‘A battle for safety’: Toronto considering new bike lane on dangerous west-end road as province looks to limit them

October 19, 2024 Canuck

City staff’s recommendation that a new bike lane be installed along a collision-prone stretch of Parkside Drive could potentially set up a battle with the province, as it moves to place new restrictions on the ability of municipalities to remove lanes of traffic for that purpose.

Staff released a report on Tuesday calling for the installation of a 1.9- kilometre bike lane between Bloor Street West and Lake Shore Boulevard as part of a series of improvements aimed at addressing road safety along the corridor.

But hours later the Ford government announced that it would table legislation preventing municipalities from removing lanes of traffic for the installation of bike lanes, putting the plan at risk.

A bike lane is seen in this file image. (Ricardo Veneza / CTV News)

Faraz Gholizadeh, the co-chair of Safe Parkside, said installing a bike lane on Parkside is part of a bigger effort to make the busy arterial road safer for all who use the street.

“It’s not just about bike lanes, it’s about safety. This street needs to be addressed before more people die,” he said.

“The province would be wise to focus on people’s safety rather than commute times.”

Gholizadeh said his group has long advocated for increased safety measures for all who use Parkside Drive. He called the news that the province could derail the bike plan before it is even put into motion “very deflating.”

“When you think about it, this is a battle for safety. … I hope sound minds prevail,” he said.

“Why are there so many roadblocks to safety on our streets (…) It’s been such a painfully slow process (on Parkside). It’s very disheartening. It shouldn’t be this hard.”

Nearly 1,500 collisions over a decade

The fight for a safer Parkside Drive has been going on for at least two decades, Gholizadeh said, but it came to a head in October 2021 when a well-known couple from the city’s Portuguese community, Valdemar and Fatima Avila, were killed in a multi-vehicle crash.

Thirty-eight-year-old Artur Kotula, of Burlington, is currently on trial for two counts of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm in connection with the collision.

Fatima Avila and Valdemar Avila were killed when a BMW hit them from behind while they were sitting in traffic on Parkside Drive on Oct. 12, 2021. (Supplied)

Weeks after that deadly crash, Toronto City Council directed staff to undertake the Parkside Drive Study to look at ways to improve safety on the street from Keele Station to the waterfront.

Earlier this week, city staff came back with their final report, which, among other things, proposes the installation of the bike lane on the west side of the street. This new bi-directional bike way will require removing one southbound lane of traffic and, according to city staff, could add up to three more minutes of travel time for some commuters.

The report found that there were just under 1,500 recorded collisions on that busy stretch between August 2014 and August 2024, resulting in three people being killed and five others seriously hurt. It is set to be tabled at next Tuesday’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee.

In the interim, several smaller safety improvements were undertaken on the four-lane road, including installing a permanent speed camera as well as traffic lights, reducing the speed limit, and making parking 24 hours on the east side of the street.

‘It’s not just a city for people to drive in’

The city’s seven-point, $7.5 million Parkside Drive Study may, however, be thwarted should the Ford government refuse to permit the installation of the bike lane.

“Our policy is basically saying that you cannot remove a lane of traffic to then accommodate for a bike lane. So, this would still allow municipalities to introduce bike lanes that don’t that don’t remove that lane of traffic,” Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sakaria said on Thursday following an unrelated event.

“It’s about considering the challenges around gridlock that people are facing in our cities.”

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said this move amounts to an attempt by the province to limit the city’s powers.

“Our city planners and our transportation team have done a lot of hard work in coming up with a plan,” she said on Thursday.

Coun. Gord Perks, meanwhile, said he’s angry that the province is attempting to interject on the bike lanes file.

“I’ll be blunt, I’m infuriated (…) The very last person in the province who I’d go to for transportation (matters) is Doug Ford,” Perks said late Thursday afternoon, pointing to the long-delayed opening of the Eglinton LRT as well as the Premier’s idea to construct a 50-kilometre tunnel underneath Highway 401.

“The province doesn’t understand the first thing about transportation and should stick to their own business and solve their own problems.”

The Parkdale-High Park representative went on to say that it would be a shame if the province put the brakes on the Parkside bike lane, which is a key part of the well-thought-out safety plans for the street.

“Hundreds of people have put in thousands of hours so that a road that functions like a highway, running between a neighbourhood and a park, functions like a safe street,” Perks said, adding he’ll continue to advocate for safe-streets measures along Parkside.

“I have a duty to the people and a responsibility to make it safe to cross that street (…) People live in the City of Toronto. It’s not just a place for people to drive in.”

Parkside Drive resident Faraz Gholizadeh stands next to the automated speed enforcement device on Parkside Drive, just south of Algonquin Avenue. For the last six months, the photo radar camera on Parkside Drive has issued the most tickets to speeding drivers in the city. (Supplied photo)

Gholizadeh, who has lived on Parkside since 2013, said the province needs to stay in its lane and reconsider its priorities.

“We have a municipal government that responds to important issues affecting our city. For the province to step in (on this one), it’s unfortunate. It’s not their place,” he said.

“I think the province should let municipalities do their job. That’s what they’re there for (…) It’s a big overstep.”

Cycle Toronto’s executive director, Michel Longfield, said they’d heard rumours about the province wanting to impose restrictions on bike lanes and, in response, launched a campaign and a petition.

He said despite this setback, Cycle Toronto remains optimistic about the future of bike lanes in the province as nothing is written in stone and no details about enforcement or timelines have been released.

Longfield noted that it’s positive that the City of Toronto is moving forward with its plans for Parkside Drive, instead of stopping the project in its tracks once the province announced its plans to make it harder to replace lanes of traffic with bike lanes.

He said that while the installation of bike lanes on Parkside isn’t set to start until 2026, the study has been approved by Toronto city council and should move forward without provincial interference.

“The Parkside bike lanes are hopefully excluded from this new legislation,” Longfield said, adding this proposed bike lane may also help address concerns about cyclists using High Park for transportation purposes, instead of recreation.

Further, Longfield said that the slowing down of traffic due to bike lanes, may actually result in drivers, especially on Parkside, travelling at the speed limit.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Mike Walker

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