Bike lane battle

A battle over installing a new bike lane on Annette Street in the city’s west end illustrates why Toronto’s ambitious cycling plan has proceeded at such a painfully slow pace. The plan to take out a lane of traffic and add dedicated bike lanes pitted cyclists against merchants yesterday.

The original proposal had a bike lane running from Jane Street east to Dupont and Lansdowne, but after community complaints, city staff came up with an alternative: between Jane and Runnymede – the main commercial strip – cyclists would be detoured one block north to St. John’s Road to avoid interfering with parking.

But after further consultations, the city is still considering installing bike lanes along the original Annette Street proposal in the fall.

“If we prioritize parking over bike lanes, we will never be a green city,” cycling advocate Helen Armstrong told the committee. “A small minority of people are managing to veto the bike lane plan.”

Under the city’s bike plan, adopted in 2001, more than 1,000 kilometres of bike lanes and paths are to be built over 10 years. Currently, the city has only 380 km of bike lanes, shared roadways and off-road paths. This year, 50 km are planned, plus 70 km next year.

Local merchants argue that bike lanes would hurt small businesses and increase dangers by forcing delivery trucks to use side streets. Cycling advocates argue that reducing traffic will result in more pedestrians and cyclists actually stopping to buy.

Councillor Adrian Heaps, who chairs the cycling committee, conceded there’s often neighbourhood resistance to bike lanes. “The Business Improvement Associations have to have some faith that we make decisions in their best interest,” he said.

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