Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Ok, and then what?

Cyclists can soon take a spin to lake on new Yonge St. bike lanes -- Mar 28, 2007 (The Star)
New bike lanes running along Yonge St. from Queens Quay up to Front St. will enhance access to the lake and provide another piece in the revitalization of the waterfront, says the area's city councillor.

The project calls for bike lanes on the west side of Yonge from Front to the lake, and on the east side from the Esplanade to the lake. Work on the project, which goes to city council for approval next month, could begin in summer, pending design approval, and be finished later this year.

"Having bicycles and pedestrians along this iconic street sends an important message that this is the most important street in our city, that this is a street we want everyone to enjoy,'' Councillor Pam McConnell said yesterday. "This is a city of walkers and bikers, and that's exactly what we want our waterfront to be."

Toronto is kicking in about $432,000 for curb reconstruction and markings, and developers in the area are paying about $1.2 million in street and sidewalk improvements.

Construction of the bike lanes won't significantly reduce traffic capacity, said Daniel Egan, city manager of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. Northbound Yonge will go from two lanes to one for the first 110 metres north of Queens Quay. Beyond that, curb adjustments will make room for the bike lane.

Some parking spaces near The Esplanade will be removed at a loss of about $25,000 a year in parking fees.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Getting to and from the Lake is a very important thing for Waterfront access, and it's been made worse in the last decade. While these small steps are inadequate and quite costly and we'd be better off spending the TWRC high-rents on better connections that seem to arise from nowhere and aren't part of the bike plan, it's a better to do it than not. And redoing Bloor with just paint for 8kms of bike lane would just be $200,000.

Anonymous said...

and a loss of huge parking revenue plus lots of angry shop owners and local residents and drivers and politicians and case ootes et al.

Darren said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Darren said...

Shiznaz you are propagating an urban legend. Drivers will go miles to save 20 cents at WalMart. Cyclists shop local. If you were a store owner on Bloor who would you want passing by your shop everyday?

Case Ootes is a has been. Why is everyone so worried about him?