News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 02, 2020
A Message to Our Readers
 10K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
EarthCam Time-Lapse Documents Rafael Viñoly-Designed New Stanford Hospital Construction
 42K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
Resort Town
 6.1K     0 

Meanwhile, over at the Dundas staircase…

IMG_7054.jpeg
IMG_7058.jpeg
 
Sigh.........a crew of 8, two actively working on each flight of stairs with one person bringing tools/materials as required to each team, and one supervisor would knock this out in a week except for the landscaping....but there are a whopping 2 people working...
 
pawlyshyn said:
Oops! Looks like someone miscalculated on the Harbord cycle track — water pooling after today’s rain and just missing the drain by inches. It’s sure to be a safety issue in winter. Westbound Harbord south of Central Tech, opposite Bampot.
View attachment 695993Who should be notified at the city?
Click to expand...
I hit that one when I did my ride through a few weeks back, though it wasn't as bad. I should have more specifically flagged it. Thanks for mentioning and hopefully it will be dealt with.
 
DSCToronto said:
I spy with my little eye..... a runnel.

View attachment 697328
Click to expand...
It's too bad they way they do runnels in this town, they always place them way over at one side, which means you have to kind of lean your bike out from the railing to make it work. I think for many wider or bulkier loads they won't work at all. I've seen other countries do it differently, making them wider, or even more centrally located on the staircase, but I assume in the rather staid and cautious approach of Canadian regulations and design that would be seen as creating risk for other stair users.

Here is an aftermarket (cheap looking design from BC, that at least pushes the channel a foot out from the railing:

1763747693722.png


Here is another one (before/after) from Seattle that places the runnel to the outside of a railing making it basically a dedicated "lane" for cyclists, though if none were coming anyone else can use it, and have access to the railing. I think in standalone stairs like the Dundas Bridge this couldn't quite work as they need to be fenced in to prevent anyone from falling off the sides.

1763747825244.png


Here is the ultimate: from Haarlem, NL (of course), showing two wide runnels, both located mid-width allowing both ascending and descending users to use whichever side they feel more comfortable with. And they both have sturdy edges to prevent the wheels from rolling off. The far left of this photo shows how someone who needed one hand on the railing and the other on the bike could potentially manage as well. With the toronto design, I don't think that is ever really possible, as the railing and runnel are both to the same side.

1763747946439.png


Just for a comparison, here is the Wallace Ave pedestrian bridge off Dundas West, showing the super narrow runnel pushed up quite close to the railing (though it has a bit of room due to that ledge). It's also not useful for many wider tired bikes, unlike the Dutch and other options above that look like they could handle even some fat bike tires.

Screenshot 2025-11-21 at 1.03.16 PM.png
 
UntitledCyclist said:
It's too bad they way they do runnels in this town, they always place them way over at one side, which means you have to kind of lean your bike out from the railing to make it work. I think for many wider or bulkier loads they won't work at all. I've seen other countries do it differently, making them wider, or even more centrally located on the staircase, but I assume in the rather staid and cautious approach of Canadian regulations and design that would be seen as creating risk for other stair users.

Here is an aftermarket (cheap looking design from BC, that at least pushes the channel a foot out from the railing:

View attachment 697373

Here is another one (before/after) from Seattle that places the runnel to the outside of a railing making it basically a dedicated "lane" for cyclists, though if none were coming anyone else can use it, and have access to the railing. I think in standalone stairs like the Dundas Bridge this couldn't quite work as they need to be fenced in to prevent anyone from falling off the sides.

View attachment 697374

Here is the ultimate: from Haarlem, NL (of course), showing two wide runnels, both located mid-width allowing both ascending and descending users to use whichever side they feel more comfortable with. And they both have sturdy edges to prevent the wheels from rolling off. The far left of this photo shows how someone who needed one hand on the railing and the other on the bike could potentially manage as well. With the toronto design, I don't think that is ever really possible, as the railing and runnel are both to the same side.

View attachment 697375

Just for a comparison, here is the Wallace Ave pedestrian bridge off Dundas West, showing the super narrow runnel pushed up quite close to the railing (though it has a bit of room due to that ledge). It's also not useful for many wider tired bikes, unlike the Dutch and other options above that look like they could handle even some fat bike tires.

View attachment 697377
Click to expand...

This is the style on many Hamilton escarpment stairs:

1763751789191.png

Source: https://keepitupdavid.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/chedoke-stairs-hamilton.jpeg

Runnels are to the side, but a bit diff. than Toronto's
 
Northern Light said:
This is the style on many Hamilton escarpment stairs:

View attachment 697389
Source: https://keepitupdavid.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/chedoke-stairs-hamilton.jpeg

Runnels are to the side, but a bit diff. than Toronto's
Click to expand...
Definitely not the worst. This actually looks a bit like the design at the "Mid Humber Gap" staircase that you need to take to connect the Humber Trail around Scarlett & Weston Rd. I wonder if they had the same contractor/designer.

