Sit-in staves off bike lane removal
The Jarvis bike lanes were granted a one-day reprieve Monday after half a dozen protestors staged a sit-in.
Frustrated, the removal crew packed it in for the day after clearing less than 200 metres of road. The workers plan to return at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
To that, activist Wayne Scott said: “We’ll be back here at 9 a.m. then.”
Reporters were on site at Isabella and Jarvis Sts. Monday to document the end of a three-year saga.
The cleaning truck fired up its scrubbing brushes around 1 p.m. and then inched down the major thoroughfare, while bike riders looked on with disdain.
“I take this every day, and I’ll just drive in the car lane when the bike lanes are out,” said unhappy cyclist Tom Ferris, 40.
The crew was less than a block into the job when 33-year-old Steve Fisher plunked down cross-legged in the truck’s path just north of Wellesley St. E.
“I know you’re doing your job, but I’m not going to move,” said Fisher, a freelance arts and culture writer who said he was hit twice by cars before the lanes were installed.
The crew pulled ahead to the south side of the intersection, hoping to start again but researcher Michael Polanyi was waiting.
“I think there’s widespread concern that this is happening,” he said, sitting in front of the truck. “There was no public consultation. People need to stand up for safety.”
This time the truck went all the way to College St. — at which point a man calling himself “Rob Ford” lay down on his back across the line.
“I don’t even own a bike. I just think this is wrong,” he said.
At this point, a paid duty officer spotted the commotion and alerted his division. By the time three officers arrived, two other people had joined the sit-in.
Sgt. Mike Hayles calmly listened to their message, but warned that if they refused to get out of the street, police would have to hand out tickets. If the disturbance continued, officers might have to forcibly remove them.
It never got to that point. By 2:45 p.m., the crew left.
If the protesters return Tuesday, “the city will rely on the police to manage that,” said city spokesman Bruce Hawkins, adding the work can’t be done at night as the scrubbing violates noise restrictions. The incident comes at the end of a long and costly road. Two years ago, the city removed the fifth, reversible lane of car traffic and installed the north-south bike routes at a cost of $59,000. Council reversed that decision last year, against the wishes of local councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam. The cost to put the extra lane back is around $300,000. During the demonstration, WongTam tweeted: “I salute those who continue to fight for the Jarvis bike lanes. Reversible fifth lane is not welcomed back on Jarvis Street.”