This past Saturday was the annual Bells on Danforth ride, the sister ride to Bells on Bloor. It was also a day to remind ourselves about the joy of cycling, after a brutal week when four cyclists died in the GTA.
Bells on Bloor organized a small ride to the ride starting from Bloor and Spadina.
Albert pulling a bike trailer with signage.
Across the viaduct.
A brief detour south as a portion of the Danforth was closed off at Broadview for a street fair.
The ride starts at Withrow Park. Here is a panorama of the hundreds of cyclists gathered for the ride.
First speaker was Peter Tabuns, newly reelected MPP. He read out the acknowledgment of lands, and then apologized for not being free to ride with us.
Next: Janet Joy Wilson talked about the upcoming book ride on August 26 that is themed around the Prince Edward Viaduct. She was raffling off a signed copy of “In the Skin of a Lion”.
As Bells on Danforth is a non partisan community organization, they did not allow anyone who is running for office to speak. However, Mary-Margaret McMahon is not in that category as she will be stepping down in the fall due to a self imposed two term limit. She talked about how she will continue to press for better bike infrastructure, partially through her efforts on PWIC.
Janet Davis announced just this week that she is also not running this fall. With the loss of her and Mary-Margaret, we have lost two strong proponents of cycling, and the two champions of the Woodbine bike lanes. She said that she and MM will continue to press for a corridor study to be started before the election as part of a continuing push for bike lanes on the Danforth. She reminded us that not only should we be talking our local councillors; we should also be putting pressure on the mayor’s office.
Liz Sutherland announced CycleTO’s new campaign: #BuildTheGrid, which is an update of the “minimum grid” campaign.
Just before the ride, the draw for the book was done.
Regrettably I did not get the name of our happy winner.
Mark from CycleTO.
One thing that was noticeable to me was the large number of families with kids, many more that I have ever seen on the Bells on Bloor rides. Here is the most elaborate kid bike set up I saw today.
Now time to line up on Logan.
Our leaders head off with the banner.
Here we go.
Lots of kids.
Our own Albert Koehl.
I was impressed that Danielle’s friend could ride slowly enough in full aero tuck position.
Martin de la Rue waves to the crowd as he corks a side street.
Approaching Woodbine.
Turning north on Danforth Rd.
Arriving at the Oakridge CRC.
Janet Joy with Sarah Climenhaga who is running for Mayor. She is fully engaged on active transportation issues.
Scarborough Cycles and the Ward 32 group.
Some fellow Bells on Bloor members.
One last reminder about the new campaign. I forgot to ask CycleTO to smile.
Here is my brief video of the front half of the rider pack.
Another video:
and here is some drone footage of the start.
Overall, a perfect day for a bike ride, with lots of families present. Starting and finishing at Community Centres was a smart idea. Thanks to all the organizers for a wonderful event.
The hope is that with the continued success of the Bells on Danforth event, we can keep up the pressure to get bike lanes on the Danforth, to accompany the bike lanes on Woodbine.
“Koehl said there had been hope the success of the Bloor project would lead to similar projects in other areas, including an extension of the Bloor lane farther east on Danforth Ave. But cycling advocates have been told by city staff there is no follow-up action planned for this route, and any new updates will be announced after the upcoming Oct. 2018 municipal elections, he said.”
Let’s keep the pressure on for bike lanes on Danforth.
“In the meantime, each new bike lane has been endlessly studied and debated, and then often rejected. The 140 km of bike lanes built since 1975 only slightly exceeds the number of funerals for cyclists killed on our roads since then.”
Note that City Council will vote on the Reimagining Yonge proposal today and tomorrow. What was proposed by PWIC was a watered down version that maintains six lanes of through traffic between Sheppard and Finch, and diverts bike lanes to a side street. This version also costs more.
Article in the Toronto Star by Albert Koehl and Michael Black from two years ago just came up on my Facebook feed.
“Last year, 64 people died on Toronto roads — the worst death toll in a decade. We can do better.”
Let’s do better in 2018. Continue the push for lower speed limits, better infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, and vulnerable road user legislation.
Last night, Albert invited all of the people who has worked with either Take the Tooker or Bells on Bloor to dinner at a restaurant (Real Thai) that was, of course, on the Bloor bike lane. He thanked us all for our work over the years. Angela Bischoff was also there, and she gave us a little background on Take the Tooker, and the beginnings of the Bells on Bloor bike parade (seen below). Hamish Wilson, you were missed.
Regrettably, this is the only picture that I can provide of the event.
Still more work to be done, but for the time being, a moment to savour.
Yesterday was a good day for bicycle advocacy in Toronto. City council voted 36-6 in favour of the staff recommendation that the Bloor bike lanes become permanent. The blow by blow of the meeting (at least the afternoon portion) is here.
Dandyhorse Magazine: Bloor gets a bike lane. (Albert said he started composing this article during the City Council meeting)
A few take aways from the meeting:
some immediate improvements will take place during the next year, likely including green paint on some portions of the existing trail
the final configuration of the permanent installation will not be clear for a while, but in any case they will have to wait for corridor capital improvements in 2019.
several councillors pointed out that there was much more close study of this bike lane pilot than either the Gardiner rebuild or the Scarborough subway.
it is clear that more than several councillors from the east end are very comfortable with pushing for bike lanes on Danforth. If this is to happen any time soon, it will be between Coxwell and Victoria Park.
Mayor John Tory’s support was key in making the yes vote as lopsided as it was.
There was a moment of hilarity when on the final vote, Gord Perks voted NO in error. Here is the proof:
He was allowed a revote so that the final tally was 36-6 in favour.
Hamish and Albert look happy immediately after passage.
Riding home afterwards. I wondered if my fellow cyclists were aware of what just happened earlier in the evening.
Here, the bike lane ends at Shaw, showing that we have more work to do to get to the vision of an east-west bike lane spanning the city.
