TORONTO CYCLING COMMITTEE

NETWORK PLANNING and FACILITIES SUB-COMMITTEE

MEETING MINUTES

Date of Meeting Monday, November 30, 1998 Enquiry Jack Becker

Time 7.00 p.m. Chair-NP&FS-C

Location Room 304 416-203-1711

3rd Floor, Metro Hall hjehbecker@clo.com

55 John Street

Toronto

ATTENDEES

Jack Becker Chair

Steve Fisher TCC

Ron Hart TCC, NYC&PC

Clay McFayden TCC, NYC&PC

Hamish Wilson TCC

Patricia Roset

Derek Chadbourne ARC

Tim Gleason TCC, ARC

Ben Smith-Lee ARC

Jacob Allderdice ARC

Dan Egan Urban Development Services

David Dunn Transportation Services

1. 1999 Meeting Dates

i. Sub-committee members had preferences for meetings on Monday or Wednesday night. Tuesday was not considered a good meeting day.

ii. Preference was that NP&FSC meeting should occur 3 weeks in advance of TCC meetings so that items could be moved on to the next TCC meeting agenda.

iii. Preference was that NP&FSC meetings should be scheduled not to conflict with any other sub-committee meeting dates.

iv. It was suggested that meeting dates could be rotated between Monday and Wednesday nights.

Subsequent to the meeting the following are the tentative dates for the sub-committee meetings. These dates and place of meeting will be confirmed shortly:

Wednesday, January 20

Wednesday, February 24

Wednesday, March 31

Wednesday, April 28

The April date or the March date may be changed to allow for a joint meeting with the Education and Safety Sub-Committee to discuss matters of common interest.

2. Ossington St. Bike Lanes and Alternative Use

i. The sub-committees' favours and recommends to City staff that Dovercourt Rd. should be considered as an alternative to Ossington St. for bike lanes between College St. and Davenport St., in addition to improvements to the current bike routes on Shaw St. and Crawford St.

ii. Bike lanes below College St. down to Sudbury St. and connecting to Strachan Ave. is not considered feasible on Dovercourt or on Ossington due to limited street width without dramatic changes, such as making Dovercourt one-way as an example.

iii. Dovercourt Rd. would fit well with the desired grid of 1 km between cycling facilities in the downtown areas and 2 km in the suburbs. Ossington is closer to Shaw Street than Dovercourt.

iv. It was identified that road rage is being encountered by cyclists on Crawford St., mainly at the northern end.

3. 1999 Bike Show

i. A request has been placed for a 20 ft by 30 ft booth for the 1999 Toronto International Bike Show, being held from March 5 to 7, 1999 at the National Trade Centre, Hall B, Exhibition Place. This will provide almost similar space to the combine space that the MCPC and the TCCC had at previous shows.

MCPC had a 20-ft by 20-ft booth and the TCCC had a 10-ft by 30-ft booth at the 1998 bike show.

ii. The working group will be meeting early in January to start the planning process. The sub-committees and staff will be canvassed for their thoughts for concepts, messages, displays, etc.

iii. To date, Ron Hart, Clay McFayden, Terry Walsh and Jack Becker have volunteered to be on the working group. The invitation is open for others to join the working group.

4. Criteria for Streets to be Designated as Bike Routes

i. Discussion was started to develop guidelines for characteristics that a road needed to have to be considered for designation as a Bike Route. Toronto's system of Bike Routes has not been expanded in the past few years and, with the amalgamation, the Bike Route network should be revisited for potential opportunity for expansion.

ii. What is the purpose of designating roads as Bike Routes was discussed:

Information to cyclists as to which roads are more cycling friendly

Safety warning to motorists to be aware that cyclists are using this road. Roads that have been judged to be safe streets for cyclists to use.

d. There is a need to convey a message to either the motorized vehicle drivers or cyclists. This may be awareness based or destination based for recreation, commuter, or touring cyclists.

Some considerations for guidelines were suggested. This topic will be developed further at future meetings. Input is sought from cyclists.

A Bike Route should be part of a network, linking bike lanes and parks. Designation signage should be posted on a Bike Route, indicating where the route will take you.

To simplify identification, different colour should be used or each route. Bike Routes should be designated by purpose - is it a commuter route or a recreation route. Different criteria should apply for each designation.

Commuters want to be able to get to work in the minimum time while recreation cyclists want leisurely and attractive routes.

Motorized vehicle speed should be controlled and preferably reduced on roads designated as Bike Routes.

Speed control devices should be considered.

Desirable to slow car speed down towards the bike speed.

Bike Route roads are conducive with continuous cycling, having a minimum of stop signs.

Roads are wide enough to permit cars and bicycles to be side by side. Vancouver style traffic lights should be used on Bike Routes at arterial roads. These traffic lights are only activated by a push button at the side of the road reachable by cyclists or another push button conveniently placed for pedestrians. Cars are controlled by a stop sign on the Bike Route road. Bike Routes should be mainly on residential streets.

Selection of a road should support the minimizing of exposure to.

