Hello, I am an avid cyclist,…

Hello,

I am an avid cyclist, having cycled from Midtown Toronto at Mountpleasant and Lawrence down to the CBC building, at Front and John, and back for 17 years, 9 months of the year. I always took the same route that NEVER involved cycling on a major street. All those years I felt quite safe on the roads. This was pre-current era bike lanes.

The bike lanes that have been planned and constructed in recent years are SO utterly confusing for both the cyclists and the vehicular drivers. I feel sorry for the drivers especially. There is just too much visual clutter for the average driver to take in and process. On top of that, the green bike lanes are slippery- who thought it was a good idea to paint the road so the surface offers no grip to the tires when wet.

As well, the reduction in lanes for cars/busses/ etc is just ridiculous. The traffic is at a stand still most of the time and the exhaust being emitted from cars sitting in gridlock can not in any way be countered by getting rid a couple of cars where their drivers have decided to take a bicycle.

My recommendation is that the culture surrounding cycling has to change first- people have to want to get on a bike and schlep themselves around! Then you can build the bike lanes, on routes that are actively being used by cyclists. The "build it and they will come" concept doesnt work in a city full of exhausted workers and parents rushing around trying to get their kids to school on time and then to work on time.

Secondly- build bike lanes that make sense. Don't build just to virtue signal. The current bike lanes are such a poorly thought out solution to a problem that didn't exist in the first place.