e Need Is Car LanesIt is wonderful news that Toronto council will consider bike lanes from Etobicoke to Scarborough along the central arteries of Bloor St. and Danforth Ave.
After all, it is bound to generate so many traffic jams and bursts of anger that councillors may be forced to do a needed re-examination of the entire city bike lane policy.
I thought the height of absurdity was reached when engineers egged on by anti-car politicians and activists proposed bike lanes for the ramp feeding to and from the Gardiner from the proposed Front St. extension. You see, bikes are banned on the Gardiner.
I thought the height of absurdity was reached when engineers egged on by anti-car politicians and activists proposed bike lanes for the ramp feeding to and from the Gardiner from the proposed Front St. extension. You see, bikes are banned on the Gardiner.
But it was all sham anyway because they loaded so many silly ideas into that extension that eventually it died because of cost....which was the general idea.
The city actually has a manager in charge of biking and he is quoted as saying the east-west bike lanes are an obvious need but past proposals by cycling activists have run into parking and traffic problems "that complicate the issue."
You're not kidding!
Remember that not all councillors buy into the strange gimmicks by Mayor David Miller and his majority clutch of Miller Lite supporters. So let's not blast the sane minority who still subscribe to the novel idea that the basic concept behind Toronto streets is to move people by vehicle, whether transit or private. The city actually has a hidden official policy to handicap private cars at every opportunity.
Putting bike lanes on main roads is insane. In fact, where we presently have them, they should be signed that cyclists can't use them during rushhours.
Cycling activists love to point to all the cars with just one person in them on city streets. Yes, but just look at all the bicycle carrying just one person, and all you need to do to take one lane out of service every rushhour is to have several cyclists careening along in each block.
Remember that not all councillors buy into the strange gimmicks by Mayor David Miller and his majority clutch of Miller Lite supporters. So let's not blast the sane minority who still subscribe to the novel idea that the basic concept behind Toronto streets is to move people by vehicle, whether transit or private. The city actually has a hidden official policy to handicap private cars at every opportunity.
Putting bike lanes on main roads is insane. In fact, where we presently have them, they should be signed that cyclists can't use them during rushhours.
Cycling activists love to point to all the cars with just one person in them on city streets. Yes, but just look at all the bicycle carrying just one person, and all you need to do to take one lane out of service every rushhour is to have several cyclists careening along in each block.
If the purpose of a major street in rushhour is to move people, any impartial census will show that one lane will move far more people by vehicle each minute than it can by bike.
But why bring up logic! Bike lanes are a political statement, a revenge on the car, and any pretense that they make any economic or transportation sense is just ludicrous.
If council approves this latest madness in principle, there will be detailed studies and elaborate public consultations where cycling activists will berate any one who doesn't appreciate their guerilla approach to commuting.
The majority will not be there because we have been beaten down by the Miller Lites because they rarely do anything sensible in the stewardship of this great city.
But why bring up logic! Bike lanes are a political statement, a revenge on the car, and any pretense that they make any economic or transportation sense is just ludicrous.
If council approves this latest madness in principle, there will be detailed studies and elaborate public consultations where cycling activists will berate any one who doesn't appreciate their guerilla approach to commuting.
The majority will not be there because we have been beaten down by the Miller Lites because they rarely do anything sensible in the stewardship of this great city.
It would be even greater and more liveable if it wasn't for the dumb shenanigans at City Hall that have replaced any basic concerns about just making the damn city work by caring about old services and decaying infrastructure more than the latest socialist gimmick.
2 comments:
Bike lane talk always peaks in May/June. Of course it's insane to devote lanes of traffic to 1/2 1% of the commuters who ride 40% of the year. Roads crumble, but we must listen to this crap when it gets warm out. Sad.
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