WORLD19 IN THE DANDYHORSE MAGAZINE (New: April 30/09)

Watch for the brand new issue of Dandyhorse, Toronto's newest magazine on cycling. It contains an article on world19 and our efforts to save the threatened Annette St. bike lanes. Some excerpts:

So just who are these superheroes that kept the Annette Street bike lanes from being scuttled last fall and pushed the envelope on what kind of advocacy we can expect when cyclists and communities combine?

... During the Annette fight they encouraged over 200 bike lane supporters to send emails to City Council. If this isn't the type of neighbour you want next door, who is?

The article focuses on the importance of wide-reaching, grassroots community connection and communication on an issue like this. In the article, Steve Brearton of the Toronto Cyclists Union whom we worked with said,

world19 really created a fabulous model for working on these kinds of projects. They worked very hard to get local residents on side... and, What was important and effective is that it was a campaign that was initiated at a very local level, but drew on city-wide resources of cycling activists and groups.

We recommend the magazine for those interested in cycling ... and joining the Cyclists Union.
 

Coming up: the annual "Bells on Bloor" group ride for bike lanes on Bloor St. Starting at the High Park gates on Bloor. May 31, noon.

Oct. 30: Annette Bike Lanes passed! Congratulations to everyone.

Late on the last night of Council (Oct. 30), City Council voted 20-11 to support Councillor Heaps' motion to implement full bike lanes on Annette. The "sharrows" (basically a shared lane for cars and bikes, with painted chevrons) are dead.

Some of our notes from the Chamber that evening:

We heard in the afternoon, that it was likely that enough votes were lined up to vote for the lanes, but that Councillor Saundercook was trying to work a last minute "compromise" that would put in sharrows for 2 years, after which the situation would be re-evaluated to look at lanes. It was possible this might weaken the pro-lane vote.

The item didn't come up until well after 8pm (the scheduled close of the meeting). It was a very long day, and a number of councillors were not there by that time.

Councillor Heaps introduced the motion for full bike lanes. Among his comments:

• He said he had been originally told by Saundercook the the community was pushing for sharrows. He (Heaps) went to the Sep. public meeting, but instead found it was a "love-in" for bike lanes. that everyone "adamantly" wanted bike lanes. He then asked Saundercook to give him a compelling reason for sharrows.
   

• He thought we shouldn't even be having this conversation. Bike Lanes are important, and need to be built. They are also not a "local" issue, but are part of a city-wide strategy, and fulfilling a city mandate. He suggested that Saundercook, as co-chair of the pedestrian committee should recognize this.
   

• He cited the 212 individually written, "highly articulate emails that passionately asked for bike lanes". Most came from area residents, and he hadn't received one written submission against.
   

• He had a map displayed on the Council screen. This was one prepared by staff, and previously shown at the Oct. 10 PWIC meeting. The map showed the location of everyone who included their address on comments submitted at or after the Sep. 15 meeting. Almost all were located within a block or two of Annette -- strong, visual evidence that the local community overwhelmingly wanted the lanes.
   

Then Councillor Saundercook took the floor, and against all the concrete evidence of the emails and the staff map, baldly stated that the "community was willing to agree to sharrows for two years". Those of us in attendance were pretty much stunned by this statement. (There's another term for it).

When he talked about the emails and other requests, it was always in reference to "the cyclists" -- to us, a clear suggestion that these demands were from some shadowy "bike lobby", as had been suggested in some media reports. Again, the evidence on the staff map, and the 200 emails showed that the majority of requests were from local residents -- along with others throughout the city...it is after all, a city-wide issue.

If that wasn't enough, Saundercook then insulted city staff. He suggested that at the Sep. 15 public meeting, staff may have "presented" the sharrows option, but not seriously. He claimed that they had their own agenda, and ("understandably" for them) really wanted bike lanes. Another astounding statement, especially to those of us who witnessed staff's completely professional presentation of all three options. It was no doubt also noted by Gary Welsh, the General Manager of Transportation Services, and Dan Egan, the Manager of Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure who were present at the Council meeting. (And Egan was present at the September meeting).

Gord Perks of Ward 14 who was heavily involved in promoting these lanes (an already approved portion runs through his ward -- there was no issue there) -- spoke quite passionately about the importance of real bike lanes. Sharrows he pointed out are a new feature, designed only for those roads that are not wide enough to accommodate lanes, and are definitely not safe.

One interesting speaker was John Parker, who was one of the members of PWIC to vote for sharrows. He seemed surprised by this apparent widespread popular support for lanes. "I was told that a compromise [the sharrows] was in place, and that's why I voted the way I did". So, we wondered, did that mean he now realizes that was a crock, and would tonight vote for lanes? (He didn't). He spoke about being sensitive to the concerns of the community and businesses, and against forcing a solution onto an unwilling community. We couldn't agree more.

Also speaking up for lanes were Councillors Palacio and Giambrone, and Mayor Miller. He pointed out that he lives in the area, and "people are stopping me on the street"... every one of them asking for Bike Lanes.

The matter came to a vote, and the result was 20-11 for lanes. A 2:1 victory, and rejection of Councillor Saundercook's tactics.

The vote:

For lanes: Augimeri Cho Davis De Baeremaeker Del Grande Filion Giambrone Heaps Kelly McConnell Mihevc Miller Moeser Moscoe Palacio Pantalone Perks Peruzza Rae Vaughan

Nays: Ainslie Di Giorgio Feldman Ford Hall Holyday Lindsay Luby Nunziata Parker Saundercook Stintz

Here are some of our links about the lanes

• OUR OCT. 17 NEWSLETTER
  With some background, plus more details on how to email.
   

• OUR FLYER
  Distributed in the Annette St. area. (Note: It's a 900K+ PDF file). This was produced with the Bloor West Village Residents Association, and designed by Dave Meslin (founder of the Toronto Cyclists Union, formerly of Toronto Public Space Committee, etc).
   

• OUR MEDIA RELEASE (Oct. 21) WORD format.
   

• GLOBE & MAIL ARTICLE
  Read Jeff Gray's Oct. 20 column in the Globe & Mail. While he quotes world19, Councillor Saundercook's "threat" is the most interesting bit.
  
  Mr. Saundercook warns any intervention from Mr. Heaps on Annette could threaten his support for other bike lanes: “If you’re going to jam it down my throat, then we’re going to go a whole different way.’”
   

• SOME OTHER ARTICLES/POSTS:

  • John Barber's column, Globe & Mail, Oct. 29 ""Councillor fears '500-kilometre discussion' over 700 metres of bicycle lanes"

  • Opinion piece by local activist, Chris Holcroft on the Toronto Star website.

  • Toronto Star, Oct. 25 (see comments above)

  • Torontoist, Oct. 24

  • I Bike T.O., Oct. 22

  • Toronto Cranks has an interesting post, "Scapegoat BBQ on Annette", Oct. 22

   

The Community Responds!

Many people writing to Council copied us on their emails to Council. Below is the final count of emails that were copied to world19:

FOR BIKE LANES = 150
AGAINST BIKE LANES = 0

The great majority of these emails come from area residents. We have reprinted most of them on several pages on our website (personal information removed). Click here to read...