What's Next After Midtown Yonge?

Today, the Midtown Yonge Complete Street Pilot was unanimously approved by the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, and will be off to City Council on Tuesday, February 7. Prior to the meeting, Yonge4All held a media event to deliver the petition to Mayor John Tory which gathered over 8,500 signatures which was attended by Councillors Bradford, Moise, Morley, and Saxe. With this project just about behind us, there are several other projects Toronto residents can look forward to.

Yonge4All Media Event at City Hall (Via Jun Nogami)

Scarborough Golf Club

Last February, the City of Toronto held their initial public consultation for Scarborough Golf Club Road which will see the stretch from Ellesmere Road to Lawrence Avenue East get reconstructed in 2024-25. A second consultation has been scheduled for Monday, February 6 (6:30 PM) at Golf Road Junior Public School which will discuss street designs. Comments will be collected until Monday, February 20.

Scarborough Golf Club Road rendering (Via City of Toronto)

The proposed design calls for keeping parking on one side of the road (instead of both sides as it is now) and unidirectional cycle tracks from Ellesmere Road to Confederation Drive. The Ellesmere to Lawrence stretch will benefit from green infrastructure and protected intersections, while the Lawrence to Confederation stretch will use quick build materials. The Confederation to Kingston Road stretch is too narrow to accommodate unidirectional cycle tracks, so either painted bike lanes or a bidirectional cycle track are being proposed. This proposed bikeway will provide a critical connection between the Durham-Scarborough BRT and the next project to keep on our radar which is the …

Danforth-Kingston Complete Street Extension

With the Danforth bikeway having been extended to Victoria Park Avenue last year, the City is now focused on extending it into Scarborough and along Kingston Road. The project will be split into two phases; the first covering Victoria Park to St. Clair Avenue East which could see construction this year, while the second phase from St. Clair East to Scarborough Golf Club can be expected by 2024. Businesses are asked to complete a survey by Monday, February 6, while public consultations are expected to happen in March for both phases per the final Midtown Yonge Complete Street Pilot report. One thing I will be curious to find out is how the scary Danforth-Kingston interchange will be addressed.

Danforth-Kingston Extension Phasing (Via City of Toronto)

The Danforth-Kingston Complete Street Extension – which Bells on Kingston has been working on since last year – is being delivered in conjunction with the … 

Bloor Street West Complete Street Extension

This Bloor extension is being championed by We Belong on Bloor; a campaign organized by the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition which is the successor to Bells on Bloor. Campaign volunteers delivered postcards to neighbourhoods near Bloor in 2021 while 2022 saw a focus on business canvassing. A petition I started more than a year ago got over 1,100 signatures.

As with Danforth-Kingston, this Bloor extension will be split into two phases with an extension to Royal York Road this year and a further extension to Six Points by 2024, while the business survey is also due on February 6. Public consultation for the first phase to Royal York is also expected to happen in March.

Bloor Etobicoke Extension Phasing (Via City of Toronto)

Should these extensions proceed as planned, the 16 kilometre bikeway from Runnymede to Victoria Park will cover 30 kilometres from Beamish to Scarborough Golf Club Roads! This is roughly the same distance Eglinton will cover from Kennedy Road to Etobicoke Creek once eglintonTOday gets built.

The full 30 kilometre Bloor-Danforth-Kingston corridor (Via City of Toronto)

If Mississauga can build bike lanes on their part of Bloor and Toronto can get the gap from Beamish to Etobicoke Creek filled in, the Bloor-Danforth-Kingston corridor will become 39 kilometres.

eglintonTOday

Back in June 2022, Toronto held the first public consultation for eglintonTOday which aims to do quick build complete street improvements in two phases from Keele Street to Brentcliffe Road. The first would cover Keele to Mount Pleasant Road and was originally expected for this year, while the second from Mount Pleasant to Brentcliffe was expected for 2024. Unfortunately, continued delays with the Eglinton Crosstown LRT are complicating this timetable.

Despite the LRT limbo, a second round of consultations is under way with a public consultation scheduled for Tuesday, February 21 (6:30 PM) at Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School (north of Avenue and Eglinton).

Millwood Road Safety Improvements

Last, but not least, the Leaside Bridge and two intersections on Millwood Road are expected to get some much needed upgrades from the current six lane setup with painted bike lanes. The public consultation will be held virtually on Monday, February 6 at 6:30 PM with comments due by Tuesday, February 21.

Leaside Bridge Rending (Via City of Toronto)

Millwood from Pape Avenue to Overlea Boulevard will feature a bidirectional cycle track on the west side and a unidirectional cycle track on the east side, while two traffic lanes in each direction will be maintained. Protected intersections are being proposed at both of these intersections, while the Ontario Line will pass by the Millwood-Overlea intersection.

Millwood-Overlea Intersection with future Ontario Line (Via City of Toronto)

The bidirectional facility was proposed to make it easier for those biking on Hopedale Avenue – which could connect to a future bikeway on O’Connor Drive and Broadview Avenue. The Millwood-Pape-Donlands intersection is also being designed in a way to futureproof a bikeway along Donlands Avenue to act as a second north-south east end bikeway north of Danforth Avenue. A study was expected to happen by 2024 per the 2022-24 Near Term Cycling Implementation Plan. Both routes would help complete a grid in Toronto’s east end.

Next Steps

While this year is not as hectic for bikeway public consultations given the recent municipal election and the budget process, there are still a lot of things to keep advocates busy. Former City Council candidate Kevin Rupasinghe also highlighted projects along Victoria Park Avenue and the Warden Hydro Corridor as those to watch out for, even though consultations have not yet been announced. More details will be disclosed about Danforth-Kingston, Bloor West, and eglintonTOday as they are made available. 

UPDATE (2023/02/04) - Public consultation details have been added for Eglinton thanks to a tweet from Cycle Toronto.