As I’m sure you’ve all heard, City Council voted this past Tuesday to make the bike lane on Bloor Street permanent. We know that many of you have questions/concerns about future planning by the City for a pilot bike lane on Danforth Avenue.
Currently there are two separate, but related, studies pertaining to Danforth avenue.
1) The Danforth Avenue Study looks at the area as a whole and includes traffic patterns, pedestrian traffic, business and residential development from the Don River to Coxwell.
2) The Danforth Corridor Study looks specifically at bike lanes.
The Danforth Avenue Planning Study from the Don River to Coxwell will take place in 2018. First, staff will report to Toronto and East York Community Council on the Planning Study from Coxwell to Victoria Park in the first quarter of 2018.
The Danforth Corridor Study will not take place until at least 2019.
Before the pilot project was installed on Bloor, there was consultation with residents and businesses. There were flyers delivered within the area, letters mailed to property owners, online and print media outreach, community engagement activities, etc. Here is a link to the report, which details the consultation and outreach (see pages 6-7): http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2016/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-91699.pdf
The Danforth BIA Board would like to thank our Councilors for their help in navigating this process.
The Board will be reaching out to all of our business members and property owners in January to find out what your opinion is regarding a bike lane on Danforth so that we can engage in the process in a timely and meaningful manner that reflects your views. In the meantime if you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out via email.