As a 30+ year resident of…

As a 30+ year resident of the Bloor/Kingsway neighbourhood, I am a longtime user of the various businesses along Bloor between Prince Edward and Islington. With the addition of the poorly designed bike lanes, I purposely avoid this section of Bloor now because it is dangerous. The bike lanes are wider than the parking lanes which makes entering and exiting your vehicle dangerous as you are stepping out directly into traffic. It is doubly dangerous for seniors and small children. I have been told by local businesses that because of this safety concern, their businesses are suffering as seniors and families with small children do not wish to park on Bloor. And the vehicle traffic congestion created by these large bike lanes means bumper to bumper traffic most of the day. This situation did not exist pre bike lanes. I do support bike lanes, where necessary, and if it is deemed that they are necessary on this section of Bloor, then at least they should be halved in size. There is no need for a bike lane wider than a vehicle parking lane. And the safety painting on the street and the reflective bollards have really trashed up the look of what used to be a beautiful section of Bloor. It is poorly designed and an eyesore. If you need bike lanes this wide on this street why not destroy the street entirely by bulldozing the beautiful median? I support removing this bike lane, but if it has to remain, it needs to be reduced in width by half so as to allow us to have some semblance of a functioning street once again.