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Over the past months - through consultation with TCAT, the Toronto Pedestrian Committee, and others - the City has continued to develop and draft its Walking Strategy.
To continue with its consultation process, the City is hosting three open houses over the next couple of weeks to present its work to date and to hear more on how members of the public think that Toronto can be made more walkable.
For more information about these events, call 416-392-0193, e-mail pedplan@toronto.ca or visit the Walking Strategy web site by clicking here
If you or your organization want to participate and help make this year's Bike Month the best yet, consider hosting an event. TCAT's Bike Summit 2008 is currently the first event on the City's Bike Month Calendar, and many of TCAT's supporting organizations are annual event hosts.
For more information on Bike Month click here
For information on planning and registering your event click here
The Community Bicycle Network will host a free talk this Friday evening by long-time bike advocate, Bob Silverman.
Angela Bischoff, who'll be the MC, says of Bob:
"If you've never heard Bob speak, you're in for a treat. He's passionate, radical, poetic, inspirational. He's really the grand daddy of the bicycle movement in Canada. As founder of Le Monde a Bicyclette in Montreal in the 70's alongside Claire Morrisette, he kicked off the Canadian movement for cyclists rights. As Moses he parted the waters to protest cyclists not being allowed on the bridge, and the protests continued through the 80's to get access to the metro, buses, bike lanes, and much more. Cycling in Mtl is decades ahead of Smogtown because of his (and Claire's) visionary leadership. They paved the way for Velo Quebec which has moved cycling facilities to the best on the continent."
Cookies and coffee will be available. Donations welcome.
TCAT has continued its efforts to boost certain operating budgets this year, specifically related to cycling. BikeToronto has an informative post on these efforts, and information on how to show City Council that you support these recommendations. TCAT has also managed to secure the endorsement of the Toronto Pedestrian Committee (TPC) and Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee (TCAC) for these recommendations. These two relatively small investments could go a long way to help move the Toronto Bike Plan forward and promote cycling by providing adequate staff resources for this work.
- The Committee requested the Executive Committee to request City Council to fund a full-time trails and pathways planner to coordinate the planning, consultation, construction and maintenance of pedestrian paths and the bikeway network infrastructure projects in Toronto parks, in the amount of approximately $80,000.00 in the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division Operating Budget.
- The Committee requested the Executive Committee to request City Council to allocate an additional $15,000.00 in the Transportation Planning, City Planning Division Operating Budget, for 2008 Bike Month.
(Note: The TPC only endorsed the first of the two recommendations, as the second does not directly affect pedestrian issues, and was therefore not proposed to the committee)
The City's Executive Committee approved the 2008 Recommended Operating Budget today, and City Council will review it at its meeting on March 31st and April 1st. So far, TCAT's recommendations have not been added to the budget. Please write your City Councillor and voice your support for these modest investments. For councillor contact information click here
To read the TCAC's decision document click here (The TPC's decision document is not yet posted on the City's web site)
To read TCAT's original 2008 Operating Budget submission click here
To read the BikeToronto post click here
While the plan has not yet been released, it is expected that it will include wider pedestrian promenades, but not bike lanes.
Groups including Take the Tooker, Bells on Bloor, South East Toronto BUG and TCAT have been closely monitoring the project and expect the Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC) will be reviewing the plans for approval at its next meeting on April 8th. TCAT will comment on the plan at the TEYCC meeting.
Though the project includes wider pedestrian promenades, to date cyclists have been told there will be no bike lane, despite there being room to install them. Until the staff report is publicly released, TCAT cannot say for sure how we expect to respond and provide comment at the TEYCC meeting.
We urge all those supportive of a major East-West bike route across the city, along the Bloor-Danforth corridor, to come speak to the committee on April 8th, and especially for those who live in Ward 27 to write your councillor and express your support for infrastructure investments that improve safety and convenience for all road users, including cyclists.
For an update on the project from the Bloor-Yorkville BIA click here.
Stay tuned for more details in TCAT News.
As reported in last week's TCAT News e-Bulletin, the City is embarking on an environmental assessment to improve the streetscape along Jarvis Street, beginning with a public meeting last Wednesday evening.
News from some TCAT supporters who attended the event reported that the vision does not currently include a bike lane. This came in from one TCAT supporter who asked that we share this message.
As you may know, Jarvis Street is being re-designed from Bloor to Queen (see http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/jarvis/). Incredibly, the city is not considering bike lanes on this very wide and fast road (currently 5 car lanes) because:
1) there already are lanes on Sherbourne
2) there isn't enough space for bike lanes, and
3) bike lanes aren't a part of their beautification objective.However, the good news is that people attending last week's meeting applauded whenever bike lanes were suggested. And, we have it on good authority that members of the community have been calling for the addition of bike lanes instead of extra wide sidewalks since day one. (I personally think the road could be reduced to 3 lanes from five accommodating wide sidewalks, legal bike lanes and allowing much improved property access for vehicles).
According to the city planner, if transportation services got 50 messages from people demanding bike lanes then they'd have to reconsider. Please send a quick letter to Jarvis@toronto.ca. If you're on Facebook, the City has set up a page for discussion at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6949283325
If you know of other cycling or pedestrian related calendars to include, please let us know by e-mailing info@torontocat.ca
TCAT is continually looking to increase its list of supporters. It helps to be able to say how many people and organizations support the work we do when we speak with City Councillors, City staff, and the media, or put out a publication. Please send this message to any groups or individuals you think would be interested in learning more about TCAT, receiving our weekly e-Bulletin, or volunteering with TCAT.
To learn more about TCAT, visit our web site at www.torontocat.ca
To subscribe to TCAT News, click here
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