on the road. When you greatly increase the means of alternative transportation, people's needs of relying on POV's greatly decreases. The faster and more convenient it is for a person to use these alternative means of transportation rather than sitting in traffic downtown, the more people will actually use them. You are likely correct in the short term, but in the long term, having these bike lanes will cut down on such pollution.
5. Bike trails are always awesome to have so long as they are useful. When a bicyclist wants to get somewhere quickly, they will utilize the most direct route, path or no path. Therefor, the bike paths would only be useful should they provide expedient routes in high traffic routes to common locations/destinations.
Overall, my main concern is for the lack of plausible solutions found in many criticisms. Maybe a bike route placed on the sidewalk with simple post and chain barriers would work better than placing these routes on the crowded streets? Personally, I feel quite safe when riding in designated bike lanes versus sidewalks where I have crashed into oblivious pedestrians or in traffic lanes with oblivious or angry drivers.