This evening, Cycle Toronto marked one year since their court victory against the bike lane removal provisions of Bill 212 with a rally and ride from Ramsden Park to the courthouse at University and Armoury. Having just returned from Kyrgyzstan last night – more on that soon – I joined the almost 40 people who showed up despite the jet lag.
One trail closure which has long frustrated cyclists in Toronto is that of the Lower Don Trail south of Pottery Road. It was originally supposed to reopen in Summer 2024, but after several missed deadlines, the City updated the project website in June stating they would pave and reopen the trail as soon as possible. The Riverdale Park ramp was deferred due to “unsuitable soil conditions” for building the foundation. This afternoon, I decided to check out the progress, as well as check some new developments at Biidaasige Park and along Lake Shore Boulevard.
Earlier this year, I got a tip from Terry Walsh that a new active transportation bridge was built across the Credit River in Mississauga as part of the Nine Creeks Trail. There was also the Jim Tovey Conservation Area which opened on May 30 and was under construction when biking to Niagara Falls last October. With today being nice out, I took the opportunity to check it out. An idea Jun N also had per his blog post. 😉
Having recorded my rides on Strava for the past few years now, I have noticed many Toronto area cyclists had done Wednesday night rides with the Dismount Bike Shop. These rides tend to be roughly 15 to 20 kilometres with the route revealed either the day of the ride or the day prior; often using off-road trails and neighbourhood streets. Since the weather was nice out this evening and I had been curious to try these rides for a while, I finally gave it a shot last night after work.
Next week’s city council meeting has two member motions proposed which the cycling community ought to pay attention to. The first is a proposed land exchange at Donalda Club for a future expansion of the East Don Trail and the second seeks to create a pedestrian streets program for Toronto. Let’s dive in to see what they have to offer.
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| The original East Don Trail ends at Milne Hollow Park |
Over the years, I have read a number of books about cycling and active transportation. These included changes made in various places such as “Streetfight” in New York City and “Building the Cycling City” in the Netherlands, the harms of car dependency such as “Life After Cars”, historical takes like “Wheeling Through Toronto”, and niche topics such as “Frostbike” about winter cycling. However, I hadn’t come across an advocacy focused book until I heard about Carter Lavin’s “If You Want to Win, You’ve Got to Fight” on social media including a video on Tom Babin’s YouTube channel (at the end of this post) which highlighted five advocacy mistakes. Let’s dive in to see what that book’s about.
With the Scarborough Waterfront Project having started construction last fall for the Brimley Road South Trail and the western segment to follow next year, this leaves the Eastern Beaches to Bluffers Park as the last major gap in the Waterfront Trail to fill in. The City of Toronto hosted a public consultation on Monday evening for the Scarborough Bluffs West Project which aims to fill that gap through an environmental assessment. Let’s dive in to see what’s in store.
