Council approves expansion of bike network
Historic vote will provide former transit riders with new travel options
The city is rolling ahead with a rapid expansion of its cycling network that will see separated bike lanes installed on major thoroughfares including Bloor Street, Danforth Avenue and University Avenue by the end of July.
Councillors voted 23 to 2 in favour of the $6.5-million plan to create 25 kilometres of new cycling infrastructure at a special virtual council meeting Thursday as city hall continues to operate under COVID-19 restrictions.
Including projects council approved before the crisis hit, the vote means the city will install about 40 kilometres of bike lanes in 2020, which represents the largest single-year buildout of on-street cycling infrastructure in Toronto’s history.
The quick expansion falls under the city’s ActiveTO program, which is intended to give pedestrians and cyclists more space on the roads during the pandemic.
The bike lanes along Bloor, Danforth and University will also parallel formerly crowded TTC subway lines that are operating at reduced capacity during the crisis. The cycling routes are intended to provide residents who previously relied on transit with new travel options.
Speaking before the vote, Mayor John Tory said the expansion was a “sensible” way “to advance the cause of good health and good safety” during the pandemic.
He said that while the threat of the contagion persists there will be “an awful lot of people out there who will be looking for an alternative to transit,” and who don’t have access to a car, and it was council’s job to provide for “different forms of transportation to get people around our city in the 21st century.” Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 13, Toronto Centre) supported the bike plan, but noted cities like Paris and Montreal are pursuing more ambitious cycling expansions in response to the pandemic. She said the proposal before council was “bold for the city of Toronto,” but only because “we haven’t been bolder before.” Members voted down a motion from Stephen Holyday (Ward 2, Etobicoke Centre) to scrap the bike plan and provide drivers free parking on Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue instead.
He argued more people will take up driving than cycling during as a result of COVID-19, and extending the bike network would worsen traffic, causing drivers to “suffer enormously.”
His motion was defeated 23 to 2.
Holyday, along with Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong, were the only two members to vote against the bike plan. Both are Tory’s deputy mayors.
The one-sidedness of the decision was remarkable considering the recent history of Toronto council, which under Tory’s predecessor, the late Rob Ford, held fierce debates in which bike lane opponents equated building cycling infrastructure to a “war on the car.”
“The days of bikes vs cars are over. Rather, it’s about moving people quickly and safely,” said Coun. Joe Cressy (Ward10, Spadina-Fort York) said in a tweet after the vote.
There was some opposition to the bike lane expansion from outside city hall.
In a letter submitted to council, Valentine Lovekin and Robert S. Saunderson, chairs of the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Area, wrote that new bike lanes on Bloor would hurt retailers in the “unique, high end retail node.”
“Our section of Bloor Street is one of only two streets in Canada offering a world class shopping experience for both residents and tourists” and “retailers are suffering from the effects of the pandemic more than most,” they wrote.
“Now is not the time to be creating additional challenges.”
Dr. Gary E. Newton, president and CEO of Sinai Health, wrote in favour of the expansion, saying protected bike lanes on University will help “ensure our front-line staff, which includes doctors, nurses and other essential workers, a safer travel path to get in and out of the hospital district.”
The Bloor Street separated lanes will be extended 4.5 kilometres west from their current end point at Shaw Street, to Runnymede Road. The extension was already under study before the pandemic hit and will be built as permanent infrastructure.
The city will also install temporary separated cycling lanes on Bloor between Avenue Road and Sherbourne Street, and on University Avenue and Queen’s Park Crescent between Bloor and Adelaide Streets. Council approved a motion from Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 12, Toronto-St. Paul’s) to study extending the University Avenue lanes further north to Eglinton Avenue.
Temporary bike lanes will also be installed on Danforth Avenue between Broadview Avenue and Dawes Road as part of a broader reconfiguration of the street that will include public realm improvements.