[constructo]

Willowdale Ave. is going to be reconstructed (road, curbs, sidewalks) from Bishop Ave. to Empress Ave. starting in August. A new buffered bike lane has been proposed for each side of the road from Bishop to Empress.
A public meeting will take place Mon. May 13 from 6 pm to 8 pm at Earl Haig school, 100 Princess Ave. and after the meeting, information material will be posted at toronto.ca/cycling/willowdale

 

[11th]

Willowdale Ave. is going to be reconstructed (road, curbs, sidewalks) from Bishop Ave. to Empress Ave. starting in August. A new buffered bike lane has been proposed for each side of the road from Bishop to Empress.
A public meeting will take place Mon. May 13 from 6 pm to 8 pm at Earl Haig school, 100 Princess Ave. and after the meeting, information material will be posted at toronto.ca/cycling/willowdale

From toronto.ca/cycling/willowdale
"This design would require the removal of dedicated left turn lanes at Byng Avenue and Empress Avenue – left turns would still be allowed from the travel lane. Traffic is expected to continue to flow as it does now, with a few extra seconds delay at some intersections on occasion."

I don't know if that is entirely true (speaking of peak hours). They should either find ways to keep the dedicated left turn lane, or ban left turns during rush at those intersections.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

From toronto.ca/cycling/willowdale
"This design would require the removal of dedicated left turn lanes at Byng Avenue and Empress Avenue – left turns would still be allowed from the travel lane. Traffic is expected to continue to flow as it does now, with a few extra seconds delay at some intersections on occasion."

I don't know if that is entirely true (speaking of peak hours). They should either find ways to keep the dedicated left turn lane, or ban left turns during rush at those intersections.

Do keep in mind between the 2km stretch of Willowdale from Sheppard to Finch; only 2 of the 19 east-west side streets, namely Empress/ParkHome Ave & Chuch/Churchill Ave, goes straight through intersecting with Doris, Yonge & Beecroft,... all other dead-end or loop-out before Doris & Beecroft. Only exception is Byng Ave which continue through Doris & stops at Yonge St So this gives you an idea of how important left turns at Empress & Byng are for Willowdale Ave traffic trying to reach Yonge.

By forcing every left-turn vehicles to block the one travel lane creating a back-up of straight through traffic,.... they'll win another battle in the War On Cars,.... "they" refers to "City of Toronto Transportation Services" - don't let the name fool you,... they're controlled by anti-car lefties from top down, including their General Manager Barbara "Cars No Longer King" Grey

New transportation boss says car is no longer king

Toronto’s queen of the road, freshly arrived from Seattle, seen as ally to cyclists, urbanists

www.thestar.com

Oh, and BTW, the bike lanes were supposed to be installed on Willowdale between Sheppard to Finch Hydro Corridor years ago,... but City of Toronto Transportation Services kept on stalling it,.... Why??? City of Toronto Transportation Services are afraid the low cycling volume after installation of bike lanes on Willowdale will reflect badly on their desire for Transform Yonge (lane reduction on Yonge from 6 lanes to 4 lanes in favour of cycle tracks (protected bike lanes raised to sidewalk) & wider centre median.


Here's Willowdale Ave & Empress Ave - Notice the wide grassy boulevard between curb & sidewalk (highlighted in red) - on both sides of Willowdale Ave that can easily host bike lanes while keeping Left-Turn lanes on Willowdale Ave:

Willowdale Ave & Byng Ave - Notice the wide grassy boulevard between curb & sidewalk (highlighted in red) - on both sides of Willowdale Ave that can easily host bike lanes while keeping Left-Turn lanes on Willowdale Ave:

 

[ADRM]

From toronto.ca/cycling/willowdale
"This design would require the removal of dedicated left turn lanes at Byng Avenue and Empress Avenue – left turns would still be allowed from the travel lane. Traffic is expected to continue to flow as it does now, with a few extra seconds delay at some intersections on occasion."

I don't know if that is entirely true (speaking of peak hours).

