November 03, 2020
- ActiveTO is (mostly) finished, so how will Toronto get residents outdoors this winter?Mayor John Tory has asked the city to explore new methods to boost outdoor activity
- Is the "Youth Movement" in professional cycling real or imaginary? Velonews recently published an interesting analysis of the race statistics over the last few years hints towards the coming dominance of the new generation of pro cyclists.
- A cycling revolution requires a few barricades and our cities need more bikes and fewer cars. Read "Cyclists are not the bad guys" in the Financial Times.
- This week Toronto experienced its first snowfall of the season accompanied by reports of inconsistent treatment of snow and ice on sidewalks and in bike lanes. With the pandemic not appearing to let up, access to outdoor space, whether for safe transportation or exercise will be as important this winter as it was throughout the spring, summer and fall. If you’d like to have safe access to public amenities throughout the winter months, please send an email to Infrastructure and Environment Committee by noon on November 4th in support of motion IE17.7 brought forward by Councillors Matlow and Layton. You can read the complete motion here. The Councillors' motion requests that the City harmonize sidewalk clearing standards, investigate the appropriate equipment to clear bike lanes and cycle tracks and develop a plan to clear snow on all paved pedestrian and cycling pathways in Toronto’s parks and is consistent with the recommendation from the Toronto Office of Recovery and Rebuild that the City "consider developing a Winter City Plan to expand winter use of public parks, expand the CafeTO plan and pursue winter solutions for ActiveTO to increase resilience on a year-round basis.” We urge you to take a few minutes and send an email about your winter experiences and why you support IE17.7. Your email doesn’t have to be long and relating your own experience will make it more compelling. Send your email to the clerk (iec@toronto.ca) by noon November 4 and copy the following:
- Barbara Gray, General Manager, Transportation Services Barbara.Gray@toronto.ca
- Becky Katz, Manager, Pedestrian and Cycling Unit Becky.Katz@toronto.ca
- Janie Romoff, General Manager, Parks, Forestry & Recreation. Janie.Romoff@toronto.ca
- Richard Ubbens, Director, Parks. Richard.Ubbens@toronto.ca
- Please send a bcc to info@cycleto.ca, cycledonvalleymidtown@cycleto.ca Voicing your support for this motion can help make the winter experience in this city better for all.