Bloor bike lane installation reduces roadway to 1 lane

Bloor street was bumper to bumper for this morning's commute, with the busy roadway down to one lane in each direction while crews install a bike lane between Avenue Road and Shaw Street. 

• ​VIDEO | Matt Galloway reviews the Bloor bike lane route
• Businesses worry Bloor bike lanes will hurt business

This morning crews began painting bike lanes and installing flexi-posts to act as a physical barrier between cyclists and motorists for the pilot project.

At 8 a.m., CBC's Trevor Dunn reported traffic was moving slowly along Bloor between Bathurst and Spadina.

Installing the bike lanes will cost about $500,000 and construction will run around the clock from Monday to Friday with the possibility of some weekend work. The city says the noisy work will be limited to daytime hours, and construction should be completed in about two weeks.

The lanes will eliminate some street parking along that stretch of the busy street. Some businesses are concerned this will cut into their bottom line, but Coun. Mike Layton told Metro Morning the lanes will help encourage more people to bike from from place to place, including to local businesses.

"The one thing we hear from people who don't cycle is 'I would if there was infrastructure available,'" Layton said. "While cyclists don't spend as much per visit to businesses, they spend more overall because they visit more often," he said.

Layton said lane closures during the installation of bike lanes are a small price to pay for the safety of cyclists.

"In some parts of the world they've [removed] cars all together from the street [during bike lane construction]," he said.

City council voted to approve the Bloor bike lane pilot project back on May 4. If the lanes are successful similar lanes will be installed on other city streets. 

But the lanes won't come without some headaches. The project will mean 135 on-street parking spaces will be lost, as well as the $840,000 in parking revenue they bring to the city.

But the city will use the project to track bike and car traffic, as well as the impact on local businesses. Staff will report back to council in 2017.

The city is advising cyclists to stay off Bloor while the lanes are installed and to use Harbord Street instead.