After marking ten years earlier this year, this post marks the 300th on my Two Wheeled Politics blog! 😊 To mark this milestone, I will write about an almost 80 kilometre trip I did on Thursday, September 28 from Oshawa to Downtown Toronto for a day off work.
Since the initial post on contractor accountability was put up, some more developments from Sanscon have come up which warrant a follow up. Another cycling related project they were awarded a contract for was on Chesswood Drive, while updates were issued for the College Street Upgrades and KQQR intersection. I did a site check on Chesswood on Tuesday and will discuss those findings.
All of us feel inconvenienced by construction regardless of how we get around; especially when projects keep getting delayed as what happened with the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Per Luis Ledesma from the Cycling in Toronto Facebook group, Sanscon Construction was responsible for having several projects delivered behind schedule such as the College Street Upgrades and the King-Queen-Queensway-Roncesvalles (KQQR) Intersection. Another of their projects – Military Trail Road Reconstruction – was discussed at last week’s Infrastructure & Environment Committee (IEC) meeting. I will review these Sanscon projects and stress the need to hold contractors accountable when delivering projects that support climate action such as public transit and cycling.
With the arrival of fall this weekend brings some good news. Today saw the Ford government finally reverse his decision to remove land from the Greenbelt which came after two cabinet ministers resigned. At the local level, the Bloor bike lanes have been painted in from Runnymede Road to Aberfoyle Crescent. I was able to scoot along this new extension after work today and have some first impressions to share.
From September 21 to 24, Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden will be doing the “Safety Ride” from Ottawa to Toronto and holding public consultations in Ottawa, Kingston, Brighton, Oshawa, Scarborough, and Toronto. This ride comes ahead of the return to Queen’s Park on Monday, September 25 where he will be promoting Bill 40 (Moving Ontarian Safely Act). It represents the latest attempt by the Ontario NDP caucus to pass a vulnerable road user law. The previous attempt – Bill 54 – passed second reading in November 2021, but the 2022 election was called before the Standing Committee on Justice Policy could debate it. Let’s recap what this bill does and what other measures the Ontario government should do for cyclists.
When it comes to cycling advocacy in Toronto, groups such as Cycle Toronto and Community Bikeways come to mind today. However, Toronto’s cycling advocacy story goes back further with Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists starting in 1996 (see my interviews with Geoff and Nancy), while Community Bicycle Networks (CBN) dates further back to 1993. CBN ran a community bike shop, a predecessor to today’s Bike Share Toronto, and hosted events like the Toronto Vintage Bicycle Show before shutting down in 2017. I spoke with Adrian Currie – who was on CBN’s board from 2002 to 2017 – to learn more.
The Lake to Lake Cycling Route is a 121 kilometre bike route from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and was part of York Region’s pedestrian and cycling master plan approved in 2008. Having done the Toronto stretch already, I was curious to check out the route in York Region. On Friday, I brought my bike to Bradford GO station and ride south to Toronto.
 |
| Map of Lake to Lake Cycling Route (Via York Region) |
