The first bike lane project to come up for approval in 2004 is going to be voted on at the Toronto and East York Community Council meeting on July 6th. The report from Transportation Services Staff on the 2.2 km of bike lanes on Cosburn Avenue from Broadview Ave. to Oak Park Ave. recommends approving the lanes. Local cyclists are working to ensure that the project does, in fact, get the approval of the 12 member committee next week so that work on the project can commence soon. Residents can show their support for the project by contacting their Councillor, writing a letter of support to the Community Council or making a deputation in person at the July 6, 2004 meeting. Details of how you can do this are below. Local cycling activist, Jacob Allderdice, reports that there are also petitions being circulated at local bike stores, namely, Cyclepath (Danforth/Coxwell); Trailblazer (Danforth/Greenwood); Grassroots (bikeshare hub; Danforth/Chester); Cyclemania (Danforth/Chester) and Dinky (Donlands/O'Connor). There is a week left to add your voice in one or more of these ways to the lists of those supporting the bike lanes.

The current road has two lanes in each direction with parking on one side for the western half of it and two sides for the eastern half. The proposal is to reduce this to one car lane and one bike lane in each direction and with parking on one side. This lane will provide a major east-west link in the Bike way network and will join up to the Taylor Creek Trail at its eastern end via Haldon Avenue. Planned bike lanes on Donlands Ave. will make links to the bike lanes on the Leaside Bridge to the north and the bike lanes on Jones Ave. to the south.

The proposed Bike Lane on Cosburn is highlighted. Red dashed lines are proposed bike lanes Blue dashed lines are proposed signed on-street routes (Map is from the Toronto Bike Plan. Click on the image to see all the maps)

The staff report recommends approving the project. It concludes by stating "The installation of bicycle lanes, as described in this report, will improve conditions for cyclists and pedestrians, with minor impacts on motor vehicle traffic and parking." The advantages that are seen as a result of the bicycle lanes are quoted from the report below:

"Proposal Advantages

a) improves conditions for cyclists;
b) should slightly reduce motor vehicle speeds;
c) increases the number of allowed parking spaces during the AM and PM peak periods;
d) makes the existing pedestrian crossovers at Roosevelt Road, Linsmore Crescent and Logan Avenue safer during peak periods because the roadway is reduced from four motor vehicle lanes to two;
e) makes the road easier for pedestrians to cross at midblock locations because of the reduction in motor vehicle lanes and the slightly reduced motor vehicle speeds; and
f) improves left-turn opportunities for motorists at signalized intersections by providing a designated left-turn lane. "

Regarding the impact on drivers the staff report states that "the anticipated increase in average vehicular delay is minor and will not be noticeable to drivers." It also states that traffic infiltration onto local streets is not expected to increase. The support for statement is the experience on Dundas Street East after the bike lanes were installed there last summer. "The recent installation of bicycle lanes on Dundas Street East, which carries significantly higher traffic volumes than Cosburn Avenue, resulted in little or no infiltration onto local streets." You can download the complete report on the project on the City of Toronto's Web site. The link for the PDF version of the report is Cosburn Bike Lanes Report (PDF - 9.1 MB)

The Cosburn bike lanes run through the Wards of two City Councillors, Case Ootes - Ward 29 Toronto-Danforth and Janet Davis - Ward 31 Beaches-East York. If you are in either of these two wards contact your Councillor to express your support. Although the decision is made by the full Community Council on the views of the councillor in the wards where the project takes place carries a lot of weight. While the the installation of a bike lane is seen as a local issue it has an impact on the city wide Bikeway Network. Toronto residents of other wards should also make their views known. If your councillor is on the Toronto East York Community Council you should contact them and encourage them to vote for approving the construction of the Cosburn bike lanes.

Toronto and East York Community Council
Cesar Palacio - Ward 17 Davenport
Adam Giambrone - Ward 18 Davenport
Joe Pantalone - Ward 19 Trinity-Spadina
Olivia Chow - Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina
Joe Mihevc - Ward 21 St. Paul's
Michael Walker - Ward 22 St. Paul's
Kyle Rae - Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale
Pam McConnell - Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale
Case Ootes - Ward 29 Toronto-Danforth
Paula Fletcher - Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth
Janet Davis - Ward 31 Beaches-East York
Sandra Bussin - Ward 32 Beaches-East York

In addition to contacting your councillor you can also make a submission directly to the Community Council. You can make a deputation in person at the meeting on July 6th at 2:00 pm or you can send your comments in writing. If you want to do either of these you have to get in touch with Community Council Administrator by 3:00 p.m. on July 5, 2004. Their e-mail address is teycc@toronto.ca. Full details on the meeting and how to make your views known are available at the City of Toronto's web site: Cosburn Bike Lanes Public Notice

The difficult job of getting the Toronto Bike Plan implemented is made more difficult when the bike lane projects run into opposition from a local councillor. Last year's struggle to approve the Dundas East Bike Lanes was proof of that. The best way to smooth the way for bike lanes is for residents to let their councillors know of their support.

Martin Koob
tcc-rep@tbn.ca