The City of Toronto called for Requests for Proposals (RFP) in January 2010 for an Environmental Assessment (EA) for a 24 km "Bloor Street / Danforth Avenue Bikeway".  This study will be conducted through the spring and summer of 2010 and will affect about 2 km in our neighbourhood from Broadview Avenue to Donlands Avenue.

We at Neighbourhood Almanac feel that improved bicycle infrastructure will immensely improve the community, but understand that implementation needs to achieve the gains of better bicycle access while respecting driver and pedestrian needs as well.  From the RFP, solutions:

.... may include, but not necessarily be limited to the following:
•    Do-nothing;
•    Physically separated bike lanes (cycle tracks);
•    Buffered bike lanes;
•    Standard bike lanes;
•    Designated bike routes (signed, shared curb lanes);
•    Bike lanes in the boulevard; and,
•    Some combination of the above solutions.
The optimal and interim bikeway design may identify where feasible, different solutions for different sections but the bikeway must be continuous through the primary study area.

Physically separated and buffered bike lanes clearly are safest and most useful for cyclists, while "standard" bike lanes consisting of simple on-street painted lanes are least expensive and least alter the road landscape.  The EA will include public input including the following from the RFP:

[It] is assumed that at a minimum the following meetings will be part of the public consultation program:
•    10 meetings with individual interest groups, ratepayers and property owners , as required; (this will have to be revised as it really is dependent upon the consultation strategy that the Vendor develops)
•    5 meetings with affected agencies (TTC, GO, etc.);
•    10 Public Information Centres (PICs) – this is a result of the length of the study corridor, covering many neighbourhoods. The area should be divided into at least 5 sections/areas with 1 PICs per section/area at the end of Phases 2 and 3 of the MEA Class EA process; 2 meetings with City of Toronto Council/Committees; and
•    3 meetings with the City of Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee, and Toronto Pedestrian Committee
•    3 meetings with the cycling advocacy groups, and
•    5 contingency meetings.

In our comments section below, we invite you to evaluate the benefits and weaknesses of different solutions, and distinguish whether different solutions would apply to various parts of our neighbourhood, or whether one seamless solution exists for our 2 km of the bikeway.