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Toronto Star
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Why Toronto's streets keep ending up as a battleground — and what the fight should really be about
The big number 25 % the percentage of customers that business owners believed drove to access their stores along Bloor Street, according to a 2017 study. The actual number was less than 10 per cent. Hey, did you hear the story about the group fighting a proposed change to a Toronto street? They're really worked up about it, claiming that the proposal from Toronto city hall will devastate small businesses, bring traffic to a standstill, and maybe even usher in a 'Mad Max'-style apocalypse. 'Wait, which street?' you might be wondering. And the answer is, well, a whole lot of them. I've seen so darn many of these street fights in my decade-plus covering Toronto city hall, with the civic equivalent of knock-down drag-out brawls occurring again and again. And the street fighters just keep coming. Last week, an advocacy group dubbed the Downtown Concerned Citizens Association held a press conference to state its opposition to a bike lane extension planned for the Esplanade, between Yonge and Market Streets. 'Bike lanes restrict road space,' the group declared, according to a report by the CBC. 'Bike lanes have turned streets into parking lots, with residents unable to shop, get their kids to events, and seriously impact emergency services and Wheel-Trans.' Their opposition follows a similar — and at least partly AI-aided — uproar over city hall's plans to install transit-priority lanes on Bathurst Street and Dufferin Street. And a local tiff over a bit of bike infrastructure on North York's Marlee Avenue. And the ongoing fight over keeping bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue, where even Premier Doug Ford got involved. Go back further and there are more examples. Remember the street fighters who claimed prioritizing the King streetcar would mark the end of King West? Or the 'citizen's revolt' over bike lanes on Woodbine Avenue? Or the ' Save Our St. Clair' group that sued to try to stop the construction of the streetcar right-of-way on St. Clair? Heck, you can even go back to the '90s, when opposition groups along Spadina Avenue warned that removing the angled on-street parking to make way for dedicated streetcar lanes would somehow destroy the vibrancy of the street. They really loved those angled parking spaces. The frustrating thing isn't just the sheer repetition of the street fight stories, but also that the pile of accumulated data from these same fights never seems to change anything. Because when you do look at the record, the record is clear: where these kinds of projects have been allowed to go forward, and where traffic has been given enough time to adjust to the new street layouts, the result has been basically fine. The uproar and opposition inevitably fade away. People get used to the new bike lanes or the new transit lanes. The apocalyptic warnings are forgotten about. The apocalypse never arrives. At this point, with so many fights waged — not just in Toronto, but in other cities, too — you'd think there'd be at least a handful of examples where the dire warnings proved prophetic. Where bike lanes, bus lanes and the removal of some on-street parking led directly to boarded-up storefronts and permanently gridlocked traffic. But I've struggled to find real case studies that document that kind of catastrophic failure in any city anywhere in the world. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The repeated claim that transit lanes and bus lanes will destroy businesses deserves a special call-out because it seems to be based on a perception problem. The Centre for Active Transportation, for example, found via a 2017 study that Bloor Street retailers believed that about 25 per cent of their customers arrived via car. The actual percentage? Less than 10 per cent. Part of the issue might be that merchants were about five times more likely to drive to work than their customers. They drive, so they assume their customers do too. Meanwhile, data suggests the transit priority project on King Street and the bike lanes on Bloor Street actually led to increased retail spending. Go figure. None of this should be read as a suggestion that Toronto city hall and its plans are always perfectly on point. The transportation department tends to make change harder than it has to be. On Bloor West, for example, opposition to the bike lanes was likely made more intense by the baffling decision to install the lanes without making adjustments to signal timing at intersections. And the department is generally still not fast enough at addressing clear bottlenecks that could be eased with minor tweaks. Toronto's street fighters would be better served by focusing their energy on getting city hall to address those kinds of specific issues more quickly and efficiently, rather than always trying to land a knockout blow against any kind of change. When your punches are this weak, it's probably time to stop throwing hands.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bikeway construction on The Esplanade draws community controversy
Some downtown residents say they are opposed to a bikeway on The Esplanade but the city of Toronto says more than half of respondents it consulted four years ago said they supported the project. At a news conference Wednesday, resident Sharon Danley said the city must keep the needs of all residents in mind when it comes to its bike lane plans. The news conference was organized by the Downtown Concerned Citizens Organization, which says it represents 58,000 residents in three wards. "Bike lanes restrict road space," Danley said. "Bike lanes have turned streets into parking lots, with residents unable to shop, get their kids to events, and seriously impact emergency services and Wheel-Trans." Danley said the bike lanes are also having an impact on seniors and people with disabilities, forcing those who take the bus to walk further than before and making Wheels-Trans pickup "unduly risky." Vehicles cannot park close enough to the curb to extend their ramps over the sidewalk due to the bikeway and people in wheelchairs are affected, she said. "Bike lanes prioritize able-bodied young male cyclists while ignoring seniors and the disabled who can't cycle. Yet we are supposed to be an accessible city," Danley said. Bikeway being constructed as part of road work, city says In a news release on Wednesday, the city said it awarded a contract in March 2024 to build a bikeway on The Esplanade between east of Yonge Street and Market Street as part of water main, sewer and road work. Public consultation on the project took place from October 2019 to March 2021, the city said. The consultation introduced the project to the community and helped the city to identify needs and priorities, it added. A total of 74 per cent of respondents said they agree or strongly agree that the bikeway would meet the goals of the project, which were to improve safety for everyone, make walking, cycling and taking transit more attractive and maintain access to local and citywide destinations, according to the city. The city said crews are continuing to work on The Esplanade and Mill Street Connection