Ward 30 Bikes Spring 2017 Newsletter

Our spring newsletter is out.  Contact us if you would like to get on the email list. Enjoy! ****

Ward 30 Bikes Spring 2017 News  The Ward30 Bikes Newsletter is back! We've been super busy, but the much loved newsletter is here! Join our next meeting  Tuesday, June 13. 7:00 - 9:00 pm Ralph Thornton Centre (765 Queen St. E.) Join us at the Ralph Thornton Centre to find out more about bike projects and events in your community, and how you can contribute. See you there! Danforth Loves Bikes Campaign Update Door to Door Canvassing Has Begun! The Danforth Loves Bikes Campaign is in full swing!  In April last year the volunteers of the campaign hosted an amazing Bikes Mean Business Event.   Volunteers also canvassed local businesses, and supporters for Danforth Bike Lanes put stickers up in their windows - you can check out the full map here - please shop and give a thanks to our amazing business supporters!  In June Council approved the 10 year bike plan which included the recommendation to study bike lanes on Danforth in the third quarter of 2017! Big thanks to Councillor Mary Margaret McMahon who with our other east end councillors championed this. In September Open Streets came to the Danforth for the first time ever so we put together a pop-up bike lane - right here on the Danforth! Awesome right? Then in October Cycle Toronto did their big Bloor Danforth Fundraiser and safety awareness ride which was a huge success! And now in Spring... the momentum continues as we just kicked off door to door canvassing. Interested in helping out with canvassing?  Contact us asap! We'd love your help! Bike Month is on! Now - June 30th Bike to Work Day was on Monday.  People from all corners of the city rode into City Hall to officially kick off Bike Month. For the 2nd year in a row the Mayor rode in to join the festivities. Here's a pic of some east side people heading to city hall with our Councillor Paula Fletcher. It's also Bike to School Week! Today students and teachers from 6 schools gathered for a press conference at Bloor and Christie urging the city to make the Bloor Bike Lanes permanent - the next generation of Toronto wants safer streets! We thank them for their civic action! For full Bike Month listings, check out the event page there is so much cool stuff every day! Withrow Farmers Market - Opening Day  Saturday, June 3. 10:30am  Bring your bike to the Withrow Park Farmers' Market this weekend and get a FREE safety check/tune-up from our volunteers.  Cycling maps and Danforth campaign materials will be available. You can also ask us about Bells on Danforth! And ... new this year, as the market coincides with the councillors compost day, our volunteers will be offering a FREE compost delivery service by bike! Bells on Danforth Saturday, June 24. 10:30am  The pedal powered parade to celebrate cycling is back! The 2017 edition of Bells on Danforth is set for Saturday, June 24. More details will be posted on the ride page as we get closer to the big day. Also follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.   Other upcoming events Riverside Eats n Beats - June 3rd & 4th We couldn't make it this year to help out, but it's on and better than ever! Plus our good friends at Switchback Cyclery are doing their thing for a bike themed block party Saturday June 3rd 1pm onwards.  Full event list here Leslieville Tree Festival - June 17th Back again! 12pm - 4pm we'll be there! East York Canada Day Parade - July 1st Ward 29 Bikes is organizing a bike parade as part of the annual East York Canada Day Parade: //www.eycdc.ca/.

New Bike Infrastructure Lately

I think we can safely say, Toronto is in the midst of a new era for bike improvements.  Wait, wait, before you start crying foul (yes, yes, we have a LONG way to go), let's stop and think about all the good that has come over the last few months.  Bloor, Simcoe, Bayview, and the Viaduct.  In the midst of being frustrated about the slow pace of change in Toronto, take a moment to think about some recent successes.

Bloor
The new pilot project protected bike lanes along Bloor sure did cause quite the media hoopla in August. Never has road works been so heavily reported!




















September there was the Bells on Bloor victory celebration lap, and Ward 30 Bikes co-hosted with Scarborough Cycles a feeder ride from Logan / Danforth to meet up with the main ride - great turnout in the east end:

Danforth & Logan feeder ride

Bells turnout was huge!

