Toronto got its first snowfall and the bike paths are absolutely brutal
Plowing continues all over the city
Photo by:
NotSafe4BikesTO @NotSafe4BikesTO
Winter has officially landed in Onterrible with its first dump of the white stuff on Wednesday. Five cm of snow hit the greater Toronto overnight and into the early morning. Only two weeks ago it was 25 Celsius in the city, but that is a distant memory. With temps around the freezing mark the city has become a giant puddle of slush and snow, creating awful conditions to ride your bike, drive, walk or have a soaker-free day.
There are many new bike paths and cycling tracks, and although the city managed to clear some, many more are an absolute mess.
Someone made a completely fake sign which says you can park in Toronto bike lanes
Sometimes the city plows the roads and paths somewhat concurrently, with a plow truck on the road and a small tractor or 4×4. But that’s not always the case.
Sherbourne northbound. Clear road, full bike lane #ShovelTO pic.twitter.com/RIV7wtWewW
— NotSafe4BikesTO (@NotSafe4BikesTO) November 16, 2022
Worse off, obstacles that were hazardous enough before the snowfall, become even worse.
Morning @311Toronto
I like to continue to tag the cycling infrastructure that has been pushed into the Richmond St cycle track at Maud St.
Asking @CBCHereandNow & @citynews680 to #Amplify for #BikeTO about this hazard until it is fixed.
HT @NotSafe4BikesTO pic.twitter.com/BCs44sAkGW
— Bicycle Mayor of Toronto (@BicycleMayorTO) November 16, 2022
When the snow started on Monday, many cyclists, including cargo delivery companies, braved the storm.
We're used to winter, but today was one of those wet, slushy days where everything gets pushed off the road into the bike lanes (aka "bicycle gutters" h/t @notjustbikes)
Hats off to our riders who clocked just under 100km around Toronto today. These guys are ???⭐ https://t.co/xRQJRF94tz pic.twitter.com/mdvYTJGqiL
— nrbi (@DeliveredByBike) November 15, 2022
As most Torontonians know, this is just the beginning of a long, snowy winter, so hopefully snow can be cleared from all bike lanes so riders can cycle safely.
In one photo: How much Toronto prioritizes cars over safe and sustainable transportation.
(Bloor St., a main east-west bicycle artery for the largest city in Canada.)@311Toronto is there any plan to clear snow from bike lanes?#BikeTO cc @NotSafe4BikesTO @BicycleMayorTO pic.twitter.com/5fzG30rPAx— Chris Kemp (@mindoverdata) November 16, 2022
Thankfully, the city continues to plow and the weather looks decent in the next few days.
Pedestrians (and bikes) first! The quiet joy of following a sidewalk snow plow at 7am. Keeping Toronto moving @cityoftoronto pic.twitter.com/bpFdzRnUTa
— Zoe von Aesch (@Zoe_von) November 16, 2022