Project. Once completed, a two-way cycle track on The Esplanade will run from Bayview to Lower Sherbourne Street, from Lower Sherbourne Street to Lower Jarvis, and west of George Street to west of Scott Street. The city says it will then upgrade the bikeways on The Esplanade, from west of George Street to Berkeley Street, to ensure they "more seamlessly integrate with the streetscape." In a March 10 construction notice, the city said there will be road and sidewalk restrictions within the work zone but: "Access for emergency vehicles will be maintained at all times." The city said the contractor will notify residents of any temporary restrictions to their driveway access, and if a property has two entrances, one will be kept open at all times. Margaret Samuel, a resident of the ward and a lawyer, said The Esplanade between Yonge and Jarvis streets is a "vital" secondary artery in the city, but the "economic viability" of many nearby businesses, including St. Lawrence Market, is being affected by the bikeway construction. Samuel questioned whether the city can proceed with the bikeway given Ontario's Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, which came into effect in 2024, says cities need provincial government approval for new bike lanes that remove a lane of traffic. According to the city, projects with contracts awarded before the new rules kicked in can continue without restrictions. "Because this contract was awarded before the rules took effect, the City can move forward with the Esplanade-Mill Street Connection project as approved by Toronto City Council," the city said. The Esplanade connects with existing network: advocate Michael Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto, a charity that says it works to make Toronto a healthier cycling city, said he does not agree with the residents' assessment of the bikeway. "This is the kind of secondary road that in theory Bill 212 would be supporting," he said. "The Esplanade is technically classified as a collector. So again, if we can't put a bikeway on the collector, or on the Esplanade, which is beside a park that has lots of destinations, lots of apartments, lots of people who live there, I kind of question where can the city put bikeways?" he said. "When we're looking at bikes as part of a city's transportation network, you want to make sure that bike lanes are connecting to destinations," Longfield said, adding The Esplanade is an example of just that. "You do need a network of connected bikeways to make cycling a better option for more people."
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bikeway construction on The Esplanade draws community controversy
Some downtown residents say they are opposed to a bikeway on The Esplanade but the city of Toronto says more than half of respondents it consulted four years ago said they supported the project. At a news conference Wednesday, resident Sharon Danley said the city must keep the needs of all residents in mind when it comes to its bike lane plans. The news conference was organized by the Downtown Concerned Citizens Organization, which says it represents 58,000 residents in three wards. "Bike lanes restrict road space," Danley said. "Bike lanes have turned streets into parking lots, with residents unable to shop, get their kids to events, and seriously impact emergency services and Wheel-Trans." Danley said the bike lanes are also having an impact on seniors and people with disabilities, forcing those who take the bus to walk further than before and making Wheels-Trans pickup "unduly risky." Vehicles cannot park close enough to the curb to extend their ramps over the sidewalk due to the bikeway and people in wheelchairs are affected, she said. "Bike lanes prioritize able-bodied young male cyclists while ignoring seniors and the disabled who can't cycle. Yet we are supposed to be an accessible city," Danley said. Bikeway being constructed as part of road work, city says In a news release on Wednesday, the city said it awarded a contract in March 2024 to build a bikeway on The Esplanade between east of Yonge Street and Market Street as part of water main, sewer and road work. Public consultation on the project took place from October 2019 to March 2021, the city said. The consultation introduced the project to the community and helped the city to identify needs and priorities, it added. A total of 74 per cent of respondents said they agree or strongly agree that the bikeway would meet the goals of the project, which were to improve safety for everyone, make walking, cycling and taking transit more attractive and maintain access to local and citywide destinations, according to the city. The city said crews are continuing to work on The Esplanade and Mill Street Connection Project. Once completed, a two-way cycle track on The Esplanade will run from Bayview to Lower Sherbourne Street, from Lower Sherbourne Street to Lower Jarvis, and west of George Street to west of Scott Street. The city says it will then upgrade the bikeways on The Esplanade, from west of George Street to Berkeley Street, to ensure they "more seamlessly integrate with the streetscape." In a March 10 construction notice, the city said there will be road and sidewalk restrictions within the work zone but: "Access for emergency vehicles will be maintained at all times." The city said the contractor will notify residents of any temporary restrictions to their driveway access, and if a property has two entrances, one will be kept open at all times. Margaret Samuel, a resident of the ward and a lawyer, said The Esplanade between Yonge and Jarvis streets is a "vital" secondary artery in the city, but the "economic viability" of many nearby businesses, including St. Lawrence Market, is being affected by the bikeway construction. Samuel questioned whether the city can proceed with the bikeway given Ontario's Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, which came into effect in 2024, says cities need provincial government approval for new bike lanes that remove a lane of traffic. According to the city, projects with contracts awarded before the new rules kicked in can continue without restrictions. "Because this contract was awarded before the rules took effect, the City can move forward with the Esplanade-Mill Street Connection project as approved by Toronto City Council," the city said. The Esplanade connects with existing network: advocate Michael Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto, a charity that says it works to make Toronto a healthier cycling city, said he does not agree with the residents' assessment of the bikeway. "This is the kind of secondary road that in theory Bill 212 would be supporting," he said. "The Esplanade is technically classified as a collector. So again, if we can't put a bikeway on the collector, or on the Esplanade, which is beside a park that has lots of destinations, lots of apartments, lots of people who live there, I kind of question where can the city put bikeways?" he said. "When we're looking at bikes as part of a city's transportation network, you want to make sure that bike lanes are connecting to destinations," Longfield said, adding The Esplanade is an example of just that. "You do need a network of connected bikeways to make cycling a better option for more people."
