[robmausser]

But I think the important point is that there is a fairly large number of European cities with a network of streets in the downtown core that are set aside for pedestrians.

Heck even almost every other major city in North America has a couple of streets downtown that are only open to pedestrians. Thats not even a strictly European thing.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The King Street Transit Priority Corridor in Toronto was a "compromise" because of the suburban, anti-pedestrian councillors wouldn't agree otherwise. See link. Would have been better if it were streetcars, cyclists, and pedestrians only.

The King Street streetcar ROW is deadly for cyclists. Anytime I’ve stopped my bike I find a streetcar a few inches from my left pedal.

 

[H4F33Z]

The Port Union reconstruction project got a quiet update. The new changes are:

-Upgrade of bike lanes from painted buffer to raised cycle tracks.
-Removal of consistent centre turn lane.
-Connection to Sheppard/Kingston (hopefully co-ordination with MTO reconstruction)

Honestly, this is so much better than the original plan. The old plan was a freeway, this is a complete street, and it was only possible by the amazing advocates and the hard-working cycle and ped department who were probably scrambling to make the new design
after maybe only a few months of people complaining of the original? That's a first!

Not to mention how if they went through with this and put shovels in the ground. They would have to regret their mistakes for the next 20 years and have the worst type of road ever conceived in a residential area.

Register

 

[nfitz]

The King Street streetcar ROW is deadly for cyclists. Anytime I’ve stopped my bike I find a streetcar a few inches from my left pedal.

I don't think they'd ever intended it to be heavily used by bikes - especially with the safer Adelaide and Richmond bike panes nearby. The big increase in bike traffic along King may have been a surprise.

It will be interesting to see how well that works, when they build the final layout, with raised platforms right to the edge ... or perhaps they'll now do some kind of elevated bike lane, like you see on Sherbourne, between the bus stops and the roadway.

 

[TRONto]

The King Street streetcar ROW is deadly for cyclists. Anytime I’ve stopped my bike I find a streetcar a few inches from my left pedal.

I actually really like it because there are no cars. I consider it a cycling road for that reason. You do need to cycle with awareness of the streetcars but I don't consider that a big deal

 

[evandyk]

Yeah, I don't find King to be dangerous. You can find yourself close to the streetcars, but they move fairly slowly and predictably, unlike cars.

 

[Northern Light]

 

[W. K. Lis]

Yeah, I don't find King to be dangerous. You can find yourself close to the streetcars, but they move fairly slowly and predictably, unlike cars.

Normally, streetcars don't bounce around or swerve into other lanes of traffic. Buses need more space in the streets for that reason.

 

[W. K. Lis]

This is what the suburban councillors are afraid of..

From link.

 

[Admiral Beez]

This is what the suburban councillors are afraid of..

Once again…. aspiration without ideas on implementation is just urban planner porn

…what bugs me about the fanboy Toronto-needs-to-be-NL vids and posts is that they always focus on the benefits of the end result but never address the means to get there within the confines of Toronto and Ontario’s unique governmental processes. We don’t need any more evidence or convincing that what the NL does would be beneficial to Toronto and the GTA, it’s just repetitive urbanplaner porn now. We don’t need the what or the why, we need the how. A pox on the next person who posts a NL is great vid without any ideas on implementation in TO.

A pox I say.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Normally, streetcars don't bounce around or swerve into other lanes of traffic. Buses need more space in the streets for that reason.

No, but the concrete planters along the tracks put you within inches of passing streetcars.

 

[WillTo]

Once again…. aspiration without ideas on implementation is just urban planner porn

I am here for the urban planner porn.

 

[afransen]

I think it's unfair to say that those types of videos are completely devoid of ideas of how to implement. It tells the story of how things were not perfect in NL either, not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good, build cycling networks--not just lanes, etc. A lot of the trouble we have in NA with cycling infra is that we are using the wrong paradigm, that every busy car road should get cycle lanes. You want the opposite--keep bikes away from cars, give them direct paths close to destinations, and give them priority. And intersections are more important than midblock features when it comes to safety. In NA, we completely throw our hands up at intersections and give up on safety.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I am here for the urban planner porn.

It is cool, and I enjoy the NL. Here's my vid on a rental bike through Amsterdam. I could do within the Vespas riding past - how is that legal?

But urban planner porn won't make the situation better here in Toronto without some ideas on implementation within our unique political environment. We have a province that sets the HTA and rules for roads, a municipal government with more suburban councilors than urban ones. A multimillionaire Mayor who's likely to never leave his driver and commute on a bicycle. How do we get NL like bike infrastructure within this system we have?

 

[W. K. Lis]

It is cool, and I enjoy the NL. Here's my vid on a rental bike through Amsterdam. I could do within the Vespas riding past - how is that legal?

But urban planner porn won't make the situation better here in Toronto without some ideas on implementation within our unique political environment. We have a province that sets the HTA and rules for roads, a municipal government with more suburban councilors than urban ones. A multimillionaire Mayor who's likely to never leave his driver and commute on a bicycle. How do we get NL like bike infrastructure within this system we have?

At least Mayor Tory uses public transit normally to and from city hall. Unlike Mayor Ford, who only used public transit for photo ops.