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The bike tracks would be a “high-quality cycling facility which will attract cyclists,” the analysis says. They would bring more riders to the LRT station and link up well with other bike routes.

On the down side, transit users would have to cross the tracks to transfer between the buses above and the trains below. Eventually hundreds will do that at rush hours.

That’s a real concern and not to be dismissed. And yet the planners figured they could deal with it with marked crossings and design tricks like a little curve in the track to slow cyclists down. At worst, a barrier could channel people to particular spots where even the most aggressive cyclists would have to yield.

“The experience from other cities shows that cycling-pedestrian conflicts are infrequent, they can be relatively easily managed, and serious injuries are very rare,” the assessment said. Also, the busiest times for transfers would be different from the busiest times for biking.

OC Transpo was not going for it.

“Nowhere else in our system do we accommodate cycling travel through our stations,” the agency put in. (Well, Bayview and Confederation O-Train stations have multi-use paths running right through them. Numerous stations have their main entrances on such paths, too.)

Cyclists and pedestrians will “weave among themselves,” slowing everybody down. “The avid cyclists will be frustrated with pedestrian delays and go back to riding with mixed traffic. However, no safe accommodations (will) have been made,” OC Transpo said.