Ward 30: Toronto-Danforth

Due to a variety of people having to honour other commitments, this month's meeting at Bike Sauce will be cancelled. We hope to see you in August!

Plans are afoot for a SoDa Bikes Tour/"Audit" around Ward 30 at the same time other ward groups are cycling around their wards. We will be discussing this and other matters at Bike Sauce (717 Queen St. E, around back) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3rd. New members very welcome! Stop by and shop for a new set of wheels as well if you are in the market... Hope to see you there!

New members welcome to our next meeting at 7 pm at "The Sauce", 717 Queen St. E., around back. Topics to be addressed are: participating in the environmental assessment of the Bloor-Danforth corridor, follow-up from the Jan. 19th inter-ward pub night and opportunities for new issues to be put on the table. Hope you can make it!

SoDa Bikes Minutes - Dec. 7th @ Bike Sauce

Present: Tom, Julie, Paul, Rob, Morag, Craig, Wendy, Charlotte, Vivien, Jamie, Anne (chair)

Paul recapped what happened at the Leslie St. Tour and provided background. Email him for his notes on the event if interested. He stated he is feeding off of suggestions about how to improve the redesign so contact him about any of your ideas on that.

- Jim reminded the group of the importance of Leslie to families travelling on the street to get down to the waterfront.

- Paul added this route is used because of the retail destinations nearby. Noted that Isaac was struck and killed on his bike there at night -- a reminder to after-dark cyclists to be as visible as possible (especially since daylight is so short now).

- One solution to the challenges of the redesign of Leslie Paul suggested was to have car lane @ 3 metres, making it narrower (above Queen), and using the extra space for a contraflow lane (two-way bike lane).

- Vivien spoke about ward advocacy mtg put on by the bike union on Nov 27th. She showed us a "tool kit" pamplet from the union that provides ideas on effective ward advocacy. Those interested in the pamplet can obtain a copy electronically from Director Andie Garcia by emailing andrea.garcia@bikeunion.to . The importance of sustained communication with councillors and/or their executive assistants was emphasized in particular.

- Point made by Vivien about political discussion at mtgs that might land City workers -- and other folks expected to be non-partisan because of their jobs -- in trouble through access to information channels.

- Agenda items for Ward 32 Spokes include Leslie St redesign & Bloor-Danforth proposed bike corridor, according to rep from group, Rob.

- Tom said nothing much will happen w Bloor-Danforth initiative until the spring, however the EA (enviro assessment) is ongoing until then and perhaps there might be a way to get involved nonetheless. Paul suggested an economic impact study could be done in an effort to justify a cyclist-friendly enhancement to this strip. Indeed, he added, non-motorists have been shown in other studies to be a boon to businesses where cyclists can get to. Perhaps we could organize, he said, to work on participating in the EA.

- Tom said BIAs of merchants along route want parking and there could be a way to keep them happy by having parking and then a bike lane on the inside area of the road near the curb -- that way cyclists are satisfied by a buffered bike lane and merchants are too with a safe lane. There is plenty of room to do this.

- Jim noted the Bloor-Danforth strip has always been a cyclist thoroughfare -- for decades.

- Tom announced 29Bikes is inviting nearby ward cycling groups to a get-together at a pub or somewhere else (Bike Sauce?) to discuss how we can build relations with BIAs among other parties. How we involve the bike union/ councillors/ each other will be other talking points. Timeframe is early in January.

- Next SoDa Bikes mtg is Tues., Jan. 4th at Bike Sauce.

At BikeSauce

Present: Vivien, Michelle, Daniel, Jim, Elsie, Renata (chair), Julie, Anne

- Michelle sent around results of survey of Ward 30 residents. This incorporated notes of bike union's Andie Garcia and TCAT's Nancy.

- Nigel, who crunched the numbers of survey with Michelle, continues to work on producing conclusions.

- Dan asked what the purpose of the survey could be. It needs to be fleshed out some more, he suggested. And, what do we want to do with it?

