City tempts either disaster or nirvana as it moves closer to 24 km of bike lanes along Bloor-Danforth
Despite apocalypse-heralding opponents, the city of Toronto is pushing forward with a controversial proposal to establish a 24-kilometre bike lane along the Bloor-Danforth corridor. An evaluation by city staff last year concluded that such bike lanes would likely disrupt traffic and parking (yes, they needed an evaluation to determine this), and the city is looking for a third party to conduct an environmental assessment, after which a consultant will determine feasibility and look at bike lane design options.
The proposal has city hall predictably divided, with right-of-centre mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi adamantly opposing the idea (“It would be a disaster”) and Councillor Adrian Heaps, chair of the Toronto Cycling Committee, supporting it. Mayoral front-runner George Smitherman is playing it safe, saying he intends to postpone the creation of new bike lanes if elected.
Councillor Glen De Baeremaeker had the best quote on the subject, in the Globe: “It’s not as radical, I think, as some people would try to pretend it is. It’s not like we’re declaring war on anybody.”
Who said anything about a war? Oh, right.
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