I like that it's on both sides. I don't love the lack of any ridge, though that does probably make it easier to do with wider tires.

P.S. Are those three apples under the Bruce Trail sign just for grabs, or maybe they landed there when they fell from a tree! :)
 
Shared this in the Finch West LRT thread, but felt it should also be posted here.

--

Jun Nogami wrote about the bike lanes along the Finch West LRT corridor earlier today. One irritating thing which stood out was how the multi-use path on Norfinch doesn't connect with the Finch Hydro Corridor!

jnyyz.wordpress.com

Closing the loop: the northwest corner

After the recent closing the loop ride, I wanted to follow up with a ride that explored the northwest corner. I had heard that there were new bike lanes along Finch that were put in as part of the …
jnyyz.wordpress.com jnyyz.wordpress.com
 
TwoWheelPoli said:
Shared this in the Finch West LRT thread, but felt it should also be posted here.

--

Jun Nogami wrote about the bike lanes along the Finch West LRT corridor earlier today. One irritating thing which stood out was how the multi-use path on Norfinch doesn't connect with the Finch Hydro Corridor!

jnyyz.wordpress.com

Closing the loop: the northwest corner

After the recent closing the loop ride, I wanted to follow up with a ride that explored the northwest corner. I had heard that there were new bike lanes along Finch that were put in as part of the …
jnyyz.wordpress.com jnyyz.wordpress.com
Click to expand...
Really good, concise and detailed as always by Jun! I agree with his assessment of the hit/miss Finch bike lanes. They are sort of protected, but not really, and have multiple spots where they just become sidewalk or a messed up MUP with no paint markings. The construction pylons and debris have also been really poorly managed along that whole stretch. It's great the line 6 might open soon, but they should get the rest of the ROWs in order too,
 
UntitledCyclist said:
It's too bad they way they do runnels in this town, they always place them way over at one side, which means you have to kind of lean your bike out from the railing to make it work. I think for many wider or bulkier loads they won't work at all. I've seen other countries do it differently, making them wider, or even more centrally located on the staircase, but I assume in the rather staid and cautious approach of Canadian regulations and design that would be seen as creating risk for other stair users.

Here is an aftermarket (cheap looking design from BC, that at least pushes the channel a foot out from the railing:

View attachment 697373

Here is another one (before/after) from Seattle that places the runnel to the outside of a railing making it basically a dedicated "lane" for cyclists, though if none were coming anyone else can use it, and have access to the railing. I think in standalone stairs like the Dundas Bridge this couldn't quite work as they need to be fenced in to prevent anyone from falling off the sides.

View attachment 697374

Here is the ultimate: from Haarlem, NL (of course), showing two wide runnels, both located mid-width allowing both ascending and descending users to use whichever side they feel more comfortable with. And they both have sturdy edges to prevent the wheels from rolling off. The far left of this photo shows how someone who needed one hand on the railing and the other on the bike could potentially manage as well. With the toronto design, I don't think that is ever really possible, as the railing and runnel are both to the same side.

View attachment 697375

Just for a comparison, here is the Wallace Ave pedestrian bridge off Dundas West, showing the super narrow runnel pushed up quite close to the railing (though it has a bit of room due to that ledge). It's also not useful for many wider tired bikes, unlike the Dutch and other options above that look like they could handle even some fat bike tires.

View attachment 697377
Click to expand...

I wish the runnels weren't only thought of from the cyclist perspective though. Here is an example of a double runnel setup that works for both bicycles and strollers:

1764002612945.png

image source

This summer was the first time I had to navigate the city with the stroller. It made me realize just how stroller-unfriendly a lot of places are around the city. And the stairs on the pedestrian pathways are the worst for that. While I can just pick up and carry the entire stroller with the baby all its contents up/down stairs, my wife can't. And she is forced to pre-plan her routes carefully when she goes out by herself.
 
Full Metal Junkie said:
I wish the runnels weren't only thought of from the cyclist perspective though. Here is an example of a double runnel setup that works for both bicycles and strollers:

View attachment 698424
image source

This summer was the first time I had to navigate the city with the stroller. It made me realize just how stroller-unfriendly a lot of places are around the city. And the stairs on the pedestrian pathways are the worst for that. While I can just pick up and carry the entire stroller with the baby all its contents up/down stairs, my wife can't. And she is forced to pre-plan her routes carefully when she goes out by herself.
Click to expand...
Yes, those are great. I was going to mention that design as well, but my post was long enough!

Not just for strollers but grocery carts, and delivery hand-carts as well. I feel like those are somewhat more common in Eastern Europe, but I haven't looked too deeply.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top