Welcome to Cyclometer, a monthly newsletter to keep cyclists informed about cycling issues and programs in the City of Toronto.
CONTENTS:
1)
Bike Week is upon us once again!
Celebrate the fine spring weather by riding your bike in the city while attending our great Bike Week events for free! Movies, breakfasts, group commutes, and much, much more await you. As usual, there are hundreds of events big and small throughout the city, with something to suit every taste.
Once again this year, the official launch of Bike Week is the marquee event - the 18th Annual Group Commute through the streets of Toronto on Monday, May 28.
Cyclists will converge from various points around the city and meet at Yonge and Bloor for a group ride to Nathan Phillips Square. Once there, participants will enjoy music, open air booths, demos and a free breakfast of pancakes, croissants, fruit and fair-trade organic coffee, courtesy of the St. Lawrence Market. All plates, cups and cutlery for this event are biodegradable. Keynote speakers from City Hall including Mayor David Miller and MP Olivia Chow. The event on Nathan Phillips Square begins at 8:30 a.m.
This year's major Bike Week events...
2)
YMCA job posting
Get Your Move On (GYMO) is an initiative formed between public, voluntary and private sector organizations to increase activity levels in Toronto through greater public awareness, better opportunities and reduced barriers. The Partnership Group is a collaborative effort among 30 organizations including: the YMCA of Greater Toronto, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Toronto Public Health, Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation, Laid law Foundation, CBC, and the Toronto Community Foundation.
We are looking for a professional who is passionate about healthy active living and has a minimum of seven years experience in health promotion, social marketing, policy development and advocacy. The successful candidate will demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of the issues of physical inactivity and have experience working on multidisciplinary, diverse teams. Preparing grant applications, written reports, correspondence and budget management is a necessary requirement. The Project Manager will work a three day work week to implement the GYMO strategy, provide ongoing support to the Board of Directors and build strong partnerships in the public, private and voluntary sectors.
A university degree in Health, Social Science or an equivalent is preferred. Access to a vehicle is recommended as extensive travel within the GTA is required.
This position is contingent upon funding and is subject to a contract term of June 1, 2007 to November 30, 2008 for 3 days per week. Send résumés with cover letters stating salary expectations by May 25, 2007 to Human Resources at workforymca@ymcagta.org or by fax to: 416-928-6048
Offers of employment are contingent upon the successful completion of a Police Records Check.
3)
Proposed bicycle facilities and bike lane in Ward 21
Councillor Joe Mihevc and Toronto Transportation staff invited the public to attend a Public Open House to review and provide comments on the proposed bicycle facilities in Ward 21. The attached ward map shows the existing and proposed bicycle facilities in Ward 21 and how they would connect to the surrounding Bikeway Network. The key routes include:
- a signed route on Vaughan Road
- an east-west signed route that connects to the proposed Rogers Road bike lanes
- an east-west signed route parallel to St. Clair Avenue
- a north-south route on Christie Street with bike lanes
Bike Lane Proposal on Christie Street - St. Clair Avenue W to Dupont Street:
From St. Clair Avenue West to Davenport Road, bicycle lanes can be added to Christie Street with minimal impact on traffic or parking. The most significant change associated with the bicycle lane proposal will be a reduction in traffic lanes from two to one in each direction for the section of Christie Street south of Davenport Road. Parking for this section will also be limited to one side of the street. Stopping will be prohibited on the west side of the street, and parking permitted at all times on the east side.
4)
Lower Don Trail update
Toronto Region Conservation Authority, who are managing this project in partnership with Waterfront Toronto (formerly) Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation have advised that the trail will be re-opening to public access this July. Signage will be changed accordingly to advise the public of the timing.
The area in question is closed due to reconstruction work taking place on the CN/GO rail bridge which spans the Don River as part of a larger imitative dealing with flood protection. In reconstructing the bridge, the trail section through this area is being realigned with a new and upgraded section under the bridge. In addition, a new underpass is being constructed which will eventually link to the west under the Bala Rail spur. This underpass will not however be available to public use until development proceeds west of the rail line - e.g. there is a safe connection through the area to the St. Lawrence neighbourhood.
All parties involved in the project clearly understand the importance of this trail route through the valley and are working to re-open the route as soon as possible.
5)
MySummer contest from MTO
From the Minstry of Transportation:
Hello all, we need your help in promoting road safety this summer! As you may know summer is the time of year when young drivers are involved in the most collisions. 40% of all collisions involving drivers under the age of 25 happen in May, June, July and August. Young drivers are more likely to be involved in a collision if they are carrying other young passengers.
That's why we launched a multi-media contest called MySummer. The contest is simple - we're asking young people to submit either a short video clip or an e-card about speaking up when it comes to driving. Building on the safe grad theme, this contest is about road safety during the entire summer. We're offering a cash prize of $500 in each category!
The MySummer contest is being run through MySpace. As partners, we're looking to you to help us promote MySummer. Here's how you can help: Visit www.myspace.com/mysummercontest:
- Forward this email to your network and ask them to forward it to their networks
- If you have a MySpace page, add us as a "friend"
- Aged 14-25 - Enter the contest!
- Vote for your favourite (after June 1)
For those of you unfamiliar with MySpace, it is a social networking site that gives you your own "space" to develop your profile where you can add interests, music, videos and photos. Once you have your page built, you add "friends" to build a network.
Thanks for your help with promoting road safety!!
6)
On Your Bike!
On Your Bike!, a non-profit organization, collects and donates gently used bicycles to disadvantaged children in Toronto. Through annual bike drives volunteers collect donated children's bikes, clean and repair them. The bikes are then distributed to service organizations throughout the city.
On Your Bike! are looking for volunteers to help us repair bikes received at the bike drive.
Upcoming bike drive:
May 26, 2007
St. Alban's Boys' and Girls' Club
10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
843 Palmerston Avenue (at DuPont)
7)
Cycling Ambassador Program
This year's City of Toronto Cycling Ambassador Program is up and running just in time for Bike Week. Two staff have been employed to assist in disseminating information regarding the City's many cycling programs and initiatives. Look for them at a Bike Week event near you!
The City has a vision for cycling in Toronto and wants you involved in making it happen. Cyclometer is a subscription service of the City of Toronto.
The first issue of Cyclometer went out on November 24, 1989. Now, as then, we hope that, like its namesake, Cyclometer will show you how far we've come, how fast we're going, and maybe how much pedalling we have yet to do. So get on board and get involved. Your support is important.
Please take the time to forward this issue of Cycling News! to a fellow cyclist who may be interested.
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