The city officially opened an extension of the Richmond St. cycle track Monday morning, cutting the ribbon on a corridor that advocates say is essential to encouraging cycling downtown.

The extension, which is part of an ongoing pilot project, is another piece of the city’s slowly growing, sometimes patchwork network of painted bike lanes and cycle tracks, which are separated from other traffic.

“People are recognizing that cycling is the fastest way to get around in the downtown core,” said Jared Kolb, executive director of Cycle Toronto. “And now that we’re adding safe infrastructure, people are jumping on their bikes, and they’re using it more frequently.”

The extension runs from Parliament St. in the east to York St. in the west. With the extension addedontoanotherportioninstalledin2014, theRichmond trackruns from Bathurst to Parliament.

Work to extend tracks on nearby Adelaide St. is expected to be completed “in the next few weeks,” according to a city news release.

The effectiveness of the tracks and their impact on traffic are still subject to evaluation. Councillor Jaye Robinson said Monday that changes could still be made to the tracks if necessary.

Most work along Richmond was finished by Friday, according to city spokesperson Steve Johnston. More markings and bollards will be added along the track this week.

But the city is already presenting Richmond as a victory, marking the occasion on Monday with a quick ribbon cutting in the track that forced cyclists to dodge something other than the usual encroaching cars and trucks.

The process has been a long one. A 2011 report to the city’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee recommended a study of “the feasibility and impact of separated bike lanes on Richmond and/or Adelaide Streets.” Public consultation, study and various council approvals followed over several years.

The city has also reversed course on the installation of downtown bike routes, removing lanes on Jarvis St. in 2012.

In a phone interview, Robinson acknowledged the process was slow, but said installing a separated cycle track requires ample analysis and consultation.

“Progress can be slow, and that’s frustrating, I know, particularly for cyclists,” Robinson said. “It’s much more complex than it looks at first glance.”

But Robinson also said that momentum is building behind possible expansions and improvements to the city’s cycling network.

“We’re not where we need to be, but we’re very focused on this.”

Kolb said the Jarvis lanes were added to plans for the street “at the last minute,” and believes that the process for Richmond, while lengthy, ensures that proper consultation is done.

“I’m optimistic about this project in that the process has been strong,” said Kolb, who predicted that cycling along the corridor will continue to grow.

The city says westbound cyclists using the Richmond track during an eight-hour period jumped from 500 in June 2014 to 1,300 in May. The track on Richmond has also upended conventional thinking about taking space from cars and giving it to cyclists.

A preliminary report from June 2015, which notes that numerous factors affect travel time, states that “the motor vehicle travel time data collected to date suggests that travel times along both Richmond Street and Adelaide Street have generally improved during most time periods.”

“Any time we put in cycling infrastructure, it’s used,” said Albert Koehl, founder of advocacy group Bells on Bloor. “So the question is, why aren’t we putting…it [in] a little more quickly?”

Koehl believes the city needs a network of bike routes that allows for connections from east-west routes to north-south corridors.

Alan Heisey, vice-chair of the TTC and a long-time cycling advocate who participated in Monday’s photo op, called for a downtown grid of cycling tracks. Heisey believes separated cycle tracks, rather than simple bike lanes, are necessary to encourage “the general population” to cycle.

“What’s been done today is wonderful; what the city’s planning this year is terrific,” Heisey said. “But we still have not achieved a grid downtown.”

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Heisey believes the Richmond track is a clear success, and a pilot project in name only.

“I think it’s done. It’s permanent,” Heisey said.

The city celebrated the expansion of the Richmond St. cycle tracks on Monday, a ceremony that capped years of study, consultation and construction.

June 9, 2011

A report to the city’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee recommends a study of “the feasibility and impact of separated bike lanes on Richmond and/or Adelaide Streets.”

November 29-30, December 1, 2011

Council meets and authorizes the General Manager of Transportation Services to launch a “study for separated bicycle lanes within the Richmond-Adelaide corridor.”

December 2012

The city installs its first cycle track, which physically separates cyclists from motor vehicles, on Sherbourne St. The lane officially opens in 2013.

June 2013

The city publishes an ad in NOW, alerting the public to the study of cycle tracks on Richmond, Adelaide and/or Wellington. The city also sends letters and flyers, and hosts drop-ins and stakeholder meetings as part of its consultation process.

June 10-13, 2014

City council meets and approves the installation of a cycle track on Richmond St. from York St. to Bathurst St., and a track on Adelaide St. from Bathurst St. to Simcoe St. as part of its pilot project.

July 7-9, 2015

City council meets and approves extensions of the Richmond and Adelaide cycle tracks.

September 21, 2015

The city cuts the ribbon on an extension of the Richmond cycle track, from York St. to Parliament St. Work on both the Richmond and Adelaide tracks is ongoing.