8 years into program, less than half of routes are put to pavement

BYLINE: Denise Balkissoon, Toronto Star
NEWSPAPER: The Toronto Star
SECTION: GTA; Pg. GT05
DATE: October 1, 2009

Thirty-six kilometres doesn’t sound like a lot out of a promised 1,000, but that’s all the bike lanes the city could put to pavement in 2009.

It’s been eight years since the ambitious Bike Plan was announced, when Torontonians were told we’d have more than 1,000 kilometres of new paths, lanes and trails by 2011. Today, less than half of those have been installed, and the plan’s lifespan has been extended to 2013.

Of the 16.2 kilometres originally scheduled for this year, only 0.7 kilometres have gone in. The rest was backlog: the Cycling Infrastructure and Program Group is still working on lanes planned for 2008, and about a quarter of those will roll over into next year, too. Overall, the plan costs $7 million a year.

When improvements happen, they’re impressive: A bike and pedestrian pathway along Yonge St. from Front St. to the lake, unveiled on Monday, offers widened sidewalks, bright lighting under the CN tracks and a giant bronze statue by sculptor Tom Otterness. But cyclists still have one overarching basic need – a safe place to ride.

Paths on the city’s outer edge are most lacking. Lanes planned for the downtown core have largely been installed, but the outer 416 is missing most of its promised lanes and trails. Lukasz Pawlowski, senior engineer for the infrastructure group, says making space for bikes usually means reducing parking and trimming turning lanes. It’s more difficult to get council approval for street retrofitting on the outskirts.

“Trade-offs are contentious,” says Pawlowski. “Generally speaking, the councillors from the core tend to be more receptive. More of their constituents are pressing for bike infrastructure.”

Councillor Adrian Heaps, chair of the Toronto Cycling Committee, agrees. “Cycling culture in Toronto kind of spirals out from the inner city core,” he says. A 4.1-kilometre bike lane painted onto Brimorton Dr. in central Scarborough this summer is largely unused. Both bike lane opponents and cycling advocates say that proves downtown lanes should be a priority.

Bikers in the boroughs say it’s not that simple. Right now, bike lanes in the outer 416 are disjointed bits and pieces that make trips longer, and inconvenience riders who need to stop at shops and offices. And although Heaps bikes to City Hall from his Scarborough constituency most days, he says a full commute is too long for most.

What’s needed is more initiatives like the bike lockers that opened at Union Station in the spring, says Heaps, so even 905ers can bike at least part of the way.

Another project on the Bike Plan roster for next year is installing similar lockers at big subway stations such as Victoria Park and Kipling.

A few projects for the city’s outer edge are in the works; next summer, $28.8 million of provincial and federal funding will be used for paths through the Finch and Gatineau hydro corridors, as well as along the unused CN rail bed in Leaside, linking the north and south parts of the Don Trail.

Even as Bike Plan progress lags, Toronto council is asking cyclists to keep dreaming. Just last August, it approved a bike-sharing program meant to launch in spring 2010. Similar to Montreal’s Bixi program, a swiped credit card would give users access to wheels in the city core.