Keep ActiveTO Petition

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Pledges: 4590

Let's keep ActiveTO!

**The City has recommended against the return of the Lake Shore Boulevard W road opening so that drivers on the Gardiner can travel faster**

ActiveTO brought us Quiet Streets, Major Road Openings, and temporary bike lanes. Now, we need your help to keep the temporary bike lanes.

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ActiveTO was created during the pandemic to make it easier for people to move around the city and get exercise for their mental and physical health in a safe, physically distant manner.

2020 Temporary ActiveTO bike lanes include:

  • Bayview Avenue

  • Brimley Road — Removed Fall 2020

  • Bloor Street E

  • Danforth Avenue

  • Dundas Street E

  • Huntingwood Drive

  • Overlea Boulevard — Not installed; still under consideration

  • University Avenue / Queen’s Park Crescent

  • Wilmington Avenue

2020 Major Road Openings included:

  • Lake Shore Boulevard E

  • Lake Shore Boulevard W - The city has recommended AGAINST continuing

  • Bayview Avenue

  • Yonge Street (presented by Open Streets)

Temporary ActiveTO bike lanes proposed for 2021 include:

  • Bayview Avenue - Southern Extension
  • Yonge Street - Bloor Street to Davisville Avenue
  

As soon as the bike lanes and Major Road Openings started, people started using them in huge numbers. Bike ridership on Danforth Avenue went up by more than 40% compared to before bike lanes were installed. When half of Lake Shore W was opened to active transportation, there were as many people on bikes as there were cars pre-pandemic in both directions. There were as many as 21,000 people riding bikes and 4,400 people walking on weekends.

The bike lanes and road openings have been so successful the Toronto Office of Recovery and Rebuild (TORR) recommends that they be expanded and made permanent because they promote a healthy city, have societal and economic benefits, and encourage greener living.

While the success of ActiveTO has been obvious, many areas of Toronto have been untouched by its benefits. In 2021, the permanence of ActiveTO should not only be secured, but expanded to more areas of Toronto.

The fate of ActiveTO is not guaranteed

Support from TORR and high levels of usage may not be enough to keep ActiveTO if City Council does not hear support from constituents, the City has already recommended AGAINST the return of the Lake Shore Boulevard W road opening so that drivers on the Gardiner can travel faster.  The City has also recommended continuing all current ActiveTO bike lanes through the 2021 with the addition of a Yonge Street connection to Midtown and extending the Bayview Avenue path south to Mill Street. These proposals are set to be decided upon at the next session of City Councile.

The permanent future of the program will be decided by Council in fall 2021.

Let’s make sure all Major Road Openings come back in 2021, are expanded, and the ActiveTO bike lanes aren’t ripped out faster than they were installed: sign this petition in support of keeping, expanding, and improving ActiveTO.

 

 

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