I agree that Dutch standards are the best in the world. Unfortunately space constraints in many places downtown would preclude them, but there are many places where they could be implemented.
Here are some interesting posts from a blog I frequent, which provide visuals of how much space is needed for Dutch cycle paths.
At first it seems that Dutch cycle paths take up much more space than they actually do. In reality, the main difference is that their paths tend to be 2-2.5m wide, while ours tend to be 1.5-2m wide. The space taken up by the separating island does not count, since that's a feature that is already present on our streets: that's where all the lightposts and traffic signs are. It just needs to be relocated from the right side of the bike lane to the left side.
It irks me when a new road is built, or existing one rebuilt, and they just throw in the same on-street bike lanes. The recent Dufferin St rebuild in York region particularly bugs me, so much room for off-street bike lanes, which could have been built at probably the same cost of the rebuild. Same with the Eglinton LRT plan (before it became underground) which had on-street paths when there was plenty of room for off-street lanes.
These are both examples which really bother me. I live on that section of Dufferin Street and the part that really gets me is that roughly half of all cyclists still ride on the sidewalk, even though the bike lanes are 1.9m wide and are statistically safer than the sidewalk. But you can't say they didn't build any separated bike lanes. To cross under the CN railway, the bike lanes leave the roadway and move adjacent to the sidewalk (but with a really poor transition from the on-street lanes). Those sections are also terribly paved and have been lumpy since day one.
I would have liked to see the entire street built in the manner of the southbound bike lane just south of the CN bridge. The bike lane is located on the same vertical level as the sidewalk, but separated from it by a row of trees.
You can catch a glimpse of it at 0:20 in this video I made a while ago.
[video=youtube;RQkB4iZGXtE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQkB4iZGXtE&feature=channel_video_title[/video]
If they had built the entire length of the street like that (but with better transitions and paving), all the people who ride on the sidewalk would probably be riding in the bike lane. Additionally, northbound cyclists would not have to stop at the traffic light at Glen Shields south, and cyclists would not be affected by the buses making stops.
And yeah, Eglinton avenue, especially near Black Creek, Jane and Leslie, has obscene amounts of space.