Do the Dundas Bike Lanes have enough daily traffic to make them a Priority Snow Clearing Route? Are they being cleared of snow and ice in a timely manner this winter?
By Michael Holloway
Ward 30 Bikes' Outreach Coordinator
In Fall 2014 City Council passed a motion that created a network of priority bike lanes that would be cleared and salted during the winter months. That network included bike lanes that had a minimum of 2,000 trips per day; and didn't include any bike lanes east of the Don River - so Ward 30 Bikes squawked, 'west downtown ethnocentrism!' - and Councillor Paula Fletcher asked Transportation if the Dundas Lanes could be added to the priority network.
In July 2016 Transportation conducted a air hose count on the Dundas Bike Lanes just west of Carlaw Avenue.
Ward 30 Bikes is considering buying camera equipment this year to do bicycle counts in Ward 30 ... so I needed to check out if in fact we still needed to do bike counts on our own - (my 2014 article on the dearth of City of Toronto cycling count data can be found here) - or if perhaps the City was now doing comprehensive bike counts.
Today I downloaded everything they have up at City of Toronto -> Open Data -> Bicycle Counts - and no - the City still doesn't have a temporal, network sensitive data collection program in place like they do for cars (to the Nth!).
But the July 19-25, 2016 Dundas Bike Lane count file was up!
By the conditions stipulated at the City web page about this 1 - the data shows that the Dundas Bike Lanes - with well above the minimum 2,000 riders per day - are a Priority Network Bicycle Lane Snow Clearing candidate.
Is it happening this year?
We lost track of whether or not Transportation added the Dundas Bike Lanes to the Priority Network - did they just go ahead and do it after they saw the numbers? Or s the network just for downtown - west of the Don River?
We'll write a letter to Paula Fletcher after our next monthly meeting asking the question - but for now perhaps riders can tell us what's actually happening.
- Did you ride Dundas on the snow days listed below?
- What was the condition of the Dundas Bike Lane on your AM commute?
- Was it clear by the time of your PM commute?
Snowfalls so far this winter (>2cm):
2016
Sunday Dec 11, 2016 24h Snow 13.8cm
Thursday Dec 15, 2016 24h Snow 4.0cm
Friday Dec 16, 2016 24h Snow 3.0cm
Saturday Dec 17, 2016 24h Snow 6.0cm
2017
Tuesday Jan 10, 2017 24h Snow 7.2cm
Friday Feb 10, 2017 24h Snow 3.8cm
Sunday Feb 12, 2017 24h Snow 15.6cm
[Data: The Weather Network | Ontario Monthly Calendar | https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/monthly/ontario/toronto]
1 City of Toronto | Cycling Snow Routes | http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=de68ab4335211510VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=1a63970aa08c1410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
Ward 30 Bikes' "Bicycle Counts" label | http://ward30bikes.blogspot.ca/search/label/Bicycle%20Counts
City of Toronto | Open Data | Bicycle Counts http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=968186a1f09d6410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=1a66e03bb8d1e310VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
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