vic.gedris.org - Cycling Advocacy

Ride a bike and be :)

vic — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:00:00 +0000

October 16, 2010. Somewhere along 16th St. near Folsom St. in San Francisco, on a fence with a bunch of other signs that appeared to be hand-painted by kids. I can agree with this. Riding a bike makes me happy too.

Still alone in your car

vic — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Looking into the window of the Toronto Free Gallery (currently the "Change" exhibit) during the New Bloor Festival on Saturday.

Cyclists Dismount

vic — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:19:14 +0000

Back in January I noticed that these "Cyclists Dismount" signs were added along the Bloor St. sidewalk by the railway underpasses between Lansdowne Ave. and Dundas St. West.

I don't necessarily have a problem with telling cyclists to dismount while riding on sidewalks. After all, sidewalks are meant for pedestrians, and I have personally had some close encounters with sidewalk cyclists along here. It's especially dangerous to pedestrians stepping out from the Bloor GO train station.

However, these signs may be an indication of a bigger issue. Many cyclists hit the sidewalk when riding through these underpasses because they fear for their safety on the road. I often see cyclists ride on the roads along Bloor St., only to hop up on the curb when they reach the underpasses.

I can understand why cyclists might want to do that.

From the Don Valley to Central Parkway in Mississauga, this is definitely the worst part of Bloor St., for many reasons (Ok, Six Points stinks too). But for cyclists in particular, the problems are:

Between Dundas and Lansdowne, Bloor St. opens up into four lanes of fast-moving traffic. The only bit of traffic calming is the traffic light at Symington Ave.
The pavement is awful.
Motorists seem to speed through here in a race to arrive first at the next pinch point in the road.
When you're down in the underpasses, there's no chance to "escape" to a sidewalk in an emergency.
It can be difficult and dangerous to make a proper vehicular left turn off of Bloor St.

It's no wonder that cyclists take to the sidewalks here. But instead of hanging up some signs to address the symptoms, maybe something can be done to address the actual problems of the dangerous and scary roadway?

Cross-posted to I Bike T.O.. I have also been doing alot of work on the South Junction Triangle Residents Association website recently.

Kensington Market Pedestrian Sunday

vic — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 18:27:48 +0000

Kensington Market's Pedestrian Sundays (note: website rarely seems to work for me) are an event where several streets in Toronto's Kensington Market are opened up to pedestrians. Automobile traffic is blocked off, and people are free to roam the streets. Not only is it a chance for people to enjoy all the extra space without the (slowly) moving and parked cars, but it's an opportunity do other fun stuff in the streets: play music, skateboard, dance, and even something as wild as walking down the middle of the street.

I forgot about this week's PS Kensington event. I just happened to stumble across it after shopping at the Urbane Cyclist and going for some pho on Spadina Ave. I was glad I found it, as I had never been to a PS Kensington event before.

As I wandered through the market, I stopped to watch a punk band play some "oldies" for a while, followed by an electric sitar and didjeridoo duo that really rocked. I watched kids skateboaring. People were learning to tango in the street. Cargo was being moved through the market on bicycles and carts. Kids were running around playing. Stilt-walkers towered above us.

Another interesting feature was the More Parks, Less Parking! petition. Basically, this was a car that was completely painted white, where people could sign their names asking for more appropriate use of public space. The car / petition was delivered to City Hall on Monday.

I had a great time there. Bumped into a few people I knew, and spent way more time downtown than I had originally planned. I'll have to rmember to check out more of these events in the future.

I had my camera with me, so of course I took a ton of photos.

Six Points Interchange Reconfiguration

vic — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 17:05:55 +0000

This week I went to the second public meeting about the Six Points Reconfiguration, which is basically a complete redesign of the Bloor - Dundas - Kipling intersection in Etobicoke (west Toronto). The purpose of this reconfiguration is to make better use of land that is swallowed up by this highway-style interchange (new civic, residential and commercial development), and better pedestrian and cyclist access to the area. Click the photo for some map displays that I photographed. Here's the Google Map of the area.

