All hail our cyclist overlords! Jarvis bike lanes going in; bike racks colonize Spadina
Most days, talk of Toronto’s “war on the car” seems like so much overheated rhetoric. The vast majority of roads have no bike paths, streetcars or pedestrian scrambles; parking in downtown remains expensive but ample. If this is a war, imagine what surrender would look like. But then some days, the headlines conspire to make it seem that Toronto will soon look like 1970s Beijing, dominated by bikes, with cars rare and/or spat on. Today is one of those days.
First comes the not-unexpected news that creation of the Jarvis bike lane will start this Friday, beginning with the removal of street parking. The Toronto Sun gives us this fair and balanced report:
The bike lanes were originally not part of a $6.3-million project to make Jarvis St. more “pedestrian-friendly.” But last May, Mayor David Miller and his minions bowed to pressure from the bike lobby and decided to add the bike lanes to the plan.
Welsh said they’ll be doing the rest of the improvements in the plan during the next decade.
Yup, Sue-Ann Levy called them “minions.” Note also the immense power of the bike lobby, whose many tentacles apparently make it the most powerful octopus of last year, anyway. The facts that Jarvis was going to lose a lane of traffic no matter what happened and that the bike lanes were the least expensive option for the city is mentioned nowhere in Levy’s article.
On a less acrimonious note, props to the folks at Spacing for getting bike parking increased outside their HQ by (gasp!) converting two car parking spaces to 16 bike rack spaces. The switchover was spearheaded by publisher and street hockey defender Matthew Blackett, who got the idea on a trip to northern Europe. The temporary spaces will disappear as the weather turns and sane cyclists store their steeds for the winter.
With these victories under their belts, we’re sure to see all of Toronto’s car dealerships razed to make way for bike shops and MECs any day now.
• Jarvis lane to disappear [Toronto Sun]
• On-street parking spots converted to bicycle parking [Globe and Mail]
• City hands car parking spots over to bikes [Toronto Star]
• Bike parking takes over car parking spaces [Spacing]
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/all-hail-our-cyclist-overlords-jarvis-bike-lanes-going-in-bike-racks-colonize-spadina/&title=All hail our cyclist overlords! Jarvis bike lanes going in; bike racks colonize Spadina&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/JarvisStreet.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_32744" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Bike lanes are coming to Jarvis Street (Image: Bitpicture) "][/caption]
Most days, talk of Toronto's “war on the car” seems like so much overheated rhetoric. The vast majority of roads have no bike paths, streetcars or pedestrian scrambles; parking in downtown remains expensive but ample. If this is a war, imagine what surrender would look like. But then some days, the headlines conspire to make it seem that Toronto will soon look like 1970s Beijing, dominated by bikes, with cars rare and/or spat on. Today is one of those days.
First comes the not-unexpected news that creation of the Jarvis bike lane will start this Friday, beginning with the removal of street parking. The Toronto Sun gives us this fair and balanced report:
The bike lanes were originally not part of a $6.3-million project to make Jarvis St. more “pedestrian-friendly.” But last May, Mayor David Miller and his minions bowed to pressure from the bike lobby and decided to add the bike lanes to the plan.
Welsh said they’ll be doing the rest of the improvements in the plan during the next decade.
Yup, Sue-Ann Levy called them “minions.” Note also the immense power of the bike lobby, whose many tentacles apparently make it the most powerful octopus of last year, anyway. The facts that Jarvis was going to lose a lane of traffic no matter what happened and that the bike lanes were the least expensive option for the city is mentioned nowhere in Levy's article.
On a less acrimonious note, props to the folks at Spacing for getting bike parking increased outside their HQ by (gasp!) converting two car parking spaces to 16 bike rack spaces. The switchover was spearheaded by publisher and street hockey defender Matthew Blackett, who got the idea on a trip to northern Europe. The temporary spaces will disappear as the weather turns and sane cyclists store their steeds for the winter.
