The city has decided to separate the Adelaide St. W. bike lane from car traffic after all.

Council voted 39-0 in June for a pilot project of a separated “cycle track” on Adelaide, but the transportation department merely painted lines on the road. General manager Stephen Buckley argued last week that he has the freedom to experiment with different ideas during pilot projects.

Cyclists complained. In a response emailed to them on Monday, Buckley and deputy city manager John Livey said the lane will be partially separated this week and fully separated by September.

They said the city did not have enough “flexi-posts” in stock in July to use them on all three pilot-project streets: Adelaide, Richmond St. W., and Simcoe St., where posts have already been erected. The government, they said, is now awarding a two-year contract for the supply and installation of additional posts.

“Flexi-posts will be installed this week in a couple blocks of Adelaide where we have observed drivers entering the cycle tracks well in advance of intersections to turn right,” they wrote. “The flexi-post installations on Adelaide and Richmond St. will be completed in September as part of the new installation contract.”

The decision was hailed by Cycle Toronto executive director Jared Kolb, though he said flexi-posts provide inferior separation to curbs and planters.

Kolb said he knows of 150 people who sent complaint emails to city officials and councillors. He said he doesn’t know if the outcry prompted the apparent reversal.

“I’m not quite sure what’s happened here,” he said, but “at the end of the day, the important part is that the project’s back on track.”