Welcome back to How a Bike Lane is Born, the investigative series where we try to understand, and then explain, how new bike infrastructure comes to be. From the earliest line on a map to the final flexpost, no stone will be left unturned.
Our first editions focused on the future Portland Street bikeways’ historical context, its community consultations, its first trip to City Hall for the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, its dramatic appearance at City Council, and most recently, its birth.
In this sixth edition of How a Bike Lane is Born, we sit down for a chat with some of the engineers working day and night to get this bike lane built.
(City of Toronto engineer Kasra Khajavi. Image: LinkedIn)
Kasra Khajavi, a Transportation Engineer in the Cycling and Pedestrian Projects Unit at the City of Toronto, was nice enough to answer some questions for us about the project. Thank you, Kasra!
Kasra has 9+ years of extensive experience in civil & transportation infrastructure planning, mapping, design & drafting with experience in construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, construction estimating & cost analysis, construction drawings & logistics design in civil infrastructural projects involving municipal & provincial roads & highways, buildings, culverts & bridges, earth-retaining structures, curbs & gutters, and utilities.
With such a wide range of experience, it was intriguing to hear his insights on the Portland / Dan Leckie bikeway project. We started with a few questions on cycling infrastructure in general, and then moved on to specifics on the Portland project. Enjoy!
In general:
How is it determined if a protected bike lane will be bi-directional or uni-directional?
A: It is part of our standard engineering design procedure to consider the pros and cons of
different bikeway facilities and balance the impacts. In general, an intuitive design for people
cycling must be as predictive as possible, especially at connection and conflict points such as
driveways and intersections. In addition, the regular curb-side lane uses and on-street parking
demand is one of the main factors in deciding on a uni-directional or bi-directional bikeway
facility. When there are high rates of parking and loading on one side of the street, and if the
connection points are aligned, a bi-directional bikeway is preferred on the other side of the
street to limit conflicts.
What’s one of your favourite parts of designing a bikeway?
A: Every design is unique and requires bringing in different design skills in the process. The best
part of bikeway design for me is designing the connection points between where bikeways intersect.
What’s one of the most challenging aspects of designing a bikeway?
A: From the lens of an engineer, one challenging aspect of designing a bikeway facility is
dealing with the motorized-vehicle-oriented residents who are not in support of the bikeways on
their street and changing the by-laws in the context of the City of Toronto regulations.
Specifically regarding Portland / Dan Leckie:
Tell us about the materials being used for this project.
A: This is a stand-alone quick-build project which will involve the removal and installation of
pavement markings and some small-scale civil works to remove existing obstructions, build new
access points, and signal modifications. The bikeways will get physical protection using the
parking-style precast concrete curbs and bollards.
What’s a unique aspect of the design of Portland / Dan Leckie?
A: In my opinion, one interesting feature of this project is the connection over the GO train rail
corridor using the existing pedestrian bridge that connects the two sections of the bikeways on
Portland Street and Dan Leckie Way. There are a lot of public art opportunities here to promote
the rights of different users, and I am keen to see the interaction between people walking and
cycling on this bridge.
(The Puente de Luz during Nuit Blanche. Image credit: Ben Roffelsen)
What was a challenging aspect of designing the Portland / Dan Leckie project?
A: Normalizing the existing offset intersection of Portland/Wellington has been one of the
several other challenging aspects of this design.
(The offset intersection of Portland and Wellington. Image: Google Maps)
Is it challenging to design a bikeway on a street that is so busy with cars and pedestrians?
A: It definitely is a challenging factor to be considered in the design and trying to balance off the
available space for different road users.
There are a lot of intersections along this relatively short bikeway. How did you try to limit potential conflicts between pedestrians, cars, and bikes?
A: Similar to other bi-directional bikeway projects, there will be significant traffic signal
modification works at all the main intersections controlled by a traffic signal along with traffic
signal timing changes, which will be accompanied by sufficiently planned pavement markings
and signage at both signalized and unsignalized intersections for all users to clearly convey the
message and minimize potential conflicts.
Thanks again to the City of Toronto and Kasra for getting to our inquiries. With Kasra’s insights in mind, new activity on the project will be even more interesting to track. We’ll be back with a new edition of How a Bike Lane is Born when we have an update. Stay tuned!
