Cyclists complain their voice not heard

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There will be no bike lanes on Annette Street between Jane Street and Runnymede Road for at least two years if Toronto Council goes along with a committee recommendation to paint the 700-metre stretch of Annette with "sharrows" instead of full bike lanes.

The city's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee voted 3-2 to nix the bike lanes for now along the stretch of Annette, at the request of the local Ward 13 (Parkdale-High Park) Councillor Bill Saundercook and some local businesses and residents.

But the move has angered other local residents and cyclists, who say that the sharrows - essentially markings on the road reminding motorists that they must share the space with cyclists - offer no protection for cyclists at all.

"Sharrows don't make any difference," said Jun Nogami after the meeting. "They don't make any extra space for cyclists. To a cyclist, it looks terrifying. They'll put the cyclists right in the door zone of park cars."

Residents at the Friday morning meeting said their voice had not been heard at the committee.

"The Sharrows are a sham," said Elizabeth Lines. "Why have a process when it's totally ignored, when we had a big vocal community consultation?"

Lines was referring to a community meeting held last month where residents indicated support for the bike lanes along the street. Saundercook had heard from small business owners and residents along the street, who objected to the elimination of street parking.

City transportation staff also supported the bike lanes. Toronto's General Manager of Transportation Gary Welsh said the sharrows were not as safe.

"In our opinion the bike lanes meets the needs of the cyclists in the media area," said Welsh. "It is relatively safe option and it's the one we recommend. The sharrows are a bit of an improvement on what's out there today but it's not as safe as a dedicated bike lane."

Saundercook couldn't make it to the meeting, but Ward 6 (Etobicoke Lakeshore) Councillor Mark Grimes advocated on his behalf. He said there was enough worry in the community about the impact of the bike lanes that it made sense to install the sharrows for now and decide about bike lanes later.

"We have to look at the community as a whole," he said. "We keep losing businesses in this city."

The committee's chair Glenn De Baeremaeker and vice-chair Adam Giambrone both sided with the cyclists.

Giambrone said the city's bike plan, which envisions almost 500 kilometers of bike lanes throughout the city, doesn't have a hope of being implemented if local councillors are able to stall installations at will.

"We're going to have to go the full way and make these tough decisions or they aren't going to happen," he said.

De Baeremaeker was more blunt.

"Look at the downside of both options. Well the downside of not putting bike lanes in is someone could be killed. Someone could be maimed. When you look at the downside of the parking option, there's still a lot of parking there. The downside of not enough parking is you have to walk two blocks down."

Ward 35 (Scarborough Southwest) Councillor Adrian Heaps, who chairs the city's cycling committee, said he'll likely amend the motion at council to make sure the bike lanes are installed after two years.

"A bike lane's going in in two years - it's a graduated step," he said. "I think we have some attitudes we have to retrofit in the city, as well as the roads."

Heaps said he'll only push council to overturn the recommendation if he hears significant encouragement from the community.

Council will make a final decision on the matter at the end of October.