Scrap Jarvis bike lanes, committee says

A city committee has voted to scrap the Jarvis St. bike lane, despite the fact that car traffic has not been affected by the lane. (Colin McConnell/The Toronto Star File Photo)

Some 900 cyclists may need to look for another route downtown after a city committee recommended scrapping the Jarvis St. bike lanes.

The motion from Councillor John Parker came at the end of a long day of discussion about the city’s bike plans at the public works committee.

The motion passed easily as did motions that fulfill a campaign vow of Scarborough Councillor Michelle Berardinetti by removing six kilometres of bike lanes installed in late 2008 on Birchmount Rd. and Pharmacy Ave.

A final decision is to be made by council at its meeting in mid-July.

Mayor Rob Ford didn’t attend the committee, although key mayoral officials were there, but he made it clear to reporters earlier in the day where he stood:

“Yeah, I want to get rid of the bike lanes on Jarvis,” Ford said. “I got a lot of people calling me — they want to get rid of them. I do what the taxpayers want me to do. They want them gone, so I’m going to try to get rid of them.”

The committee also voted to look at a pilot project for separated bike lanes on Richmond St. between Sherbourne and Simcoe Sts.

But it was the recommendation to remove lanes, especially on Jarvis, that riled cycling advocates who called the committee’s move part of a “war on the bike.”

“Today is an extremely disappointing day for cycling advocacy and public safety in general in Toronto,” said Andrea Garcia of the 1,100-member Toronto Cyclists Union.

“This is the war on the bike,” said Garcia, who stressed there was no advance notice that Parker’s motion was coming and thus no time to mobilize opposition.

Parker (Ward 26, Don Valley West) said what became the Jarvis St. bike lanes, which opened last July, had initially been billed as a beautification project for the historic street.

When the matter got to the David Miller-led council in May 2009, it was to remove the reversible centre traffic lane from Jarvis and add bike lanes from Queen to Charles Sts.

“The decision was done without the ordinary consultation process,” Parker told reporters. “Somehow in the midst of the discussions, council shifted gears and left all the pavement in place and put in bike lanes instead of streetscaping.”

Parker said Sherbourne St. is a more suitable cycling route.

The staff report said car traffic on Jarvis has remained constant since the bike lanes went in but cyclists increased from an average of 290 to 890 per weekday.

Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the public works committee, said motorists weren’t happy notwithstanding the staff report’s conclusion that car traffic hasn’t been curtailed.

“I think the reality is there are a number of individuals in the city who use Jarvis St. and this has been a sore point for them. They would like those lanes removed, and I think that’s where we’re headed.”

Minnan-Wong said Jarvis is a major north-south arterial route for cars while that’s not the case with Sherbourne, which is his preferred cycling route.

“We’ve got a congestion and traffic problem,” he said. “This administration would like to address that. Creating more congestion is not something we would like to do. We’d like to ease congestion in the city.”

Paul Moloney, Urban Affairs Reporter

Related: Want more jobs? Build more bike lanes

Comments

[lenscrafter]

Having biked around downtown alot last year.. and yes, coming to a full stop, not cutting along the side of cars when stopped, alot of cyclists (NOT ALL) I noticed really reminded of primates swinging off the trees. ie. Hopping curves like its nothing, zipping AROUND cars to whichever pleased them, no stopping, weasling their way in whenever they found a opening (unlike a Monkey, where it's natural to fine a opening in a tree).

[Jean-Philippe]

I bike to work in Scarborough from downtown most of week (50km round trip). So far I have not had any issues with cars. I will even say that in general car respect me and give me a little space. Note that I'm not riding any bike lanes as there are practically none on my route and I try to use streets with two lanes so that car can pass me.
ON THE OTHER SIDE, I used to bike from downtown east to west crossing the financial district every morning and evening. That was another story. I used to get honk at least once a day because I was in the middle of the lane although I was going the speed of traffic. Way to many times I've encounter some jaywalkers crossing trough the lined cars. I'm not even going to say anything about cab drivers here...
The problem here is not so much about having bike lanes but educate the people better that is everybody: pedestrian, bikers and motorists. That being done, we can build real bike lanes. I'm not talking about painting the road but real posts where cyclists are protected and cars can't park.

[Sue]

I ride the Jarvis bike lanes almost every day, including in winter. If you see empty bike lanes at that time of year, it's because the city doesn't regularly plow them (nor keep them clear of debris the rest of the year). I feel so valued. Here's hoping cyclists unite on this and make their feelings VERY evident before July 12. And after, as well, if necessary.

[Ron P]

I can't even imagine how many less problems there would be if:
- drivers treated cyclists properly
- cyclists stopped re-passing vehicles on the right hand side at stop lights

IF those two things were to happen, cyclists wouldn't always be angry at drivers, and drivers wouldn't always be angry about re-passing the same cyclist for the 50th time.

IF you want to be treated as a vehicle on the road, stop re-passing other vehicles at red lights.

I've been on both sides, a cyclist and a motorist, and found that both of the above points make cycling easier on both parties.

[Greg Hume]

Jarvis street was a silly idea and so was Wellesley from Bay to Parliament. Traffic is stopped from Sherbourne to Bay every day from 3pm as no left turn lanes are left. Wellesley was too narrow to add a bike lane. Sherbourne is ideal but the potholes are so big they are dangerous to riders.

[Rich Reist]

Wait a minute, we don't have money to continue to provide core services to the citizens of Toronto but we have money to waste on removing bike lanes? Of course we haven't seen Ford do anything but spend like drunken sailor since his time in office, first cutting the vehicle registration tax, then insisting on an un-needed subway in a low density suburb that could be more than adequately served for the forseeable future by much cheaper LRTs, then insisting that the Eglinton line get buried all the way across the city in spite of the fact that outside of the city centre Eglinton is more than wide enough for a surface LRT without impacting card drivers. Plus all this transit spending is going to greatly increase the TTC's annual operating costs multiplying Ford's wasteful spending many times over, subways should help pay for the rest of the system but on Sheppard its a money drain due to extremely low ridership and burying the Eglinton line will greatly increase the cost of maintaining all those un-needed elevators and escalators. Now Ford wants to spend money to remove bike lanes that have been shown to have no impact on car traffic in the city. When exactly is Ford going to get around to doing what he was elected to do and get Toronto's spending under control?

[Lela]

It's OK to go after wasteful gravy train at City Hall, like buying espresso coffee machines for your office at the public's expense, but to cut off your nose to spite your face by eliminating "wasteful" bike lanes??? That's the best way to regress Toronto to the 1970's mentality when the car was the only mode of transportation worth saving. Shame on the visionless and leaderless councillors who don't know what progress is, if it hit them in the face.

[ava]

Hey Tony, I do bike in winter (at least when they don't plow the snow into the bike lanes anyways). If we had proper cycling infrastructure and better motorists more people would ride in winter. If your choice is taking the TTC or biking, waiting on a corner for a streetcar is way worse than peddling

[Mike]

Ford... What an idiot. Most backwards city.