Comments Off on East End Cycling Advocacy Meeting: 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 9

By Val Dodge, May 31, 2010 4:47 am

Join Ward 29 Bikes and other local cycling advocacy organizations at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 9 in the council chambers at the East York Civic Centre at 850 Coxwell Avenue (at Mortimer, 1 km north of Danforth Avenue) as we celebrate the growth in active community-based cycling groups in the east end. Each of the cycling advocacy groups in attendance will share information about what they’re up to, and all attendees will participate in a moderated forum to discuss effecting change through political engagement.

You may have heard that there’s a municipal election this year, and this is your chance to help ensure that the safety of cyclists is one of the top local issues. Join us on June 9 and have your voice counted. We look forward to seeing you there.

Who: Ward 29 Bikes and other east end cycling advocacy groups.

What: Celebrate the growth in local advocacy, participate in a moderated forum.

Where: East York Civic Centre at 850 Coxwell Avenue. Take the O’Connor 70 bus north from Coxwell station or the Mortimer 62 from Broadview or Main stations.

When: Wednesday, June 9, 2010: Meeting 7–9 p.m. There will also be an informal social gathering at Remarks Bar & Grill at 1026 Coxwell Avenue (south of O’Connor) after the meeting. Join us there any time after 9 p.m.

Why: Because we all love cycling!

Comments Off on Ward 29 Bikes at Environment Day

By Val Dodge, May 17, 2010 11:35 pm

The Ward 29 Bikes information table at the local Community Environment Day a couple of Saturdays ago was quite popular, sandwiched as it was between the free compost and discount green bins. We spoke with dozens of cyclists, including three candidates for Ward 29 councillor in the upcoming municipal election, mayoral hopeful George Smitherman (above), and retiring councillor Case Ootes. The biggest concern among the people who visited our table was safety: they wanted safe, convenient, and well-maintained cycling routes throughout Ward 29, whether for going downtown for work, to the Danforth for shopping, or to local destinations like schools, parks, and libraries.

We helped many cyclists identify safer recreational and commuting routes, while taking recommendations about what infrastructure was most important. No surprise there: practical bike lanes led the charge. But we also heard a lot about the need for more bike parking at shopping destinations like the Danforth, and about the sorry state of maintenance on many common cycling routes. Coming up this summer, we’ll be producing an audit of these very concerns. Stay tuned.

And a thanks to retiring Ward 29 councillor Case Ootes (above) and his executive assistant Sunny Petrujkic for helping to arrange our presence at this year’s Community Environment Day. We look forward to working with Ward 29’s new councillor at next year’s event.

Thanks to Ward 29 Bikes member Kathy Chung for the bottom three pictures.