Today was Tooker Gomberg’s birthday, and so it was more than appropriate that we celebrate the extensions of the Bloor/Danforth bike lanes. Angela put out the call last week for a ride from Christie Pits to East Lynn Park.
Richard and I rode over from High Park. BIke lane markings have been painted down from High Park almost all the way to Dundas W. Here you can see the intersection with Parkside, where the bike lane hugs the curb, and the right turn lane for cars remains to the left of the bike lane. In the original design, the bike lane crossed over the right turn lane.
Curb with bollard protection is slowly working its way west from Shaw St. Word is that all of the protective elements won’t be in place until the end of September, which is a bit of a slip from the original plan. Probably the delay is at least partially associated with some road work that is being done just west of the underpass for the railpath.
Lots of cyclists gathered at Christie Pits.
Angela greets us and offers us bike shaped cookies in ginger, and more ginger.
Casey is one cool pup.
The banner is here.
Angela tells us a little about Tooker Gomberg’s vision for a bike lane spanning the city from east to west. After his passing, a group of friends got together and decided that pressing for bike lanes along Bloor/Danforth would be an appropriate way to memorialize Tooker. After several years, this also lead to the formation of Bells on Bloor, a group that organized an annual ride down Bloor St, which was also eventually joined by Bells on Danforth. Finally, in recent years, these groups worked in parallel with Cycle Toronto. The Bloor bike lanes were approved as permanent infrastructure several years ago, and the westward extension to Shaw was approved earlier this summer. In the interim, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the deployment of temporary bike lanes, including bike lanes on Danforth, and the filling of the gap between Avenue and Sherbourne. So here we are, just on the edge of having 15 km of continuous bike lanes along Bloor/Danforth.
Hamish Wilson spoke next, and asked why it has taken 15 years to do the obvious. He pointed out that there is still a need to have bike lanes along all of the subway routes, especially Yonge St.
Now we get ready to depart.
Once on the Danforth, it was decided to turn the banner around so that it read “Take the Tooker” from the front.
Here is an example of the integrated of CafeTO curb space with the bike lanes.
Exiting Greektown.
Arriving at East Lynn Park.
Thanks to Angela for organizing the ride, to all those who helped cork intersections, and all those who rode with us. We’ll have to do this again in the fall once everything is done along the entire stretch.
bellsonbloor 
The curbs are proceeding *really* slowly, and the work between Symmington and Indian Road doesn’t explain it. From Tuesday through mid-Friday this week (August 18–21) just two blocks on the south side of Bloor got curbs (between Dufferin and Lansdowne.
Work on the two bridges will delay installation of the bike lanes under them until next spring. The section between Dundas and Indian Rd has been delayed by some roadwork by Hydro. Our latest information on that section is that the bike lanes should be installed by the end of November.