Since being installed earlier this summer, the Adelaide and Simcoe bike lanes has been the subject of constant misuse by motorists. Thankfully, the former of the two will soon see itself separated from vehicle traffic with a physical barrier, according to the Toronto Star’s Daniel Dale.
The city says the lane will be partially separated by the end of this week and fully separated by the end of September. The city plans to use “flexi-posts” to separate the lane from traffic. Unfortunately, the downside is that flexi-posts are thought to generally provide inferior separation to curbs and planters.
The problem might have persisted had cyclists not taken to Twitter to complain of delivery trucks using the lane as temporary parking. Additionally, according to Jared Kolb, Cycle Toronto’s executive director, some 150 people sent emails to city officials, complaining about the lane’s misuse.
The decision to not separate the bike lane from traffic right away was an odd one given that city council voted 39-0 in favour of doing so when the pilot program was first brought before them. In an interview with the Toronto Star, the city’s general manager, Stephen Buckley, said, “There’s folks out there that — they want what they want. And they have in their mind what they want. And I’ll say I think that the folks should trust the civil servants that are working on this, and let us sort of try new things. Which is the whole point of doing a pilot.”
It seems that cyclists and the media managed to change Buckley’s mind, however. Good job, guys! [via Toronto Star]
____
Igor Bonifacic is the managing editor of Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter.
For more, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our newsletter.
