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.
Previous 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 seventh edition of How a Bike Lane is Born, and final for a little while, we give a quick update on construction progress on the southern half of this exciting project.
Back in August, we delivered the difficult news that the northern half of the Portland / Dan Leckie bikeway would be delayed 2025 due to Ontario Line construction. In that same article, we also got to see some of the first shovels in the ground on Dan Leckie Way. Bidirectional lanes had been painted on Dan Leckie just north of Lakeshore, and some curb cuts had been rearranged at Dan Leckie and the southern entrance of the Puente de Luz bridge.
About a month later, construction crews arrived on scene to continue that progress and began outfitting the rest of the street with concrete curb and flexpost-protected bidirectional lanes.
(Progress on the Dan Leckie bikeway as seen in October of 2024.)
In November and December, reflective flexposts were added, bike boxes were painted at key intersections, and bike-specific traffic lights were installed at Dan Leckie and Fort York.
Dan Leckie, from Queen’s Quay up to Front Street, is now a very safe and enjoyable ride. It’s hard to believe, but it’s been a whole year since we started profiling the Portland / Dan Leckie bikeway project. If all goes to plan, the northern half of the project should start construction next year and when it does, you will be sure to find our detailed analysis here at cycleto.ca.
Happy holidays and see you in 2025!
(Left: Looking north towards Dan Leckie and Fort York. Right: Looking north towards the Puente de Luz and Front Street West.)
(The bike box and the bike signals at the intersection of Dan Leckie and Fort York.)
