A Call to Action for Scarborough

All right, folks! We need to talk about Scarborough’s dangerous streets.

On Sunday, February 11, a memorial ride was held for a 66-year-old female cyclist killed at Brimley & McNicoll. If that wasn’t bad enough, another crash in Scarborough this month killed a 47-year-old male cyclist on Monday near Birchmount & St. Clair. While it didn’t happen right on Birchmount – which had bike lanes removed in 2011 – the consequences of refusing to build safe streets still apply across Scarborough. Finally, despite the Danforth-Kingston complete street being part of the 2022-24 Bike Plan, there still has not been a public consultation held which had been delayed due in part to last year’s by-elections for Mayor and for Council in Scarborough Southwest.

Memorial ride held at Brimley & McNicoll on Sunday, February 11

Finally … A Much-Needed Parkdale Connection

Having used to live in Parkdale and Roncesvalles for more than a decade, I can vouch for how common wrong way riding on Seaforth Avenue is given there isn’t a safe (and legal) way to bike west of Brock Street in Parkdale without using Queen. Members of the former Cycle Toronto Ward 14 group (and the Parkdale High Park Bikes group that replaced it) have called to have this situation fixed for years. Finally, the City of Toronto plans to host a public consultation about the West Parkdale Cycling Connections on Tuesday, March 5 (5-8 PM) at The Parkdale Hall (1605 Queen Street West) to address this gap in the cycling network. Let’s go through the project by dividing it into three segments.

Map of West Parkdale Cycling Connections (via City of Toronto)

Fixing the Bloor and Castle Frank Intersection

On Sunday, February 18, a 19-year-old woman was biking eastbound on the Bayview – Bloor ramp where she was hit by drivers of two motor vehicles. While it is technically illegal to bike on this ramp, the sign saying no pedestrians or cyclists allowed is not apparent as soon as you turn right. You have to complete a U-turn in order to see it given drivers could use this turn-off to turn left to get onto to Castle Frank Road. Let’s take a look at how this intersection can be improved to make it safer for everyone.

A Google Maps view of the existing conditions at Bloor and Castle Frank

Revisiting the East End Grid

Last year, the City of Toronto announced plans to upgrade existing bikeways on the Leaside Bridge to cycle tracks which were approved by City Council. However, there was still a big question mark on providing an additional north-south connection from there to Danforth Avenue. The City recently announced a public consultation scheduled for Thursday, March 7 (6 – 8 PM) at 816 Logan Avenue to address just that.

The City of Toronto's proposed bikeway connecting the Leaside Bridge to Danforth Avenue

Addressing Food Courier Train Crowding Concerns

Recently, there have been photos circulating on social media about food courier bikes crowding GO trains along the Kitchener GO line, including on dedicated bike cars used on the Niagara trains during the summer months. This has unfortunately been the latest round of criticism towards food couriers with last year seeing accusations of them hogging Bike Share Toronto’s e-bikes prior to the pricing changes and Councillor Dianne Saxe’s motion calling for e-bikes and e-scooters used by couriers to have “unique identifiers”. These incidents of blaming food couriers are unacceptable and must be called out. Instead, we road safety advocates need to work with the couriers and groups like Gig Workers United to come up with some solutions to remedy the situation. Especially since we should be encouraging deliveries by bike over those done by motor vehicles in order to pursue meaningful climate action.

A crowded GO train bike car on February 2, 2024 (via Janice Jim)

Memorial Ride at Brimley & McNicoll

Unfortunately, it seems Toronto can’t get by a single year without a cyclist getting killed. On Monday, January 30, a woman in her 60’s was struck by a driver at Brimley & McNicoll and died of her injuries on Saturday, February 3. Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists hosted a memorial ride for the fallen cyclist earlier today which started at Kennedy Station.

2024 Coldest Day of the Year Ride

One of my favourite things to do during the winter months is to take part in Cycle Toronto’s “Coldest Day of the Year” Ride; an event aimed to promote winter cycling. However, this year’s event was unusually mild with temperatures around 10’C which can be very worrying from a climate change perspective. About 150 to 200 people joined us at Tom Riley Park to ride the recently extend Bloor bike lanes east to Christie Pits Park, which was almost as many as last November’s Bloor bike lane rally.

Know Your Rights with Dave Shellnutt

Over the past five years, Dave Shellnutt has become the new legal voice for Toronto’s cycling community. During this time, he has held numerous “Know Your Rights” workshops across Ontario, started the Bike Brigade early during the COVID-19 pandemic, and expanded his advocacy to cover anti-racism matters. I spoke with Dave on January 23, 2024 to learn more about his bike-focused legal career.