Councillor Layton speaks at Bells on Bloor, photo: Cycle Toronto

Bells on Bloor Photo: Toronto Observer

And then in early October we learned that a new Forum poll shows that 70% of respondents approve of bike lanes in Toronto!


But since then, quite a few other improvements have been installed to much quieter media reaction. Here's a rundown of what's happened lately:

Simcoe upgrade
Last year Councillor Cressy put forward a motion to separate the rest of Simcoe Street bike lane.  For those familiar, what was there before was mostly separated lane (with planters!) from Richmond St to Wellington.

The better parts of Simcoe

After that... the bike lane down to the waterfront trail was left to your faith in the magic repellent powers of painted lines.

Before: Simcoe Bike lanes - the painted lines, they do nothing!

Well, in October, we got better separation:  bollards.  Not the best, but better than before (note: can't find a good after photo)

Upgrade in process.  After the buffer, bollards were installed

And on a personal note, I biked my son to the 2nd last Jays game of the post season and was super thankful that coming up from the waterfront trail I had those plastic sticks to keep vehicles (mostly) in check, what a difference it made for that section leading up to major family destinations.  It's actually kind of shocking that major destination like Rogers Centre, Steamwhistle Brewery and Train Museum, Ripleys Aquarium and the CN Tower didn't have a safe way to get there by bike.  From now on, Waterfront Trail to Simcoe Bollards and I'm there!


Bayview near Brickworks

The media picked up on this one, and called it a game changer.  Given that the connection is only from Pottery Road to Rosedale Valley Road, and doesn't go all the way south to the Corktown Common trails down there, or north towards Moore and the paths in the Mt Pleasant Cemetery, i'm going to say calling it a game changer is bold. Or it's just click bait.  Also... a metal guard rail?  That a'int no game changer.  Ya! Way to reinforce that feeling of riding beside a highway!

I will concede however, it's a game changer specifically for getting to the Evergreen Brickworks. Because if you've ever done it from Ward 30 with kids in the past.... your heart palpitations may still not have stopped.  Ride down Pottery, then a poorly paved Shoulder-Of-Death and a blind corner right before the Brickworks.... ya...   So then you probably did what we did, crossed the viaduct went on an extended detour through Rosedale and picked up the Milkman's path.  Which is fine and dandy until you need to get out of the valley and your kids can't push their bikes up the rough wooded trail let alone bike it (and your dutch cargo bike can't make it out either - to much pretty nature!)  So you try one more time by going deeper through Rosedale, find the switchback ramp over the tracks at Summerhill and make your way up to Moore and try to get to Brickworks from the north via the Beltline trail.  Only to find not only do you have the same rough wooded trail problem on your way home, but by now your young kids have biked 5km out of their way just to find a safe way into Brickworks.

So, yes... for us folks in Ward 30 trying to safely get to Brickworks, this is indeed a game changer.  The most direct route now has significant safety improvements.

October view of Bayview bike paths across from Brickworks, note the bike traffic signals too! Photo: @Sean_YYZ Twitter

And the new pottery road multi use bridge is a HUGE improvement as well.

But I need to have another go at the guard rail protection of Bayview bike paths:

Not good enough! I feel that living in Toronto I am condition to cheer for whatever we can get.  Our love affair with plastic flexi-post bollards are not going to win any best practice awards in Denmark or the Netherlands.  So a metal guard rail is better, yes... but, we can do so much better!!

Grass buffers perhaps?  This is the Don Valley, there is space.

Netherlands - family friendly bike heaven

The Viaduct
Well this was a surprise to I think almost everyone.  Protection for the viaduct was approved YEARS ago, but we've been forever told that the membrane of the Viaduct cannot be drilled into, so protection couldn't happen.  And then city staff quietly went x-rayed the bridge and figured it out. Install happened over one weekend, with a giant crew of TWO workers and ONE hand drill.  And ta-da, protected-ish.

My safety assessment:  I won't let my 6 year old ride on this, but when I ride I have less fear of orphaning my 2 kids.   Let us know in the comments how you feel about the width of the bike lane for passing etc.,


Still under construction and finishing asap:  upgrades to Gerrard bike lane between Sherbourne and Ryerson (spoiler... protection with trees!) and Peter Street.  Stay tuned, we'll report back soon.

