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More traffic chaos coming for Toronto - University Av bike lanes! -- Jayx1 bitches about everything
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| Jayx1 |
Is city hall on crack? Seriously. Not only are we sacrificing two whole lanes on one of Toronto's busiest thoroughfares, but in the hospital district to boot! IF ANYTHING they should be dedicating these lanes to emergency vehicles only!!
There have been a lot of foolish bike lane schemes in Toronto lately, but this is the king of them all!
Lets hope this doesnt pass but it looks like it will
Unbelievable. Thank god i dont go downtown much anymore.
PS Go Rossi Go!! The only voice of reason in all this.
| quote: | Councillors throw support behind University bike lanes
Summer-long experiment still needs council vote
Natalie Alcoba, National Post
Published: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
City councillors voted to turn over two lanes of University Avenue to bicycles yesterday, approving a summer-long experiment that cycling advocates heralded as a "tipping point" in the debate over how the city divides up its roads.
Councillors who spoke in favour of shrinking car space on University by one lane in each direction pointed to a conspicuous absence of outrage in the committee room yesterday; the only person from the public to speak against the plan was a representative from the Canadian Automobile Association.
"Where are the people in opposition to this?" asked Councillor Shelley Carroll, a member of the public works and infrastructure committee, whose decision must now be ratified by city council. "They're not here, because they know we have reached the tipping point."
Others suggested a pitch by Denzil Minnan-Wong, a suburban councillor, for a grid of separated bike lanes in the core, was also a sign of how far the bike debate has traversed.
Mr. Minnan-Wong (Don Valley East) said his suggestions mostly involve converting existing lanes or sharrows (lanes for bikes and cars) into dedicated routes that are protected from traffic. He also echoed calls by other cycling enthusiasts who say the city needs a major east-west corridor for cyclists, and suggested Richmond Street.
Since learning to bike last year, Mr. Winnan-Wong has concluded that when navigating Toronto's busy roadways on two wheels, he doesn't want to be near cars. But separating lanes on University Avenue is crazy, he said.
"I can tell you that the people I spoke to think the University plan is complete insanity," Mr. Minnan-Wong said. It's a position that mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi has also staked as his own. Yesterday, Mr. Rossi reiterated that if elected, he would remove all new bike lanes on arterial roads. "Devoting two lanes of University Avenue to bikes is sheer madness and a recipe for gridlock," said Mr. Rossi, who is calling on bike lanes on secondary roads instead.
Transportation staff, however, insist that analysis shows University can operate as three lanes, without a serious impact on traffic. During off peak hours, University would be two lanes, to accommodate for parking. The proposal that now goes before City Council is to test out lanes this summer that would be separated with flexible bollards to determine the impact on drivers, cyclists and area hospitals.
The public works committee also approved a slate of new lanes and sharrows throughout the city, including on Spadina Crescent, Bay Street, Lansdowne Avenue and York Mills Road.
(Most of Mr. Minnan-Wong's ideas were rejected by the committee, after local councillor Adam Vaughan cited various obstacles to making them work.)
Faye Lyons, a spokesperson with the South Central Ontario division of the CAA, said the CAA is not opposed to dedicated bike lanes, but not at the expense of motorists.
Councillor Gord Perks, vice-chair of the committee, called the University lanes a "showpiece" that would complement the bike share program the city is looking at launching next year. "Toronto is a biking city, and we're starting to make room," said Yvonne Bambrick, with the Toronto Cyclists Union.
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/ca...7#ixzz0lqM7QWUe |
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| Spin Laden |
| *paging Malek* :p |
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| Intangible |
Can we create a thread called 'Jay bitches about bike lanes'
This is at least the third one... :p |
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| PivotTechno |
Title should read: "More traffic chaos for automobile drivers (the majority of whom are the cause of said chaos with their selfish driving habits)"
And yeah, thank god you don't go downtown anymore.
Come to think of it, can you show me some projections on the chaos said bike lanes are going to cause? I'd like some verified information on the subject. |
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| Jayx1 |
LOL @ selfish drivers... yes those poor fools that dont live right downtown and dont wish to take an hour and a half each way to get from places like scarborough.
Have you been on University av at rush hour? Its already busy. Take away a lane on each side and you are telling me it will somehow improve?
Im not against bike lanes per se. What im against is lowering capacity in order to accomodate them!
Lets get a decent transit system going. Maybe then we can start berating those "selfish" drivers.
PS from my perspective it is bicyclist that seem to be the selfish ones. Running red lights. Wrong way on a one way street. Riding on sidewalks. At least most of us drivers obey the law! |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by PivotTechno
And yeah, thank god you don't go downtown anymore.
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its obvious you dont own a business downtown ;) |
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| PivotTechno |
Oh but I do - two, in fact.
(and I'm also pretty much a year-round cyclist) |
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| VDub |
And what's going to happen in the winter when nobody is riding their bikes (except Pivot and some couriers)???
And the reason that there's a new thread is because it's a new proposal...
I think this is the second, not third, and the first was about Jarvis... |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by PivotTechno
Oh but I do - two, in fact.
(and I'm also pretty much a year-round cyclist) |
So how can you be in favour of making it more difficult for people to get downtown if you own businesses? Especially if they are high volume businesses?
As for being a cyclist, thats great! A wonderful way to get around if you live downtown, stay downtown and dont mind it in January. But again, not at the expense of traffic capacity. Bike lanes should be an ADDITION to capacity, not a reduction to it. |
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| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by VDub
And what's going to happen in the winter when nobody is riding their bikes???
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Exactly, i dont care what anyone says. Only the most hardcore of cyclists are going to be out there on a wintry day no matter how many bike lanes we impose on ourselves.
I love when people compare us to holland or france etc.
Yeah, give them our weather and see how long theyd last on their bikes! |
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| Moral Hazard |
| It's pretty clear that what's going on here has less to do with accomodating cyclists and more to do with trying to annoy people out of their cars and onto transit. I don't care too much either way as I rarely have cause to be downtown anymore; however, I really hate when governments take the cowards approach like this. If you want to get the cars out of the core then just come right out and prohibit vehicles in the core or charge a prohibitive toll. This sort of incrimentalizm is just annoying and demonstrative of just how tenuous support for this agenda is. |
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| ÖZmözis |
It might not be a bad idea to keep some of them stupid cyclists off the middle of the road.
I almost killed a cyclist the other day, the guy didn't even stop at the stop sign just went right through. I'm sure I would have had a great time trying to explain that to the police......
Aside from the winter and causing traffic havoc, I wouldn't mind if them bikes stayed in a specific lane instead of all over the road. However, not a whole car lane.... |
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