Bloor Street Bike Lanes The…

Bloor Street Bike Lanes

The main source of congestion along Bloor St West, between Bloor West Village and the Kingsway, is the choke point at the South Kingsway/Jane Street/Bloor St intersection—a problem that existed well before the bike lanes and COVID-19. While adjusting traffic lights may help, adding more lanes here is unlikely to ease peak congestion meaningfully.
For the first time the bike lanes along Bloor allow cyclists to have a safe and direct route from the West Side of the Humber River to Bloor West Village and onward to midtown Toronto without going all the way down to the bike lanes along the lake. Without this bike lane there is no safe, level and direct way across the Humber anywhere near Bloor St. The only way is to go down to the Humber River and ride up the steep hills on both sides of the river which is very difficult for all but the fittest people.
The bike lanes have made the area along Bloor St safer for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, who used to have to dodge cyclist trying to weave in an out of traffic and parked cars. I’ve heard some elderly friends say it has reduced the stress they feel in driving on Bloor St.
The only way to safely provide better transportation and safety as thousand of new residents move into the proposed new higher rise buildings along the Bloor St corridor is a renewed emphasis on better public transit and a range of transportation options, including bikes and the new micro-mobility options, such as e-bikes and scooters. Just as when a new highway is built in Ontario it will take a few years for the volume of bikes and e-bikes to build up, but it will. There has already been a big increase between 2023 and 2024.
Please don’t give up on making Toronto a safer and more sustainable city.