…but while the proposed improvements could make for nicer weekend rides, they probably won’t make your commute any less harrowing.
“I’ve been nearly killed three times—I’ve almost gotten run over by a city truck.”
A freelance writer, self-described “political gadfly” and cyclist, Joey Schwartz made this declaration last night to a gathering at the Northern District Public Library (40 Orchard View Blvd.), where city staff invited public input on planned expansions and extensions to Toronto’s network of multi-use trails. His pants cuffed with reflective bands, Schwartz—who says he does about 90 per cent of his travel by bicycle—talked about the close calls he’s had while riding, mostly along Eglinton West. (For the record, his experiences were not all so terrifying—once his chain fell off from a bumpy ride.)
Schwartz’s ancedotes were illustrative of the city’s multi-use network, a series of trails that runs through river valleys, along hydro corridors and in other out-of-the-way places that let cyclists ride without cars in their slipstreams. If you’ve done much cycling in the city, you’ve probably ridden along one of the trails and maybe noticed room for improvement. The West Toronto Railpath sees a steady stream of cyclists, joggers and pedestrians, but it’s a tease of a ride that stops abruptly at Dundas and Sterling, and Daniel Egan, manager of cycling infrastructure and programs, told us about one trail that was partially underwater last year due to drainage issues.
Egan also admitted his staff have shifted their focus since Rob Ford and a new group of councillors were elected.
“In the last term of council, our priority was trying to expand the bike-lane network right across the city and that’s slowed down now with the new council,” he says. “We’re directing our energy to the new trails.”
Spread over two tables was a map of the city and its existing trails, along with planned upgrades and other projects.
Having ditched their helmets near the door, a few dozen cyclists took turns huddled around the map, using numbered stickers to rank the projects they’d like to see prioritized. Toward the end of the evening, there was a large cluster of stickers around the Don trail. Egan said some changes could connect the trail to the Gatineau Corridor, opening it up to east of the Don River and beyond. There was also talk of the West Toronto Railpath and the surrounding area, particularly the corner of Dundas and Sterling, where cyclist Jenna Morrison was killed in November. Egan says they’d like to extend that line all the way to Strachan, though things would get tricky south of Queen Street.
Standing near the map tables were Shelly Candel and Georgina Wilcock, both cyclists and members of their local Toronto Cyclists Union chapter.
Like any recreational cyclist, Candel appreciates multi-use trails, but she’s also a commuter—and she doesn’t think the trails do anything to teach drivers and cyclists to share the road.
Egan does say the trails are mostly “a suburban thing,” but he adds that staff have to “go where the momentum is”: multi-use trails and, yes, some separated lanes downtown.
And Schwartz doesn’t disagree with Candel. “I would love to have separated bike lanes all through the downtown core,” he says. “But that’s not going to happen.”
However, Candel is correct when she says these trails are more about relaxed weekend riding than getting to work downtown.
“What we need to focus on is getting the bikes together with the cars and sharing the road,” she says. “I think you need people who drive to say, ‘I don’t want to hit a cyclist…. Maybe we need bike lanes.’ Drivers have to demand this.”