There's a ton of information about this project on the City's website, but I just wanted to share some of the things I learned at the meeting, and comments that people made. Note: I don't necessarily agree with many of the comments and concerns, but I'm quite pleased at the turnout (probably over 100 people) and the enthusiasm of the attendees.

Several options had been discussed, but the planners are currently favouring the "Fully at-Grade Dundas St. Loop" solution, which would eliminate all bridges, introduce more traffic lights, and re-route Dundas St. with a south-east loop. The rest of the commentary in this article will deal with this proposed solution.

Here's what I like about it:

Pedestrian-friendly
No longer a high-speed highway-style interchange.
Much better east-west bike access, particularly along Bloor St. They are even talking about putting in bike lanes, and the Dundas St. loop will have a wide curb lane. Several times they mentioned this was part of the city's Bike Plan (I didn't think the Bike Plan actually included any of Bloor, but I could be wrong).
Better pedestrian and cycling access to Kipling Station.
Seems to make good use of the land to open up for development.
Should eliminate some of the blind spots that the current bridges and turns cause.
I'm looking forward to the new "downtown" style area that will happen here (that's quite a few years away...)

Some potential problems:

More traffic congestion due to all the traffic lights and intersections.
Traffic spillover into neighbouring streets.
More cars idling?
Potentially slower bus access, particularly Mississauga transit going to Islington Station
Probably create some traffic hell during the two years of construction

Here are some of the topics that were brought up during the Q&A session at the end of the meeting:

Will this cause more traffic from Dundas St. to spill over onto Bloor (residential, west of Kipling)?
A resident from the south-east section of the study area wondered what kind of land use the city will keep for itself. And if they don't know yet, why are they so ready to sell it off? Current thinking is to use the land for some city services such as parks, a community centre, possibly school board use. The city does not need all parcels of land here, maybe only two.
Dundas St. will have four new sets of traffic lights, while there are zero now. This will significantly slow down traffic flow.
Will they publicly publish the survey results?
How will they manage all the TTC and Mississauga Transit bus service through this area? TTC is currently studying it, and they plan to maintain good connections to Kipling station.
An 80 year-old resident wants to keep it the way it is. He has no trouble walking, cycling or driving through there the way it is now.
How to handle Dundas St. traffic during construction? Enforce Dundas HOV lanes, use different routing, better use of highway 427, etc.
Are there any plans for the area north of Bloor to Burhamthorpe? Will traffic get worse? They say they are hoping to decrease traffic.
Regarding traffic disruption, someone commented that they need to try to create a community here, not a highway interchange (what it is now). There was much applause from around the audience.
A local condo resident had two concerns: 1) Density at the Tridel complex (there's a 20 storey 60m height limit), and 2) How will they provide recreational facilities for all this increased density? (creating parks, public facilities and lands, possibly a school)
Are there any plans for Beamish Ave.? It will continue to connect Bloor and Dundas, right-turn only at Dundas, not totally planned yet.
A resident from Kipling and Bloor, and member of the ratepayers assoc. was concerned that a big planned community here might end up a disaster like Jamestown or Jane and Finch.
What about air quality? Expected to stay about the same. The increased idling and accelerating is expected to be offset by more cycling, walking, and transit.
How long will it take? About 2-3 years once it gets approved and started.
A resident of the north-west part of the study area commented: This is an opportunity to be creative. Need to plan for all the new families. Concerned that it might just end up being more condos and industry/commercial.
A TTC user who has "no sympathy for drivers" was concerned that traffic will increase on the side streets. Tyrone Ganzi (sp?) responded saying that they plan to make intersections as efficient as possible to keep cars out of the side streets.
Someone asked about the bike lanes on Bloor: Will they just be painted lines, or will there be any curbs, medians, or other physical barriers? Staff said they will just be painted lines, as other bike lanes are. Again, mentioned that this is part of the Bike Plan.
A woman who favoured the at-grade solution said, "think 10-15 years ahead!"
Someone asked how big the divided land parcels would be. Are they actually big enough for anything useful? One of the designers responded that they vary in size, but pointed out that some of the parcels are over 150m per side, etc.
The last person to comment was very happy with the proposed at-grade solution.She likes the idea of more walkability, and that it is a very progressive idea that fits in with the city's Pedestrian Charter. She said "we want mixed land use!" and commented that currently the area "has a long history of being very car oriented."

