Bike lane expansion gears up amid backlash on both sides

City is nearly halfway to its goal of 500 km on major corridors by 2041

- FRANCINE KOPUN

The Crooked Cue in Etobicoke is a gathering place for residents opposed to the bike lanes that went in late last year.

"Never in my life have I seen something create such a backlash and an uproar," said owner Sam Pappas, who, like many other local business owners, thinks the lanes are ugly, and make it difficult for local customers and those outside the neighbourhood to visit.

Pappas and others want the city to at least rethink the lanes in Etobicoke, even as Toronto city councillors prepare to vote this week on plans to install another 100 kilometres of bike lanes on major city routes over the next three years, including on Avenue Road, at an estimated cost of $105 million.

His business overlooks Bloor Street West, where bike lanes went in last autumn between Runnymede Road and Aberfoyle Crescent, part of the city's long-term plan to add at least 500 km of bike lanes on major routes, in an effort to combat climate change.

He and other business owners told the Star they were frustrated by the fact that they saw almost no cyclists in those lanes throughout the winter.

Pappas can't understand how the city makes decisions when 20 people complaining to the city were once able to prevent him from opening a rooftop patio but a petition with more than 13,000 names can't persuade officials to rethink the bike lanes.

"It was poorly thought-out," Pappas said of the lanes that were installed on either side of Bloor Street West, between a parking lane and the sidewalk, a layout the neighbourhood's large number of senior residents say is hard to navigate and a design they say creates congestion that makes it more difficult to access the local hospital.