Protected bike lanes can help to reduce the stress and make cycling safer for people biking downtown, especially for novice cyclists. Richmond and Adelaide Streets are prime candidates. Richmond Street and Adelaide Street are high volume roads with average speeds above 40km/h.
The Environmental Assessment is still underway. City staff are also exploring ways to have the protected bike lanes connect to existing bikeways west of Bathurst Street and east of Sherbourne Street.
PROJECT UPDATE: Richmond Adelaide Pilot is extending to Parliament!
July 9, 2015
Preliminary evaluations of the cycle track have been positive, and public feedback surveys have found the cycle tracks to be very highly supported by cyclists and also appreciated by the majority of local businesses, drivers and pedestrians. We are extremely pleased to announce that today, the extension of the Richmond Adelaide pilot cycle track to Parliament St passed Toronto City Council unanimously! Installation is slated to begin in the fall after the Pan Am and Para Pan Am Games. The extension will follow the same design principles as the current pilot, and the City is also reviewing the possibility of using planter-boxes like the ones installed on Simcoe or other kinds of separation.
PROJECT UPDATE: Extend the lanes on Richmond & Adelaide to Parliament in 2015!
April 1st, 2015
Protected bike lanes on Richmond-Adelaide will provide a much needed east-west connection for cyclists to access downtown Toronto and the waterfront. Thank you to the more than 190 people that responded to our action alert and wrote members of PWIC for their May 2014 meeting. The next step is extend the lanes to Parliament and beyond! Phase 2 of this pilot project, which would seen an extension from Simcoe to Parliament, is slated for 2015. We have recommended that protected intesections be adopted as a part of the pilot to ensure a safer and more efficient way to manage the negotiations between cyclists and drivers. We are anticipating a report from Staff at the June meeting of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee. Stay tuned!
Construction of the Peter Street bike lanes have been deferred to later in 2015. These lanes will be introduced both north and south bound from King St West to Queen St West. The City has stated that while the long term recommendation is to install physically separated cycle tracks and a wider sidewalk, the ongoing condo construction in the area and related road occupations do not make this possible in the short term.
More information about the various stages of the project can be found on the City of Toronto's cycling website.
Get Involved
1. We need you to Join Cycle Toronto. Our campaigns are only as strong as our membership base. The more people we represent, the more power we have at City Hall to ensure that the pilot project is a success and protected bike lanes are added to Richmond and Adelaide. Join today!
2. Tell your Councillor you want protected bike lanes on Richmond & Adelaide. Find their contact information here. Remember to include your residential address whether you're e-mailing or calling for optimal effect!
3. Read the various letters of support of other organizations supporting protected bike lanes on Richmond & Adelaide.
4. Promote this campaign! Tell your friends! The more people we have onside to protect Richmond & Adelaide, the stronger our voice. Share the campaign link!
5. If you have more time to get involved, join our campaign team! We're looking for people who can help with flyering, social media, phone calls, promo development, etc. To get involved, e-mail us at info@cycleto.ca.
Why Richmond/Adelaide?
Richmond and Adelaide are classified as a major arterials in Toronto; they have traffic volumes of 20,000 or more vehicles per day and speeds of 50-60 km/hr.
In 2001, the City's official bike plan, Shifting Gears, identified Richmond and Adelaide Streets as candidates for protected bike lanes. The Plan highlighted the 15,000 cyclists travelling to and from the downtown on a weekday and the fact that there was no other east-west bikeway between the College/Gerrard bike lanes and the Martin Goodman Trail along the waterfront. Today, the number of cyclists travelling to and from the downtown has more than doubled, and cyclists still don't have an east-west bikeaway between College/Gerrard and the Martin Goodman Trail!
After over ten years of neglect, we think it's time the City of Toronto took action to make Richmond and Adelaide Streets safer for cyclists, which is why we're campaigning for protected bike lanes here.