Draft 10 year Bike Plan: Another Round of Feedback for City Staff

Over the weekend City Staff from the Cycling Unit gave up a solid block of hours to meet with representatives from Cycle Toronto Ward Groups to talk about their latest draft map for the city.  Thanks to those who joined us on Friday night to brainstorm ideas

There we are at a table covered in maps. pic: CycleToronto

Are we still talking about a DRAFT map?  ya, we are.  Its a long process, but we can report back that it is careful and with thoughtful planning.  With a limited budget to spend each year, city wide projects need to be ranked to decide what happens when.  So we don't always get what we want when we want it, but know that other parts of the city are being worked on.  

Want more sooner?  Demand a bigger budget! Submit your comments to Public Works Infrastructure Committee - NOW.  The cycling budget will be discussed at the next meeting February 29th. Do it!

Back to the map, some interesting things:

- Eastern Ave over the DVP has something planned.  Sorry to say we didn't get many details about what they want to do there, but there was a spark of excitement in their eyes.  However, this one is a 'few years' away.

- Danforth, Danforth, Danforth! (sign the pledge if you haven't yet!). It's in the draft, it's been in every draft.  And for our Ward, I'd say this is *the* project they want to focus on. ya!

Want to hear more?  come to our next meeting to find out:

Tuesday March 1st 7pm

Ralph Thorton Centre

765 Queen St. East

Jane's Walk about Complete Streets Brings Lots of Community Interest

Did you make it out to a Jane's Walk this past weekend?  Several Ward30bikes members were out at the Complete Streets Jane's Walk on Saturday:

Pape Station, start of walk

I think the topic of complete streets really resonates with the community as the turnout was great.  The walk included many stops as we went from Pape Station down to Logan and Queen.  At each stop the leader asked several participants read out prepared notecards detailing the desires of various users of streets (BIAs, cyclists, pedestrians, cafe owners, EMS workers etc,) so as a group we could reflect on all the competing desires of users.

What was lovely to see was the amount of cyclists out, and the amount of cycling related questions posed to the walk leader.

3rd stop: Withrow Park Strathcona Contraflow bike lane / bike trail through the park.

A question was even raised about how to get better coordination amongst the city departments so  bike lanes don't get closed down to be used as temporary parking, under a film permit.     There were a few shout outs to the City of Toronto's latest bike survey (do it!), and encouraging people to join Cycle Toronto. Although I think if this gets offered next year, we as Ward30bikes should ask the leader to mention our local group.  Joining the city wide cycle advocacy is step 1, finding your local advocacy group that's working locally is step 2 (that, and we're a pretty fun bunch of people!)

Cyclists out for the Jane's Walk

Logan is an interesting street.  The leader talked about how it's an unofficial slow street.  We've got our ideas too that we are advocating to be put into the new City of Toronto Bike Plan.  I live in this neighbourhood, I would say Logan is also an unofficial cycling contraflow street based on the amount of cyclists you see going the wrong way down the street.  That's just how unappealing cycling down Carlaw can be.  

Also, the Riverdale Traffic Calming initiative got some air time on the walk.  Stay tuned for our proposals to make it even better.

So I'd say this was an excellent Jane's Walk for the community, one that I really hope gets run next year too.

Riverdale Park East Revitalization - Ward30bikes was there

Last week a second community meeting was held wiht regarsd to improvements oplanned for the north east quadrant of Riverdale Park East (north east end of Ward 30).  On the list is a new hockey rink, pleasure skating pad, playground, zamboni storage and much needed improved access to the park.

The first community meeting was last summer in August 2014.  The second meeting was last week on February 17th.  A copy of the presentation from last week’s meeting has been posted here on Paula Fletcher's website.

And Ward30bikes was there! 

Ramp access!First excited thing to report, is that with regards to improved access the plan includes a new fully accessible switchback ramp access at Millbrook end of the park.  Anyone who has biked over for a tennis match or a swim in the pool should be happy to hear this news.  And I speak on behalf of families with strollers - it's about time!  I know plenty of parents who chose not to use the playground here because stroller access is extremely difficult.  So, if the plans get built, by 2016/2017 the switchback ramp will be in!

