Toronto neighbourhood fighting bike lanes that replaced their parking spots

Bike lanes continue to be a contentious issue in and around Toronto, with Premier Doug Ford the latest figure to stir the pot on the topic by suggesting they be moved from major roads to smaller streets instead of replacing mixed-traffic lanes in congested areas.

Proposed legislation to that end, still very much in its infancy, had many people talking when it was leaked last week. But it’s pushback against new cycling paths in a specific part of downtown T.O. that has had locals chattering about the infrastructure both before and after.

Roncesvalles certainly isn’t the first neighbourhood where people have been up in arms about the addition of bike lanes, but the new features — as well as the redesign of multiple local roads that they necessitated — have been enough for community members to start a petition to reverse the new street changes this month.

It’s totally out of hand.Gord Perks put new bike lanes through Roncesvalles taking away 28 parking spots and creating a mish mash of one way streets that stop and start to accommodate bikes yet I see little traffic on any of them .

— Scott Townson (@ScottTowns14204) September 20, 2024

“Recent street alterations are having a negative impact on our community, affecting everyone from children to elderly or disabled persons,” reads a change.org appeal launched September 16.

“Grievances include frequent traffic backlogs, heightened safety risks for pedestrians, difficulty accessing the community and decreasing parking spaces due to bike lanes. Considering the lack of bike traffic to justify these bike lanes, the situation is unnecessarily burdensome.”

Creators go on to explain how the loss of parking especially has posed a challenge, with residents, espcially those with mobility issues, “unable to find nearby roadside parking” and experiencing “difficulty accessing their homes.”

“A safer and more practical solution needs to be provided for both drivers and pedestrians… we ask City administrators to listen to our concerns and reverse the street changes in our community. Ensuring the comfort, safety, and mobility of all residents should be the city’s ultimate goal.”

Worst decision ever

— Dr. Slim Ray (@drslimray) August 31, 2024

Though the petition emphasizes parking issues, community concerns extend beyond the bikeways to other aspects of the road safety and cycling connection project, including one-way street conversions and changes to one-way street directions.

As people are claiming on NextDoor and other social media platforms, “it’s the nonsensical one way changes that divert tons of extra traffic past schools, onto quiet side streets, and through alley ways that are the problem.”

Others in the same discussion claimed that converting their street into solely a northbound bicycle route has led to cyclists “going in the wrong direction” and “ignoring the small, poorly placed signage instructing them to dismount and walk across pedestrian bridges.”

People trying to cancel Toronto’s newest bike lanes but cyclists fire back🚲 https://t.co/09I1MOJJkc #Toronto #BikeLanes

— blogTO (@blogTO) October 26, 2023

Unfortunately for those dissatisfied with the latest roadwork, some phases of the West Parkdale Cycling Connections initiative remain to be built before the project wraps.