5. Designated Bicycle Lanes on a "Green" Spadina Avenue.

i. The sub-committee supports the installation of Bike Lanes on Spadina Ave. from Davenport St. to Queens Quay.

ii. ARC representatives presented their arguments for Bike Lanes on Spadina Ave. ARC is calling for temporary bike lanes to be installed immediately

for the most critical section from King St. to Queens Quay section. This matter will be going to UEDC Committee on Jan.11th.

iii. The sub-committee's support is in line with the Coroner's Report recommendation.

iv. Cyclists tend to be scared of cycling the section from Richmond St. to Queens Quay vehicles use this section to access the Gardiner. Driving on this section tends to be fast and impatient. Two lanes are used to access the Gardiner westbound on-ramp, making it difficult for cyclists to continue south to Queens Quay.

v. ARC held a breakfast at Clarence Square on December 9th to increase the awareness of the issue.

vi. ARC requested that the Sub-Committee and the Toronto Cycling Committee support it's proposal for emergency and permanent bike lanes on Spadina Ave. to the UEDC. As no meeting of the TCC is scheduled before the UEDC meeting, this matter cannot be presented to the Committee for their concurrence. Instead a letter to the UEDC will be prepared from members of the Sub-Committee.

Tentative Committee and Sub-Committee Meeting Dates (Dates and place will be confirmed when finalized)

Toronto Cycling Committee

Monday, January 18, Committee Room 3, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 100 Queen St., 7:00 p.m.

Monday, February 15

Monday, March 22

Monday, April 19

Network Planning & Facilities Subcommittee:

Wednesday, January 20 (unchanged)

Wednesday, February 24

Wednesday, March 31

Wednesday, April 28

Education & Safety Subcommittee:

Monday, January 25

Monday, February 22

Monday, March 29

Monday, April 26

Cycling in the City - Toronto

Cyclists and Others - Opinions from the Web

Dec, 98

1. Bathurst and Fleet St. Intersection

AH writes

98-11-17

On Tuesday the TTC had a public meeting with the residents of the Bathurst and Queen's Quay area about the 2nd phase of the streetcar extension. In the plan that they presented they show the following proposal for the southbound lanes of Bathurst at Fleet Street:

1) Right turn only lane

2) Island for TTC users

3) Lane for streetcars and traffic proceeding through the intersection

4) Left turn lane

This means that the only legal place for cyclists to use if they want to proceed through the intersection is the streetcar lane. This will entail crossing a lane of traffic turning right and crossing streetcar tracks. In this situation there is not enough space for a cyclist and a car/streetcar side-by-side so that cyclists will have to take up the whole lane. In general traffic is moving at a fair clip in this area. I suggest that the options left to cyclists are either dangerous, or illegal (using the right-turn only lane to proceed through the intersection). When I asked the very nice TTC representative what he suggest I do to get across the intersection, he told me that I should dismount and walk my bicycle across! This is clearly NOT a solution. Even if I were willing to do so, there are many other cyclists who use this intersection and it would be impossible to convince all of them that this is the only alternative. Bathurst Street is one of the links to the Martin-Goodman trail, which is heavily used by cyclists.

So, how far has the TTC has proceeded with this plan? Is it written in stone? Is there any way that they might be convinced to make the road a little wider to allow for a short cycle lane/space between the right turn lane and the TTC island?

2. Kennedy and 401 Intersection - On-ramps

KLT writes

98-12-16

The arrival of the new plaza on Kennedy Road, south of Highway 401, is a welcome addition to our community. In particular, for those such as myself who do not drive, having shopping locales near our homes is very important to our enjoyment of life.

As a result of this new plaza, however, some of the road characteristics have changed in the surrounding roads.

While travelling northbound on Kennedy, in attempting to pass under the highway and continue north, the curb lane becomes the onramp to the 401 not once, but twice: once each for the eastbound and westbound on-ramps. I am hoping that this setup might be reconsidered.

As a cyclist, I already have to interact with vehicles, which travel much faster than myself, often above the legal speed limit. As these vehicles approach highway on-ramps, many drivers are already thinking of the increased speed limits on the highway and hence are travelling at even higher speeds. For a cyclist to be able to cross over a relatively high-speed lane of traffic -- twice -- simply to continue along the same road is something that I find to be an unreasonable expectation.

I would like to offer a suggestion to the City to reconsider the lane markings on Kennedy Road northbound, around Highway 401. I believe that both on-ramps (or at least one if changing both is unreasonable) should begin as shorter cutaways from the curb lane. With lane markings in this configuration, a motorist wishing to get onto the highway would switch lanes from the right-most through lane into the cutaway, which would curve and become an onramp. A cyclist, on the other hand, who wishes to continue northbound would simply stay in the right lane with the knowledge that the lane would still exist on the other side of the onramp.

The Kennedy Road southbound onramp to westbound 401 is one example of the configuration I would prefer.

I hope that the City will consider my suggestion and look into a compromise between the convenience of the motorists and the safety of non-motorized users of the road.

3. Don Mills Rd Ramps to the Don Bike trail

RK writes

98-12-06

The weather has keep the wheels rolling for these extra trips. It's really not in my cycling habit to get onto the sidewalk but on Don Mills they seem to want to send me there. I did learn to get through the gate without stopping by swinging out far enough and convincing myself that it was possible. A more bike-friendly entrance would not be out of line for those who come to it without having seen it every day. By the way, the Metro Parks people continue to excel at their bike activities. They just repaved the whole Don Trail - after having done a superb relocation around the police dog center.

4. Share the Road Signs - Colorado

Survey RK writes

98-11-01

I don't recollect any pictorial - just a statement that bicycles are permitted on the highway. I was more impressed that they were permitted. I could see an argument to allow us on the DVP, for example. How about a bike lane on the Gardiner? I wonder if any safety study has been done in California or Vancouver where bicycles are allowed on some limited access highways. I would think roads with lots of turning traffic would be less safe than limited access routes. It would be worth a proposal. Maybe bicycles would increase safety for all! I suggest that it would be a good research project - and the signage would be an issue that could be settled.