Item - 2023.IE2.7

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services to include a study and near term implementation cycling and pedestrian project on College Street between Lansdowne Avenue and Manning Avenue in the next Near Term Cycling Network Plan (2025-2027) and to report back as part of the next Cycling Network Plan update.

2. Subject to the adoption of Recommendation 1, City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services to undertake public consultation with local residents, Business Improvement Areas, and vulnerable road user groups as part of the College Street between Lansdowne Avenue and Manning Avenue project.

College Street is one of the busiest corridors for cycling in Toronto, with thousands of cycling trips per day, year-round. Road safety continues to be a primary concern for residents of our wards, with 25 vulnerable road users having been seriously injured on College Street between 2010 and 2020. As the local Councillors who represent the majority of College Street, we’ve heard from our residents that safe options for active transportation on major corridors is needed.

At its April 7, 2022 meeting, City Council authorized upgrades to College Street including the installation of separated cycle tracks from Manning Avenue to Bay Street. During public consultation for the College Street Upgrades project, residents expressed interest in extension of the bikeway further west.

To create a complete cycling route on College Street, and to complement the existing changes being made between Manning Ave and Bay St, we are proposing a cycling project which would extend bikeways west to Lansdowne Ave.

In addition to road safety, creating a complete cycling connection on College Street will help the City meet our TransformTO goals of ensuring that 75% of trips under 5 kilometres are taken via active transportation by 2050. It will improve connectivity to existing infrastructure on the West Toronto Railpath and to other planned projects, including the Railpath extension, Bartlett-Havelock-Gladstone Cycling Connections project, and the Palmerston-Tecumseth Cycling Connections project. It will also support local businesses, as cycle track installation is shown to improve business spending on the corridors where they are located.

As part of this project, we are recommending that consultation is conducted with local residents, businesses and vulnerable road users so that the project’s design is informed by the needs of community, and to ensure that safety is improved, active transportation is promoted, and local businesses are supported.