Thursday, October 12, 2006
Mount Pleasant Bike Lane Update
Some progress has been made on the Mount Pleasant bike lanes idea.
Here's a summary of what I know about the three councillors that currently represent the wards along Mount Pleasant Avenue:
Cliff Jenkins - Ward 25, the north end of Mount Pleasant
Councillor Jenkins is the first person I heard the idea from. He fully supports bike lanes on Mount Pleasant, and I've heard from him directly a number of times about it. He is encouraging Cyclists in our area to get in touch with each other so we can pass our thoughts on to the other councillors.
Michael Walker - Ward 22, the central part of Mount Pleasant
I don't know his position. His assistant passed on the idea to the Transportation department for analysis.
Kyle Rae - Ward 27, the south end of Mount Pleasant
Kyle Rae supports bike lanes on Mount Pleasant. I was told this by Cliff Jenkins.
Not only because of councillor support, but also because of the way Mount Pleasant is used, I would guess that bike lanes on the north and south sections would be easier to implement than on the central section. The central section has more on-street parking.
Some of the information I have comes from a letter written by a Ward 25 cyclist to the current councillors. The letter led to a quick email discussion. A response came from Daniel Egan, Manager of Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure: They will consider the feasibility of Mount Pleasant bike lanes in the spring of 2007, to be possibly implemented in 2008. (this is far from meaning it is a done deal!)
There will be a lot of factors to be considered, including the fact that Mount Pleasant was not included in the Bike Plan.
-- Updated! --
If you want to want to be contacted in the future about this, send me an email (if you haven't already) or contact Veronica, the ward 25 cyclist mentioned above. Veronica's email address is bikesorblades@yahoo.ca . We'll need opinions from as many people as possible in the near future.
Here's a summary of what I know about the three councillors that currently represent the wards along Mount Pleasant Avenue:
Cliff Jenkins - Ward 25, the north end of Mount Pleasant
Councillor Jenkins is the first person I heard the idea from. He fully supports bike lanes on Mount Pleasant, and I've heard from him directly a number of times about it. He is encouraging Cyclists in our area to get in touch with each other so we can pass our thoughts on to the other councillors.
Michael Walker - Ward 22, the central part of Mount Pleasant
I don't know his position. His assistant passed on the idea to the Transportation department for analysis.
Kyle Rae - Ward 27, the south end of Mount Pleasant
Kyle Rae supports bike lanes on Mount Pleasant. I was told this by Cliff Jenkins.
Not only because of councillor support, but also because of the way Mount Pleasant is used, I would guess that bike lanes on the north and south sections would be easier to implement than on the central section. The central section has more on-street parking.
Some of the information I have comes from a letter written by a Ward 25 cyclist to the current councillors. The letter led to a quick email discussion. A response came from Daniel Egan, Manager of Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure: They will consider the feasibility of Mount Pleasant bike lanes in the spring of 2007, to be possibly implemented in 2008. (this is far from meaning it is a done deal!)
There will be a lot of factors to be considered, including the fact that Mount Pleasant was not included in the Bike Plan.
-- Updated! --
If you want to want to be contacted in the future about this, send me an email (if you haven't already) or contact Veronica, the ward 25 cyclist mentioned above. Veronica's email address is bikesorblades@yahoo.ca . We'll need opinions from as many people as possible in the near future.
Darren J 10/12/2006 12:51:00 p.m.
1 Comments:
I'm very supportive of bike lanes on Mt. Pleasant. I take it most days on my bike from Mt. Pleasant/Eglinton to downtown. The lanes are wide enough to support bike lanes without construction. There are a few narrow spots, but the dirt path on the side could be paved for bike use through those spots. Because the traffic moves quickly on Mt. Pleasant, the bike lanes would make the route much safer for the many cyclists that use it every day. It will also make pedestrian traffic safer - there are many cyclists that use the sidewalk due the lack of bike lanes, which puts pedestrians at risk of injury by a bike. There are some hills, but all other possible north - south routes (Yonge, Bayview, Avenue Rd), have hills also.
