Bloor-Danforth bikeway
By Mark Ostler
After years of the cycling community calling for a crosstown bike lane on Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue, Toronto is taking a step in that direction. Last week the city issued a request for proposals to conduct an environmental
assessment of just such a bikeway.

“I think we all agree that it’s a really important street for cycling,” said cycling infrastructure and programs manager aniel Egan. “It just faces a lot of challenges to make changes that are significant enough to make it a great
cycling street.”

Some of the alternatives that could be considered in the EA include installing physically separated bike lanes, buffered bike lanes, standard bike lanes, a designated and marked bike route where cyclists will share the space with
other vehicles, or maintaining the status quo.

“The goal of this study is to develop an innovative design and implementation plan for constructing a continuous bikeway along the full length of the Bloor-Danforth corridor,” the RFP states.

However, Toronto Cyclists Union spokesperson Yvonne Bambrick expressed mixed feelings about the upcoming EA. She told NRU that she is happy the city is moving forward on “a really comprehensive look at this, even more so than has been done in the past,” but added that there have been numerous studies that already point to Bloor-Danforth as an ideal location for a bikeway.

“We’ve been at this for a long time and it’s very disappointing to think that we’re still having these conversations. We already know that it’s a good spot to do it,” Bambrick said. “The studies have already shown that and here we are with another study. Hopefully this will be the be-all and end-all of studies that really makes it clear and we move on and get it done.”

The document goes on to note that any bikeway that results from the EA may include different forms of lanes or designated routes along different stretches of the Bloor-Danforth corridor, but stresses that “the bikeway must be
continuous through the primary study area.” One reason that different forms of bike routes might be necessary is because the width of the road varies, from 12 metres at its narrowest to 16.5 metres at the widest point.

The 24-kilometre corridor runs through three community council areas, 14-different wards and 16-separate business improvement areas. As such, the city wants the EA to include a minimum of 10-public information centres, 10
meetings with individual interest groups, ratepayers and property owners, five meetings with affected agencies, three meetings with the city’s Cycling Advisory Committee and Pedestrian Committee and three meetings with cycling advocacy groups.

Egan noted that there are many interests that need to be balanced. "It’s a question of looking at how best to improve conditions for cyclists. How best do we make this a significant corridor for cycling while at the same time recognizing all the other important functions that the street serves?”

Bambrick brought up the low-rise nature of the sections of the Bloor-Danforth corridor that sit outside the downtown core, stating that a continuous bikeway would be another step towards greater density.

“If we’re looking in the long run at densification in that corridor in the next 10 to 20 years, having bike infrastructure in place is going to be really important,” Bambrick said.

“There’s not a lot more room for cars, but if we establish it as a safe and meaningful cycling connection to the core, I think that’s going to be as much a sales feature as the subway.”

The EA is expected to be complete sometime next year, as no public consultation will take place between approximately July and November due to the municipal election. That time will be used to conduct background work and
research.