TORONTO

The City of Toronto officially opened new bike lanes in the Richmond-Adelaide area on Wednesday.

Public Works chairman Denzil Minnan-Wong jumped on a bike to help christen part of the new Adelaide St. bike lane. The city is installing a network of separated bike lanes in the downtown as part of a $300,000 pilot project.

Crews are completing a separated eastbound bike lane along the south side of Adelaide St. from Bathurst St. to Simcoe St. and westbound bike lane on the north side of Richmond St. from York St. to Bathurst St. Both streets have been reduced from four lanes to three lanes to make room for the bike lanes which are separated by painted lines on the road rather than a physical barrier.

“This is about safety and it is about connectivity,” Minnan-Wong said Wednesday morning at a press conference at Adelaide and Brant Sts. as cyclists whizzed by in the eastbound bike lane.

Minnan-Wong admitted the three years it took to implement the pilot project has left him with “a certain level of frustration.”

“We’ve got to get better at doing these faster,” he said. “I think we all understand the need for consultation but if we could do it faster, I think that all of us would be more pleased, especially cyclists.”

The Don Valley East (Ward 34) councillor said the city also has to get better at parking enforcement to ensure bike lanes don’t get blocked.

“What we have to do is make sure these cycle tracks are clear for cyclists because if they are blocked, all this is for naught,” Minnan-Wong said.

He was optimistic the bike lanes won’t slow down the commute too much for car drivers who use Richmond and Adelaide Sts.

“One of the benefits of doing this on a four-lane road is you only take out 25% capacity,” Minnan-Wong said. “We’re still going to have three lanes of traffic.

“Staff don’t believe that there is going to be a significant impact.”

Minnan-Wong hoped the results of the pilot project will be available next year so the city could give final approval to the separated bike network in the downtown.

Steve Buckley, general manager of transportation services for the city, said the lanes will provide an east-west connection to the “highest concentration of cycling commuters in the city.”

“That area sort of to the west of downtown, you have cycling rates for commuting of 10%, 15%, 20%,” Buckley told the Sun. “This here is a critical connection and provides them a safe route ... we expect it will be heavily utilized.”

Beyond the Richmond-Adelaide lanes, bike lanes have already been completed on Simcoe St. and Bathurst St. Contra-flow bike lanes (lanes that let cyclists go in the opposite direction of car traffic on a one-way street) have been installed on Richmond St. from Bathurst St. to Niagara St., Phoebe St. from Beverley St. to Soho St. and Stephanie St. from John St. to Beverley St.

Mayoral candidate John Tory was on hand for Wednesday’s announcement.

Tory said he supports “sensible, separated bike lanes” as a safe and practical option.

“This is a good opportunity as a pilot project to see how it works on a one-way street,” Tory said.

Although he’s vowed not to support projects that increase traffic congestion for car drivers, Tory said the Richmond-Adelaide pilot project will provide “facts and figures” to determine whether commutes are impacted.

“I have made very clear the fact that I want to get Toronto moving and that means doing nothing to slow down commutes,” Tory said.