Luckily, we have demand traffic modeling to confirm or reject such assertions.

 

[ADRM]

"City of Toronto Transportation Services" - don't let the name fool you,... they're controlled by anti-car lefties

This is patently absurd if you've had any direct interaction with Transportation; they're seen by, as you say, "anti-car lefties" (which, sure, reveal your biases) as a massive and entrenched impediment to enacting more progressive (and safer) policies precisely because they're so stuck in an outdated and harmful, car-first mentality.

 

[amnesiajune]

From toronto.ca/cycling/willowdale
"This design would require the removal of dedicated left turn lanes at Byng Avenue and Empress Avenue – left turns would still be allowed from the travel lane. Traffic is expected to continue to flow as it does now, with a few extra seconds delay at some intersections on occasion."

I don't know if that is entirely true (speaking of peak hours). They should either find ways to keep the dedicated left turn lane, or ban left turns during rush at those intersections.

It's just a buffered bike lane, not a separated one. If a car is stopped waiting to turn left, cars will be able to use the bike lane (when no bike is nearby, obviously) to get around the car that's waiting.

Gerrard and Wellesley East both work the same way - they're separated bike lanes, but there's no separation close to intersections to make this possible. It's an ideal solution even if it upsets both the anti-car and anti-bike crazies. Another option would be to just use sharrows where the left turn is needed, like the city's done on Wellesley East approaching Yonge.

 

[Northern Light]

By forcing every left-turn vehicles to block the one travel lane creating a back-up of straight through traffic,.... they'll win another battle in the War On Cars,.... "they" refers to "City of Toronto Transportation Services" - don't let the name fool you,... they're controlled by anti-car lefties from top down, including their General Manager Barbara "Cars No Longer King" Grey

New transportation boss says car is no longer king

Toronto’s queen of the road, freshly arrived from Seattle, seen as ally to cyclists, urbanists

www.thestar.com

Complete and utter twaddle.

Barbara is an American, you know, the car-is-king country........

She heads a department that spends vastly more on accommodating cars than on pedestrians or cyclists.

Dial back the hyperbole by an order of magnitude please.

Willowdale Ave & Byng Ave - Notice the wide grassy boulevard between curb & sidewalk - on both sides of Willowdale Ave that can easily host bike lanes while keeping Left-Turn lanes on Willowdale Ave
View attachment 184000

So, let me get t his straight, you want to remove the permeable areas that help reduce flooding, take away the trees that not only clean the air, but also increase property values........and you think this will go over well w/the homeowners?

Okay then.......

 

[ADRM]

If a car is stopped waiting to turn left, cars will be able to use the bike lane (when no bike is nearby, obviously) to get around the car that's waiting.

Depends on how they build it; if there's a dashed line on the car-side of the buffer, then yes; if there's a solid line, then no.

 

[amnesiajune]

Depends on how they build it; if there's a dashed line on the car-side of the buffer, then yes; if there's a solid line, then no.

It shouldn't matter how much paint they use, especially in a city that seemingly has no standards for it. If there's no separation and there's nobody on a bike in sight, it's safe to use it to get around a car that's stopped.

 

[ADRM]

It shouldn't matter how much paint they use, especially in a city that seemingly has no standards for it. If there's no separation and there's nobody on a bike in sight, it's safe to use it to get around a car that's stopped.

I don't disagree with you on the anticipated outcome; just conveying my knowledge of the letter of the law. The City certainly has a whole whack of really awful transportation policies and standards (both related and unrelated to bikes).

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

This is patently absurd if you've had any direct interaction with Transportation; they're seen by, as you say, "anti-car lefties" (which, sure, reveal your biases) as a massive and entrenched impediment to enacting more progressive (and safer) policies precisely because they're so stuck in an outdated and harmful, car-first mentality.

You do know what they say about "assume",.... FYI - I've had many direct interaction with City of Toronto's Transportation Services over the years as I've advocated & presented solutions for better pedestrian, cycling and vehicular traffic infrastructure throughout Toronto.