Bikin' the 'Burbs and Cyclist Memorial

vic — Tue, 02 May 2006 01:58:07 +0000

I covered quite a long distance on my bike on Thursday, especially for a regular weekday. Almost 70km. My usual commute to work was followed by a ride out to the depths of North York for a memorial for a 16 year-old cyclist named Bianca Gogel who was killed by a truck last week. Although the main destination for all this riding was to attend a sad memorial, I wanted to make the best of this nice riding weather and enjoy myself.

The pictures tell more of the story.

Burnhamthorpe Credit River Bridge

vic — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 03:23:26 +0000

On the morning of Wednesday March 29 2006, 46 year-old Andrzej Sacawa was riding his bicycle westbound on Burnhamthorpe Road over the Credit River bridge in Mississauga. His handlebars struck the railing, causing him to fall off his bicycle and over the railing to the river below. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

This story struck a nerve with me for several reasons. The first time I rode my bike out there, I noticed the very low railing and thought to myself, "This is dangerous! How can this be part of the Burnhamthorpe Trail system?" Yes, this bridge with a railing that is only 38 inches high is part of a cycling route. The other reason why I was bothered with this incident is that the city of Mississauga seemed to put the blame on Mr. Sacawa for riding his bike on the sidewalk!

I rode along the Burnhamthorpe Trail to the Credit River Bridge to survey the scene. In my opinion, the "trail" provides cyclists a false sense of security by separating them from traffic, while funneling them onto sidewalks and over bridges with low guardrails.

Please click here to see my photos and read my commentary about this trail and bridge.

Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists (ARC) has followed up on the incident by holding a memorial, calling for a formal coroner's inquest, and demanding an apology from the city of Mississauga for creating a dangerous situation and blaming the cyclist for his own death.

Bike Parking at Islington Station

vic — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 01:02:03 +0000

I took a few pictures of the bike parking mess at the Islington Subway Station tonight. The sight of a bike rack completely destroyed by a car prompted me to go home and get my camera. Glad it wasn't my bike, but this sort of thing really ticks me off. I wrote up more commentary about the sad situation of bike parking and being a pedestrian around Islington Station over here.

Candlelight Memorial for cyclist Ryan Carriere

vic — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 02:14:46 +0000

Ryan was riding his bike at the corner of Queen Street West and Gladstone Ave. on October 31st 2005 when he was run over and killed by a large truck. He was on his way home to spend Halloween with his family, but didn't make it.
Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists (ARC) organized a memorial ride from Nathan Phillips Square to the collision site, followed by a candle-light vigil. Over 100 cyclists rode down Queen St. together, and we met up with probably 100 more of Ryan's friends, family, neighbours, etc. It was an amazing response, one that I never expected. The whole thing was very emotional, but I can't describe what it was like to be there. I just hope we don't have to do this again anytime.
I feel that cycling is generally a very safe activity, and the benefits definitly outweigh the drawbacks, but we need to be reminded that it can be dangerous. Collisions, injuries, and deaths are all avoidable.
I hope that memorials like this can raise awareness of cycling issues, and hopefully help make cycling a safer activity for all of us. Cyclists and motorists need to be better educated, roads need to be safer, cycling facilities should be designed or improved when appropriate, and of course we need to make people more aware that there are cyclists out there so be careful! The issue of truck sideguards has been brought up again too, and I hope something can be done about that.
I took pictures and posted them over here along with some links to media coverage.