Sherbourne St. bike lane looks like no bargain for cyclists

The much touted new dedicated bike lane on Sherbourne St. isn’t even finished and it’s already being used as parking for delivery vehicles.

With the bike lanes on Jarvis St. soon to be closed, there’s a lot of anticipation over the dedicated lane under construction on the west side of Sherbourne, which has a curb-style barrier to separate cyclists from vehicles.

So far, the curb has been constructed from north of Gerrard St. to south of Bloor St., but already the flaws in its construction are apparent.

Lawyer Alan Heisey, a former chair of the Toronto Police Service Board and a dedicated cyclist, emailed me a photo of a UPS delivery truck that had driven across the barrier and was parked in the bike lane.

Heisey noted that the city recently passed a bylaw to allow for a $150 ticket for parking, stopping or standing in a bike lane, adding, “the bigger question is, will the police enforce the new bylaw?”

The curb that separates the cycling lane from traffic looks to be less than six inches high and is rounded on top, making it easy for cars - and even easier for large trucks – to drive over it and pull into the bike lane to make a delivery or pickup.

It is all but an invitation to scofflaw parkers to misuse the lanes, and does not appear to provide enough of a barrier between bikes and vehicles to make cyclists feel safe, which was supposed to be a key reason for building it.

More to come on the Sherbourne bike lane in an upcoming column.

   

     

 

 

 

 

         

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

   

Comments

[sheenaghm]

Not surprising. Toronto has dragged its feet with respect to creating a cycling infrastructure from Day 1. When I saw those bollards, I thought what a waste of money. And as someone who commutes a couple of days a week to work on a bike (drive the other ones)- I will never take Sherbourne regardless; I'm heading downtown at 4:30 a.m. and that is NOT a street (from prior experience) I want to be on by myself at that time.