(Finally) Filling the Winona Gap

For the past few years, one of my biggest complaints about biking in Toronto is the lack of north-south routes north of Davenport. Especially considering my office is at Dufferin and Lawrence which meant riding on steep hills on Caledonia or going the wrong way at times between St. Clair and Eglinton. Finally, the City of Toronto hosted a public consultation on Monday, March 22 for a contraflow bike lane on Winona which could be installed as early as this June or July.

Open Letter on 2021 ActiveTO Proposals

Below is a letter I submitted to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, Mayor John Tory, and my councillor (Gord Perks) ahead of next Tuesday's committee meeting which will discuss next steps for ActiveTO. The deadline to submit your own comments on Motion IE20.12 (ActiveTO) to iec@toronto.ca (and copy your councillor and Mayor Tory) is Monday, March 22 at 4:30 PM. You can also check out Cycle Toronto's action alert for their own analysis.

ActiveTO on Lake Shore Boulevard West in May 2020

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Greetings, Members of the Infratructure and Environment Committee.

Last year was historic for cycling in Toronto with a net 31 kilometres of on-street bike lanes installed that year, as well as the well received major road closures on Lake Shore Boulevard and Bayview Avenue. While I am pleased with the idea of ActiveTO returning this year, I am disappointed that the proposals do not go far enough for several reasons.

Resisting Doug Ford's Agenda

Since Doug Ford became Ontario’s premier in 2018, he has become one of the province’s most controversial political leaders (at least since Mike Harris). Early on, he scrapped Ontario’s cap-and-trade program only to see it replaced with a federal carbon tax, froze the minimum wage at $14/hour, and cut Toronto’s city council in half during the municipal election campaign. While there was a time early in the pandemic when Ford appeared reasonable, he has since returned to his populist antics which prompted several campaigns to oppose his agenda.

#StopThe413

Map of proposed GTA West Highway a.k.a. Highway 413 (via Environmental Defence)

In early 2018, Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals scrapped plans for a GTA West Highway (a.k.a. Highway 413) running from Vaughan to Milton which would have paved hundreds of acres of Greenbelt and prime agricultural land. An expert panel at the time deemed it would not have addressed the GTA’s changing transportation needs. Doug Ford’s “Progressive” Conservatives revived these plans and fast tracked the environmental assessment process in order to get this highway built which would cost at least $6 billion and save drivers only 30 seconds on their commutes. Funds which would have been better spent on public transit and active transportation.