What does it take to install bike lanes?
"Paint," Ward 14 (Parkdale-High Park) Councillor Gord Perks said simply.
Perks expects bicycle lanes on Annette Street between Keele Street and the Rail Corridor east of Dundas Street West to be finished by late summer.
"The sense I get is there's an eagerness to get on with it in Ward 14," Perks said.
Bicycle lanes are not a contentious issue in the area because they will not interfere with existing on-street parking. Only one public meeting was needed, according to the councillor.
"It barely grazes my ward," Perks said adding that he has talked to the local residents' association.
Toronto transportation staff will be submitting a report to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting regarding bike lanes on May 7. People are invited to attend the meeting and make a deputation.
Annette Street was next on the list as part of the City of Toronto's Bike Plan. The plan was created with the intention of establishing a vision for cycling in the city. Its goal is to turn Toronto into a more bicycle-friendly city.
"The city has fallen behind on the bike plan," said City Cycling Committee member Tammy Thorne, an avid cyclist, who bikes every day from her home in South Parkdale to the U of T campus. "The new finish date is 2012 as opposed to 2011. They've ramped up their plan."
There will be an additional 50 kilometres of bike lanes added this year; next year there will be an additional 75 and 90 kilometres every year after that.
"There was only 7.7 km last year and they promised 27," Thorne said. "The bike plan was put together with routes of least resistance."
Bike lanes would be installed on roads that had minimal effect on disrupting traffic and parking, she said.
Thorne moved to Toronto in 1990 when she was 19. Cycling was her primary mode of transportation. It's the fastest, most efficient and safest way to travel, she said.