Another, FYI - I was part of North York Cycling & Pedestrian Committee that advocated for bike lanes on Willowdale Ave & participated in many consultations with City staff. One of our strongest argument for bike lanes on Willowdale was where needed (intersection with left turn lanes) - the wide grassy boulevard present mostly on both side of Willowdale Ave would provide more than sufficient room for bike lanes without any lost of any traffic lanes or parking spaces. But now city staff are focused only on a cheap paint job between the curbs.

I stand by my statement about the current City of Toronto Transportation Services being led by "anti-car leftie" (aka: General Manager Barbara Gray & her sidekick Jacquelyn Hayward Gulati). Their department's proposal to eliminate the Left Turn lanes on Willowdale Ave at Empress Ave & Byng Ave proves it! Photos of the intersection in my previous post, clearly shows there's more than sufficient room on the grassy boulevard to provide cycling infrastructure at these intersections while keeping the Left-Turn Lanes,... this would allow Cyclist, Drivers & Pedestrians to all safely co-exist with safe infrastructure for all - instead of making every project a war between the 3,.... but God forbid, they'll have to shift the curb over to widen the intersection & lose a few square metre of dandelion filled grassy boulevard.


As for "enacting more progressive (and safer) policies",...
- Willowdale Ave is the only continuous Minor Arterial Road (generally no stop signs, just signalize intersections) from Steeles to Sheppard between Bathurst & Bayview - usually offering a better alternative for drivers than other Minor Arterial Roads like Senlac, Beecorft, Doris Ave

- Any elimination of Left Turn lane on Willowdale & Empress and/or Byng Ave will create more gridlock congestion at those intersection - encouraging both left-turning vehicles & straight-through traffic to detour into the surrounding neighbourhoods more to avoid those intersections.- NOTE: surrounding neighbourhoods are full of Local Roads & Collectors that rely on 2-way & All-way stop at intersection - where drivers are prone to do Rolling-Stop now (just like Cyclist's Idaho-Stop) - this will create a far more dangerous situation for pedestrians in these neighbourhoods!

 

[amnesiajune]

I don't disagree with you on the anticipated outcome; just conveying my knowledge of the letter of the law.

By the letter of the law, it's totally legal under s. 150 (1) of the HTA. As long as there's not someone else in the way, you can use bike lanes to pass a car that's turning left.

 

[amnesiajune]

Any elimination of Left Turn lane on Willowdale & Empress and/or Byng Ave will create more gridlock congestion at those intersection - encouraging both left-turning vehicles & straight-through traffic to detour into the surrounding neighbourhoods more to avoid those intersections.

If people in those neighbourhoods don't want traffic to detour on their side streets, they can ask for turn restrictions or barriers to stop traffic from using their neighbourhoods in that way. Of course, in all likelihood they won't because whatever restrictions are made would apply to them as well, not just to people driving through.

 

[ADRM]

By the letter of the law, it's totally legal under s. 150 (1) of the HTA. As long as there's not someone else in the way, you can use bike lanes to pass a car that's turning left.

I'm conveying what I was told by the head of the city's cycling department (who came from Transportation Services), who said their interpretation of the HTA is that it is legal for drivers to merge into a bike lane only where there is a dashed line approaching an intersection, but not where the line is solid (which is why they currently maintain both treatments).

I pointed out to him that this inconsistency is very confusing for both cyclists and drivers, and he sort of just gave me a big ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

If people in those neighbourhoods don't want traffic to detour on their side streets, they can ask for turn restrictions or barriers to stop traffic from using their neighbourhoods in that way. Of course, in all likelihood they won't because whatever restrictions are made would apply to them as well, not just to people driving through.

The ratepayers group directly southwest of Emerald Park condo ask for and gets many turn restrictions into the neighbourhood; the problem is drivers still break the rules because Police are almost never around to enforce them! Then waze compound issue by directing more drivers into these neighbourhoods.