Toronto officially launches first dedicated bike lanes on Sherbourne Street

TORONTO – The City of Toronto officially opened its first dedicated bike lanes on Sherbourne Street on Monday.

The separated routes are designed to give cyclists three kilometres of north-south access through the downtown core between Gerrard Street and Bloor Street.

City councillor Denzil-Minnan Wong was joined by Toronto Mayor Rob Ford at the podium during the morning announcement.

City council voted last year to remove the Jarvis Street bike lanes and put in new lanes on nearby Sherbourne Street.

In January, the city approved an environmental study of adding separated bike lanes to the Richmond-Adelaide corridor. The lanes would run along Richmond St. and Adelaide St., from Bathurst St. to Sherbourne St.

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Minnan-Wong said the completion of the lanes proves it is possible to build separated bike lanes in Toronto.

“It’s a challenge with all the different users, you’ve got local residents, local businesses, you’ve got police, fire, wheel-trans and you’ve got to try and accommodate everybody,” Minnan-Wong said. “When you’re talking about real estate on a street that many people use, there has to be some level of understanding and compromise.”

However, one advocacy group says the design of the cycle track still does not stop cars from entering the bike lanes.

“Unfortunately, motorists continue to illegally block the new cycle track,” said Cycle Toronto in a media release. “Due to insufficient separation, the Sherbourne Street cycle tracks allow motor vehicles to park in the lanes.”

The group wants the city to provide more visual signals to discourage parking in the tracks and increase separation in all future track designs.

Minnan-Wong also stated that he’s working on a plan to save BIXI, Toronto’s beleaguered bicycle rental system, and see it expand.

Below is video of the Sherbourne Bike Lane.