Brimley Bike Lanes (Three Parts)

Getting Around Central Scarborough for the Next Three Years

Retaining Industrial Jobs and Taxes 

Cycling & Pedestrian Data 

Dear Councillor Thompson:

Please take the time to read through the three parts of this response to your proposed Brimley bike lanes.

PART ONE: Getting Around Central Scarborough for the Next Three Years 

Perhaps staff told you it would be just fine to hand over two lanes of Brimley to non-existent bicycles because all the traffic will just go “somewhere else”.

Or maybe they don’t care… putting obstacles in the way of drivers is a ‘good’ thing…because every obstacle will force Scarborough people to walk, get their bike out of the garage, or wait for the bus to make their 5 or 6 trips every day to work, the daycare centre, shopping, T-ball practise, music lessons, medical appointments etc.

Perhaps the bike lobby isn’t aware of how many lane closures and diversion and outright road closures are on the books for people trying to get around central Scarborough.

If they don’t know, you do. Here’s a shortlist of what we are facing in our part of the city for the next 3 or 4 or if the past is any example maybe 5 years:

1. Lawrence Avenue- McCowan Road lane closures, lane diversions, millions of heavy vehicle deliveries of construction material for 3 to 5 years to build a subway station 35 m deep in the ground using ‘cut and cover’ construction;
2. McCowan Road from Bushby drive to Progress through our Scarborough Centre: 3 to 5 years of lane closures and diversion to build a subway station 30 m deep in the ground in a high water table area using ‘cut and cover’ construction: millions of heavy vehicles trips delivering material;
3. Progress Avenue closed at the Stouffville GO tracks for 2 or 3 years to build an overpass; thousands of heavy vehicle trips to deliver materials and equipment;
4. Danforth Road closed west of Midland for 3 or 4 years to build an underpass under the Stouffville GO tracks; thousands of heavy vehicle trips to deliver materials and equipment;
5. Eglinton from Kennedy to Kingston Road, which already has Diamond Lanes for buses in rush hours, hands over the curb lanes for ‘buses only’ all day;
6. Ellesmere from McCowan to Morningside hands over the two centre lanes for Durham buses and the curb lanes for non-existent bikes.
7. Eglinton west of Midland closed for ?? years to excavate a trench to remove the subway tunnel boring machine, connect the tunnel into Kennedy Station; thousands of heavy vehicles delivering material.

So where is the magical “somewhere else” that Brimley traffic is supposed to go when you take out 2 lanes for bikes?

PART TWO: Retaining Industrial Jobs and Taxes

You’ve been a major champion of retaining Scarborough’s industrial employment throughout your career. It’s not in your Ward but you are Deputy Mayor for Scarborough and we have 33 hectares of Industrial activity on both sides of Brimley south of Danforth Road.

Heavy industries like Crupi Paving, Atlantic Packaging and Praxair. Probably the largest trucking warehouse in Scarborough, +\- 40,000 m2, is on the west side Dozens more are down there on lower Brimley Road and on Skagway trying to employ your residents, pay taxes to Toronto.

All of these put trucks, tractor-trailers, bulk carriers, heavy dump trucks on lower Brimley where you want to put bike lanes.

Do you have a report from your Economic Development staff supporting these bike lanes?
I know you’ve seen these heavy vehicles on Scarborough Streets, but in case the bike lobby folks don’t know how Scarborough works, below are examples of the heavy trucks these industries put on Brimley Road up to Danforth Road every day. 

PART THREE: CYCLING & PEDESTRIAN DATA

We’ve been out counting cyclists and pedestrians on the Gatineau path and the painted cycle lanes on Brimorton, Conlins and Sheppard. The data is startling:

• 10 3/4 hours spent on Brimorton = 13 people in the bike lanes; 302 walking on the sidewalks
• 3 hours on Conlins = 7 people using the bike lanes; 17 people walking on the sidewalks.
• 2 1/2 hours on Sheppard = 8 people using the bike lanes; 53 people walking on the sidewalks.

Grand total on the painted roadside bike lanes:

• 8.35 kilometres of painted bikeways
• 16 ¼ hours monitoring
• 28 cyclists

Funny story: A couple of days ago I spent an hour counting bikes on Brimorton. I only needed one finger. When I got home I counted one coyote trotting down the sidewalk in front of my home.

When the number of coyotes equals the number of cyclists you know you’ve wasted your time and money painting bike lanes like on Brimorton.

Glen Andrew supports building safe recreational bike paths in our parks and open spaces. The Gatineau path is a huge success! We put in 3 hours of monitoring and counted 123 cyclists and 91 pedestrians.

The speed of cyclists on the very popular Gatineau path is almost dangerous to kids learning to ride, old-timers like me and family groups out walking on this super popular recreational path.

If you have $40,000.00 to spend to promote cycling in Scarborough, spend it where it may do some good.

HERE ARE SOME IDEAS:

• Expand the Gatineau path so cyclists have their own lanes and do not endanger people walking, jogging, pushing baby strollers, little kids learning to ride, people carrying supplies and tools to their allotment gardens;
• Speed up restoring the pedestrian-bicycles paths in our Highland Creek system which seems to take two and three years to repair after washouts;
• Design-build a way to get the Gatineau path over/under the Stouffville GO line between Kennedy and Midland to unite the two parts of the system!

Lorne Ross for the Glen Andrew Community Association.