With these victories under their belts, we're sure to see all of Toronto's car dealerships razed to make way for bike shops and MECs any day now.
• Jarvis lane to disappear [Toronto Sun]
• On-street parking spots converted to bicycle parking [Globe and Mail]
• City hands car parking spots over to bikes [Toronto Star]
• Bike parking takes over car parking spaces [Spacing]){kind=link}
Only in crazy old Miller’s Toronto do car lanes get replaced by bike lanes.
Well… Toronto and New York… and Montreal. and Ottawa. and Boston.. Chicago, London, Vancouver, etc.
Please explain why Jarvis was going to lose a lane of traffic even if the centre bike lane wasn’t going to be installed?
Thank you
Patrick:
There’s no central bike lanes. These lanes will be strips of paint on either side, as per usual. Jarvis was going to lose a lane in the initial design in order to improve the pedestrian realm with wider sidewalks, tree planting, etc. The initial plan hadn’t really considered bikes, but the centre lane was still a goner.
I worked for an individual who needed analysis of the need for bike lanes on Jarvis. This individual is anti-bike lanes. I personally noticed during the survey that I did, that few cars use the centre lane of Jarvis anyway. Driving in that lane with the risk of new Torontonians not understanding the x/-> signs is much like playing chicken. Bike lanes are a much better use of this space.
Well here we go again. Motorist who pay crazy levies and outrageous taxes get screwed over once more. Building lanes for these renegade, road hogging, law breaking cyclist who make up a small percentage of the commuting public to cost more congestion and pollution when they only use these lanes for 5 months a year shows you how this government likes to tackle issues of non importance. I am sure most people who use Jarvis to commute understand what I am getting at because is hard enough to drive on that route on a good day. I will agreed to more bike lanes if these cyclist share the costs with motorist in terms of a tax and plate so they can get tickets for breaking the law.
Dear R.O.B.
I happen to be a PROPERTY owner and Toronto resident, a commuting cyclist and NOT a car owner. The taxes associated with owning a car are barely a drop in the bucket for the total costs the city pays to maintain roads. The costs of the roads that you and other motorists drive on are borne by me and others like me, the non-car owning, cycling, occasionally ttc-taking Toronto resident. For every “renegade, road hogging, law breaking” cyclist there is a renegade, road hogging, law breaking motorist out there. I’m sure you’ve encountered one in your daily travels. I certainly have.
I work ON JARVIS and commute to the street on a daily basis in my bicycle and let me tell you it is no easy feat when I am dealing with motorists such as yourself who feel entitled to not share the road with cyclists and justify their rudeness by spouting a) lies about their taxes supporting my use of the roads b) stereotypes about cyclists as renegade hooligans and c) lies about how my POLLUTION FREE commute is actually going to cause more pollution. Please explain to me how my not driving a car to work is adding to the pollution of the city and how your driving a car down Jarvis is reducing it. I’m saving the health of your children and your children’s children and all you can do is whinge about it. I look forward to the day that the city REALLY wages a war on the car and bans or fines drivers in the entire downtown core, the way that have in London, England. Then I shall breathe and ride easy.
lucky for the Toronto economy that the cars aren’t needed and will soon cease to be. A message to all the complainers don’t drive downtown, all those stores and restaurants do not need your business, they have all they can use now. The city of Toronto’s coffers are overflowing , no need of any more tax revenue, why just look at bikes parked at the King Edward hotel, their owners inside eating and drinking and being merry. Just the other day the lineup of bikes at the daycare of mothers picking up their offspring was a block long. So with these examples you can see dear reader that the car is kaput get with the trend
When Torontonians come out of their 1950’s mentality of car prioritizing as the only mode of transportation,
then we maybe able to call this city progressive and in par with the 2010 cities of Europe.
Until then, bless our ignorance and call it righteousness!
I think this is great news. To many times have cyclists been hit or had to fight just to get by. Next we need to have “sharing the road” in the driving lessons in North Vancouver. Every citizen should have to take it :)