- Bike lanes can't be added on some streets, we learned.

- We need to have a seat at the table of the Bloor/Danforth Envir. Assessment. Other wards have to collaborate and be able to sell this as a legitimate bike route.

- General goal found in survey, Dan said, was to improve bike parking. This is fine, but we need to be more specific and say where exactly. He added the City would be happy to help us identify spots needing attention.

- Jim asked about Leslie St. and if it could have bike lanes there as well.

- Dan replied the City is limited in what it can do with the space considering the streetcar tracks. In addition, we don't have the property. Loblaws would have to come on board.

- Dan asked if we had planned to share the survey results with Paula Fletcher (assuming she gets back into office after the election). If there is a change of councillor, we should think about sharing this info with him or her.

- Michelle said we do need a bit of time to boil things down from the survey so we know what we want to push for.

- Renata said we should go the route 29 Bikes have gone by focusing on one particular goal. One glaring area is Broadview & Gerrard where parked cars make biking dicey at best. It is a sensitive issue, granted. The merchants have been there a long time.

- Elsie asked if the BIA route would be a way to go.

- Someone suggested sharrows there and Dan said the parking would wreck that move. This, Dan said, could be workshopped. We should think about taking a tour around the ward to find more spots to work on and put results on a map. We should also think about collaborating with 3 other wards: 29, 31 & 32.

- Vivien noted the divergent views of mayoral candidates on bike issues.

- Julie said www.bikeunion.to has lots of insightful info on this subject.

- Dan suggested we go after "low-hanging fruit" tasks. Michelle replied that we have a small list of things: bike parking around the Carrot Common, bike alert signs at Broadview & Gerrard, leaf/snow removal requests. Renata advised we stick to our side of the Danforth, to be careful about the boundaries of our ward. (North side of Dany is Ward 29.)

- Someone asked how to get bike parking posts and Dan replied you can do this at www.toronto.ca/cycling

- Jim predicted the snow removal would be an issue as snow typically lands in the bike lane from shovellers/plows. Dan replied there is a bylaw against this obstruction. It is tough, he said, because of staffing levels -- it is hard to enforce. Physically protecting the lane would help, someone said. Dan said we should phone 311 to report incidents of this/offenders.

- Vivien suggested we encourage our councillor to speak about this in his/her communiques to residents.

- Vivien announced CultureLink has worked with the bike union to start up a program where donations for newcomers to Canada would be put towards BIXI Toronto memberships. There is no minimum amount you can donate. See the bike union site for additional info. Tax receipts will be provided.

- Question arose about who to vote for. Michelle suggested the vote-splitting might allow Ford to get in, but how then to advise voters who want bike-friendly measures? Elsie said there was good election coverage in the latest Dandyhorse Magazine. Dan revealed he doesn't know any more about who's going to be mayor than we do. (Renata's question.) Michelle suggested we need electoral reform to include more bike-friendly voters and voters who wouldn't otherwise vote. Dan said we should think about voting for the #2 candidate for mayor, according to the polls, that it doesn't look all that bleak since Miller won it from far behind. Michelle said perhaps we should console ourselves with knowing we might have a progressive City Council.

- Michelle announced Bike Sauce will have reduced hours starting Nov. 1st -- just 2 days/ week.

Plans underway to stage our 9th meeting at Bike Sauce around the back of 717 Queen St. E. at 7 p.m. New members welcome! Lots to talk about! Coffee is available at no cost and the library is there for the browsing. Hope to see you soon.

At Bike Sauce (around back) once again, we will meet at 7 pm to discuss our upcoming meeting with Councillor Paula Fletcher. How would you like Ward 30 improved for cyclists? Have your say and hear about the latest news in the vibrant east end!

The next gathering for Ward 30 members is on May 4th at 7 p.m. at Bike Sauce, the new bike repair/resource centre, located on Queen St. E., # 717. The entrance is around the back. Using detailed maps, we will be discussing specific areas in the ward that require improvement for safe cycling. New members welcome!