E-bikes banned from Martin Goodman Trail

Conventional bicycles pass a sign prohibiting e-bikes on the Martin Goodman Trail. (David Cooper/The Toronto Star)

A sign that went up quietly last week prohibits electric bikes from using the Martin Goodman Trail.

Perched at the entrance near Bathurst St. and Queens Quay W., the sign is raising the ire of electric bike (or e-bike) users.

The ban is “inconsistent” with the shift to greener ways of travel, said Lock Hughes, treasurer of the Toronto Electric Riders Association, which represents users of electric two-wheelers.

He added that the ban on “motor power assisted bikes” is vague and can refer to anything from an e-bike to a scooter or Segway, which are all different sizes and speeds. E-bikes generally resemble conventional bicycles but with a small motor.

Off-road bike trails hit a bump

It’s amazing what Toronto can do when there’s money at stake.

By the end of the month, the city will open 34.2 kilometres of new off-road bicycle trails (see below), the result of federal and provincial infrastructure money that had to be spent by the end of the year. The $23 million project was funded in part by the city, which put in $10 million.

The trails run through parts of the Finch hydro corridor across the top of the city, the Gatineau hydro corridor in Scarborough and the Leaside rail corridor.

It’s a 20 per cent increase in the city’s off-road trails. And it means a cyclist could bike off-road all the way from downtown to the Toronto Zoo.

Well, almost.

Because the infrastructure money had to be spent quickly, the city installed the trails where it was easiest and not all of them connect.

“Everyone thinks, understandably, that putting three-and-a-half-metre-wide asphalt within a wide corridor wouldn’t be a major challenge, but with all the utilities, the archaeological issues and the major (road) crossings, there have been some real challenges,” says John Mende, the city’s director of transportation infrastructure management. “But we’ve managed to address them all,” he says.

Mende expects the city to build more off-road trails in the future.

After the debate over the Jarvis St. bike lanes and the removal of lanes on Pharmacy and Birchmount, Mende says “there is a reshifting of priorities.”

“We’ll focus more on our trails projects, which is essentially our priority right now.”

Off-road trails were also a priority for Mayor Rob Ford, who promised during last year’s election campaign to spend $50 million building 100 kilometres. But only $8 million is in the 2012 budget for the city’s bike infrastructure program.

For the latest trails, construction workers had to deal with pipelines and fiber optic cables that weren’t identified on any plans.

Thirteen signals were installed where the trails crossed busy streets, because tunnels or bridges would have been costly and triggered time-consuming environmental assessments.

And in the western portion of the Finch trail, staff worked with representatives of the Huron-Wendat First Nations to find a way to recognize the Parson’s archaeological site, a former village dating back to the latter part of the 1500s. In commemoration, the section of the trail between Jane and Keele Sts. has been signed as the "Huron-Wendat Trail".

Mendes says his department will report on future plans to the works committee in November.

Considerations include bridging the gaps in the Finch hydro corridor and building a trail along the Scarborough waterfront.

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The city is opening 34.2 kilometres of paved cycling trails through hydro corridors and abandoned rail corridors.

FINCH HYDRO CORRIDOR

1. Norfinch Dr. to Dufferin St.: There’s still a fair amount of work to be done on this 4.7-kilometre stretch, but John Mende, the city’s director of transportation infrastructure management, says it should be complete by the end of September.

2. Dufferin St. to Yonge St.: The 4.2-kilometre section is almost done. On major streets such as Bathurst, the city is installing a traffic signal at the trail crossing. On minor streets, the city created textured crossings that look like interlocking brick.

3. Kennedy Rd. to Middlefield Rd.: The 4-kilometre stretch is about half done, but should still be complete by Sept. 30.

SCARBOROUGH PIT SPUR

4. Follows an old rail corridor for 2 kilometres that starts around Finch Ave. and Morningside Rd.

CN LEASIDE RAIL CORRIDOR

5. York Mills Rd. to Eglinton Ave.: The 4-kilometre trail goes through the old rail corridor, which is 10-metres wide in some locations. At the north end, it terminates just south of York Mills, but will connect at the south end to the Sunnybrook trail.

GATINEAU HYDRO CORRIDOR

6. Victoria Park to Kennedy Station: Aside from some landscaping, the 2.4-kilometre section is almost complete. Residents started using the trail as soon as the city put down the gravel base for the asphalt.

7. Kennedy station to Ortan Park Rd.: The 7.4-kilometre section will open mid-September.

8. Orton Park Rd. to Sheppard-Meadowvale area: The 5.5 kilometre section is 70 to 80 per cent complete.

- Patty Winsa

Cyclists defend using sidewalk where pedestrian was struck and killed

Cyclists travelling through the North York neighbourhood where Nobu Okamoto, 74, was run down by a bicycle are defending their choice to use the sidewalk, just days after he died from his injuries.

On Thursday afternoon, a Star reporter witnessed at least 10 cyclists on Finch Ave. W., near Sentinel Rd., fail to comply with the bylaw that prohibits riding on sidewalks on vehicles with wheels larger than 61 centimetres in diameter.

Sidewalk cyclists face crackdown

Cyclists drive almost exclusively on the sidewalk on Finch Ave. between Sentinel Rd. and Tobermory Dr. (Bernard Weil/Toronto Star)

Moves to keep bicycles off sidewalks have been in the works for months, but they are too late for a Toronto pedestrian who died this week after being hit by a cyclist.

Nobu Okamoto, 74, was struck by a 33-year-old cyclist on Finch Ave. W. near Sentinel Rd. on Aug. 4. The cyclist remained at the scene and was fined, police said. The fine for cycling on the sidewalk in North York is $3.75.

Family of man hit by cyclist pleads for bike lanes

A man rides on the sidewalk, right past where Brian Okamoto and his sister, Karen, leave flowers and a sign where their dad was hit while walking. (Rick Madonik/The Toronto Star)

Nobu Okamoto spent his final days at Toronto Western Hospital, unable to see, move or speak to the loved ones at his side.

His son, Brian, 35, whispered, “I love you” into his ear while his daughter, Karen, 31, often turned on the radio so her baseball-loving father could listen to the Blue Jays play.

Last Monday, the 74-year-old father of three died, several weeks after he was struck by a cyclist while walking on Finch Ave. W., near Sentinel Rd. He was going to the bank.