Help make Dundas Place safe to ride for everyone
Why Dundas Place matters
Dundas Place (shown in blue below) is a key link in the East-West bikeway that connects the Thames Valley Parkway to Old East Village. With construction on King St set to begin in April, the protected bike lane on King will be removed (and will not be replaced) and there will be no safe all-ages-and-abilities corridor for people on bikes to arrive downtown or pass through.
What’s being proposed
City staff consulted with London Cycle Link, the Cycling Advisory Committee and the business community and brought four alternatives to Civic Works (a committee of City Council) for their direction on March 30th. These alternatives included:
A bi-directional bike lane on the north side, separated by sporadic planters from one-way eastbound vehicles on the south side. All north side parking would be removed and most of it replaced on the south side.
Uni-directional bike lanes on either side of one-way eastbound vehicles with only painted lines delineating the bike lane (cars in the middle bikes on either side). No change to parking.
Traffic diversions. Limit thru-traffic entering Dundas Place at Wellington and at Ridout. No change to parking.
Do Nothing
City staff are recommending Option #2, but this fails to provide an all-ages-and-abilities facility in a critical link of the bikeway. Ourselves and the Cycling Advisory Committee have been supporting solutions that avoid conflicts with parking and provide protection between people on bikes and vehicles. That’s why we’re endorsing Option #1, the bi-directional bike lane that would look like this:
What’s Next?
On March 30th, Civic Works voted to support Option #1 the Bi-Directional Bike Lane (pictured above) but the committee knew that all of Council wants to weigh-in on the discussion.
Council meets on April 13th to make the final decision for this summer’s temporary measures.
At the Civic Works meeting, there was lots of discussion by councillors about improving Alternative #3 Traffic Diversion by blocking traffic at Ridout and Wellington with physical barriers rather than signage. This would eliminate all through-traffic, substantially reduce the # of vehicles and slow vehicles down (since they’re destined for a particular business and will be looking for parking). It would also be faster to implement.
What can you do?
Call or email your city councillor (before April 13th) asking them to support safe cycling infrastructure on Dundas Place and to direct staff to implement Option #1 the bi-directional bike lane or Option #3 - traffic diversion with physical barriers. If you’re not sure what to say, you can use our letter below for inspiration:
