August 12, 2016 

 

The City of Toronto has installed bike lanes (cycle tracks) on Bloor Street from Shaw Street to Avenue Road as part of a year-long pilot project to measure the impact of cycling infrastructure along the busy downtown street.

 

The pilot will be assessed through a comprehensive performance evaluation designed to measure the impact on local businesses, traffic flow, cyclists, pedestrians and parking. 

 

"Whenever we change the makeup of our streets, we must carefully measure and monitor the impact on our community," said Councillor Jaye Robinson (Ward 25 Don Valley West), Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee. “The City will work to keep all modes of traffic moving safely and smoothly during this pilot while ensuring we have credible, verifiable data at the end of this pilot project.”

 

"Bike lanes on Bloor Street are long overdue," said Councillor Joe Cressy (Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina). "I’m confident that the pilot will demonstrate that cycling infrastructure, when it’s done right, is a win-win for everyone. From Shaw Street to Avenue Road, let's ride Bloor safely, together." 

 

"Bike lanes on Bloor will be iconic for the City of Toronto and represent us becoming a leading, sustainable, world city," said Councillor Mike Layton (Ward 19 Trinity-Spadina). "I can't wait to safely ride into work across Bloor with thousands of cyclists each day."

 

Cycle tracks have been installed on Bloor Street with a painted buffer, parked cars and/or flexi-posts to provide separation between cyclists and motor vehicle traffic. One lane of traffic in each direction has been removed and turn lanes have been added at intersections. Street parking will be maintained on one side of the road, alternating sides as appropriate.

 

The City is working with partners to measure and evaluate the pilot project through work including:

 

• a partnership with Miovision and the University of Toronto's Transportation Research Institute to capture and analyze multi-modal traffic data to study changes to traffic operations during the pilot project • multi-modal video traffic counts and GPS-tracked travel-time analysis conducted by Ontario Traffic Inc.

• collection of parking data by the Toronto Parking Authority, and • an economic impact study by the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation in partnership with the University of Toronto, local Business Improvement Areas and the Metcalf Foundation.

 

A public feedback survey will be hosted starting early this fall. Residents can learn more and subscribe to the project email list at http://www.toronto.ca/bloorbikelanes.

A report detailing the evaluation and its analysis will be presented to City Council in fall of 2017.

 

More information about cycling in Toronto is available at http://www.toronto.ca/cycling and by following @TO_Cycling on Twitter.

 

A fact sheet is available at http://bit.ly/2bmOiOb.

 

This news release is also available on the City's website: http://bit.ly/2b3o1CT

 

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

 

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Media contact: Steve Johnston, Strategic Communications, 416-392-4391, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.