Toronto City Council held a special meeting on August 5 and 6th to make up for July's meetings that were cancelled as a result of the strike. There were several items about bicycles on the agenda, including:
Transportation Services just announced that it has completed the Jarvis Streetscape Improvement EA Environmental Study Report. Apparently not swayed by the significant public input it received, the recommended design up for approval has no bike lanes.
A reminder that the Operating Budget Public Hearings are happening this Wed, Feb 18th. Once again, bikeToronto.ca has done an excellent job of analyzing how the BIke Plan will fare in the proposed budget.
Last week, Toronto City Council approved the following motions,
putting us one step closer to a people-friendly rail crossing at
Strachan Avenue:
"1. City Council strongly supports the Grade Separation Option which
lowers the Georgetown/Milton rail corridor, allowing Strachan Avenue to
pass over the rail lines, and
According to a recent Toronto Star article, David Miller calls employer response "overwhelming" to Smart Commute Toronto-Central. Smart Commute associations provide resources to help commuters shift from single-occupant car trips to sustainable modes of transportation. Smart Commute Toronto-Central launched on Nov 7th
Last week cycling advocates witnessed the potential of a strong
political push for bicycling at City Council. Despite an initial
setback at the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting,
pro-cycling councillors voted to reverse the committee's decision to
install sharrows, and instead directed staff to install full bike lanes
instead. Ward 13 residents and Annette Street users can now expect a
full bike lane to be painted from Jane to Runnymede.
Though it was a big surprise, TCAT was happy to see a very significant
increase for cycling infrastructure in the city's 2009 Capital Budget,
released last week. This year's budget was set at $5.5 million and next
year it will increase to $7.9 million. Considering the difficult
economic times, and budget freezes and reductions in other areas, this
move shows that bicycling investments are a clear priority of the mayor
and budget chief. The budget will still need to move through the
consultation and committee process before it reaches City Council for
Last week, TCAT News reported on immediate action needed
to show City Council your support for the Annette Street bike lane,
which is facing challenges to approval at City Hall. This effort is
being led by the local group World19.
TCAT has heard from City Hall insiders that the chances of overturning
the committee decision at City Council are looking pretty good, but the
e-mails of support are still needed to back-up this effort.
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