[URBAN NOTE] "Council kills off Jarvis bike lanes"
NOW Magazine's Ben Spurr reports on Toronto city council's decision to remove the bike lines on downtown Toronto's Jarvis Street that had been installed at great expense just a couple of years ago.
Council rejected a last-ditch attempt to save the controversial bikeways Tuesday, voting 24-19 against a motion from Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam that would have kept the street in its current configuration.
Instead, the city will now proceed with council's original direction, made last July, to remove the bikeways and reinstall a reversible fifth car lane on Jarvis. The work will begin after the completion sometime next month of the separated bike lane on nearby Sherbourne.
Going into Tuesday’s meeting, the vote on Jarvis was expected to be close. But despite a flurry of lobbying on the council floor, left wing councillors couldn’t convince enough of their colleagues to come onside.
In the end council members like Josh Colle, Ana Bailao, and Michelle Berardinetti, whose votes some thought could be swayed, sided with Mayor Rob Ford, who led the push to take out the lanes last summer.
[. . .]
Supporters of the Jarvis lanes argue that they’re a model of how drivers and riders can safely coexist. City data indicate bike ridership on the street has tripled since the bikeways were installed in September 2010, and rates of accidents involving cars, pedestrians, and cyclists have all declined. Meanwhile, car travel times have only increased by two minutes.
They also argue that, at an estimated $280,000, reinstalling the fifth car lane is a waste of money.
Council rejected a last-ditch attempt to save the controversial bikeways Tuesday, voting 24-19 against a motion from Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam that would have kept the street in its current configuration.
Instead, the city will now proceed with council's original direction, made last July, to remove the bikeways and reinstall a reversible fifth car lane on Jarvis. The work will begin after the completion sometime next month of the separated bike lane on nearby Sherbourne.
Going into Tuesday’s meeting, the vote on Jarvis was expected to be close. But despite a flurry of lobbying on the council floor, left wing councillors couldn’t convince enough of their colleagues to come onside.
In the end council members like Josh Colle, Ana Bailao, and Michelle Berardinetti, whose votes some thought could be swayed, sided with Mayor Rob Ford, who led the push to take out the lanes last summer.
[. . .]
Supporters of the Jarvis lanes argue that they’re a model of how drivers and riders can safely coexist. City data indicate bike ridership on the street has tripled since the bikeways were installed in September 2010, and rates of accidents involving cars, pedestrians, and cyclists have all declined. Meanwhile, car travel times have only increased by two minutes.
They also argue that, at an estimated $280,000, reinstalling the fifth car lane is a waste of money.