That Didn't Take Long!

Wow, I just posted about the new separated bike lanes on Sherbourne St. the other day (see Cool.... for recent reminder).

At the end, almost jokingly, I mentioned that although there now is no parking anywhere along the street "knowing drivers in Toronto, and FedEx drivers in particular, I doubt a little curb will stop them from, well, stopping."

Well, the new lanes are not even fully operational yet, but the Toronto Star just published an article, stating that illegal parking is already happening!

Here are a couple of comments from the article;

"With low, rounded curbs that are easy to drive over, parcel trucks and taxis are already stopping in the lanes for passengers and to make deliveries, an invasion of a dedicated space intended only for cyclists."

"We’ve seen two photos of a UPS parcel truck that had mounted the barrier and parked in the bike lane (above)."

"When we checked it out last week we were surprised the curbs are so low and rounded on top; it’s like an invitation to drivers to park."

"While the “rolled” curbs are easy for vehicles to mount....they are too high for cyclists to ride over."

“When a cyclist is blocked by a parked car, they literally have to dismount and walk into traffic or go up on the sidewalk."

To read the full article, go to  Low Curbs On Sherbourne St Bike Lanes.

What a shmozola this might turn out to be!  People clamoring for separated bike lanes, and then when they get them, they are worse than normal ones.

Some European cities use collapsible bollards, to allow police or emergency vehicles to cross into the bike lane.  For everyone else, no dice.

Stay tuned once these go live.  I fear it really will be a bumpy ride......