Covered hockey rink?
I think I raised this issue enough times at the meeting that the design team knows my sadness.  Unfortunately with budget (although they were cagey about how much is actually approved) there will be no covered ice hockey rink like Greenwood.  We were assured however that the design has been incorporated to allow a roof to be added in the future (should we hold our breath?)  Visions of CanBike lessons in the spring at this rink took a different shape in my head.  Sure there are lessons on uncovered rinks throughout the city, but having done a session at Greenwood last spring every time it rained (which was like almost every week), that covered rink was awesome!

Broadview cyclepath dreamsSecond, for better or worse the scope of this redevelopment has been tightly contained to the NE quadrant of the park and really only to the facilities mentioned above.  Desires for a multi-use bicycle path running along the top end of the park from Moncrest Ave to Jack Layton Way cannot be put into this plan.  But our dreams don't end here.  We'll keep pushing for future inclusion.  

Call to action
The time has come to have your say!  The design team has 2 options proposed and is asking for community feedback. Your feedback matters! Have a read of the presentation, and please complete their survey.

Survey closes March 3rd, 2015. Click here to fill in the online survey. (although it helps to read the presentation first)

Ward30 Planning Matters Open House - Ward30bikes was there

Last week Councillor Paula Fletcher and her office hosted a Planning Matters Open House.  The open house included representatives from the city, and local developers to speak about the on going and planned projects for our ward.  Portlands, Broaview Ave extension, Downtown relief line, the fate of the Gardiner, new condo developments - all there in one room.

It was a great community information night, and gave residents the opportunity to ask questions  and make suggestions directly to the people working on these projects.

And Ward30bike was there!  Questioning the plans, reiterating the desire for safe cycle infrastructure to the waterfront (had a great chat with the city planner about the Broadview Ave extension plans and getting access to that little Ward30 jewel Cherry Beach), bike parking along Queen St, and cycle connections across the DVP.    It was also great to see that Councilor Fletcher's office invited a familiar face from the City of Toronto cycling department.  When you get all these people in one room you can hear things like:  '...well we would want to work with the city on that bike lane connection' ' ... so you mean me?' and friendly laughter.

Aside from what we were advocating, it was nice to hear so many residents also express their desires for cycling infrastructure incorporation into these projects.  On the positive, Streetcar developments has in their plans underground weather protected bike parking for residents of their condos. Streetcar also has some ideas on their presentation board for building multi-use connections to some new (to be developed by the city) park space nestled around the DVP eastern Ave pocket (like a smaller version of Corktown Common). They had some big ideas up on their board including a new pedestrian / cycle bridge connection across the dvp parallel to Eastern Ave. The reality (and funding!!) of such an ambitious idea remains to be seen, but when they dream, they dream in fully accessible urban planning.

A note for councilor, I would encourage that funding and implementing these multi-use connections, parklands and greenery be conditional on any development permits.  As one resident that night said, it would be a tragedy for our neighbourhood if this development took shape like the "ghetto-ized" concrete Liberty Village.

Speaking of Liberty Village, overheard was a few residents expressing concern of the potential congestion on the Queen Streetcar line that could result from all the planned condo development.  Definitely a concern that Queen could become the new King Streetcar.  The city of Toronto's planning department representative confirmed that they are running traffic studies for the area, so it's a start.

Finally a note of shame on the presentation of the former Jilly's landmark.  I wish I caught a photo of the Streetcar Developments presentation board that showed Queen Street with a fully redeveloped Jilly's. The street scene showed 2 streetcars slinking down the middle of the road.  On the north side two cyclists pedaled joyously. On the south side a carefree jogger crossed the street, with their delightful golden retriever in tow.  Pedestrians lined the streets casually walking and enjoying this car free utopia.

I questioned the developer.  'Are you proposing that Queen East become car free? '  'Oh no.  Hmm, you know developers... we'll get that picture changed'.

Looks so much like this:  designing nice streets is easy when you pretend cars do not exist