This week Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto will be holding three meetings to look at plans for the waterfront. On Monday December 8th the Queens Quay Revitalization Environmental Assessment Public Meeting #2 will be held and on December 10th, the Lower Donlands EA public forum #2 will be held. Collectively these two meetings will look at planning the transportation infrastructure along Toronto's waterfront from Lower Spadina Avenue to Lower Jarvis (the Queen's Quay EA) and from Parliament Street to Don Roadway (the Donlands EA). These projects have the potential to connect the Eastern and Western portions of the Martin Goodman Trail and make riding through Toronto's central waterfront much safer and more enjoyable for cyclists. In addition on Tuesday December 9th, the City of Toronto will be holding a consultation of the looking at the creation of a Western Waterfront Master Plan which will cover the area from the Humber River in the West to Marilyn Bell Park in the East. You can see the details here: Western Waterfront Master Plan Public Meeting.

I have always encouraged Toronto residents who want to see improved cycling infrastructure get involved in commenting on the designs for these types of projects. I also think we should start getting involved at the political level and start asking the senior levels of government to accelerate the funding for these projects.

The Queen's Quay Revitilization meeting will look at design alternatives for Queen's Quay which include replacing the East bound traffic lanes with a new leg of the Martin Goodman Trail and more pedestrian space. Among the stated purposes of the EA were the following:

• Establish a generously scaled central portion of the Martin Goodman Trail for cyclists, inline skaters, skateboarders, runners and walkers
• Provide workable traffic access to the area so that all modes of travel can be acceptably accommodated during work days and busy summer weekends

There will obviously be challenges in trying to meet these two objectives. This will be a good opportunity for cyclists to evaluate the designs and to ensure they realize the promise for creating a continuous Martin Goodman Trail along Toronto's waterfront. You can see all the background for this project at Queen's Quay Revitalization page and the Central Waterfront Public Realm pageof Waterfront Toronto's web site.

The Lower Donlands EA has a broader focus than cycling but it does include looking at a transportation plan for the area. A presentation at a consultation meeting in JulyPRESENTATION: Lower Don Lands EA Public Meeting #1 - July 23, 2008 listed among its goals the following:

1. Increase and Improve the Bicycle Network
2. Increase and Improve the Pedestrian Network
3. Prioritize Transit
4. Zero-Growth and Flexible Roadway Network

The study area is the nexus of some major existing on-street and off-street Toronto Bikeway Network routes, the Martin Goodman Trail, The Don Trail, The Lakeshore East Path and the Queen's Quay bike lanes. In addition bike lanes have been proposed in the Toronto Bike Plan for Commissioners Street. The connections between these routes could be improved especially around the Lake Shore Blvd East and Cherry Street intersection and the Queen's Quay/ Parliament/Lake Shore intersection. This EA is looking at the Transportation Plan for the area and cyclists should get involved to ensure that that cycling infrastructure is improved as a part of this project. You can see more background information at the following page. Lower Donlands EA

The Western Waterfront Master Plan is also looking alternative designs for the area that also include proposals for realigning the Martin Goodman Trail. Several options were presented at a meeting in May of 2008. See page 31 - 47 in the presentation from that meeting Community Advisory Group Charette #2 - Presentation. Again this is an opportunity for users of the Martin Goodman Trail to get involved and ensure that the designs are taking into account the needs of cyclists. You can see more background on this project at the City of Toronto's Western Waterfront Master Plan web page.

There has been a lot of talk about infrastructure spending as a way to combat the economic downturn we are going into. One of the arguments against this kind of economic stimulation is that it would take time to plan the projects and get the projects started so that the money can flow. This assumes that there has been no work done towards any of these infrastructure projects. This is not true for Toronto's waterfront projects. The plans are taking shape. One of the things that have been holding up progress is the lack of funds. As the Federal Government is drafting its 2009 budget it should be looking at accelerating funding of these waterfront projects. Toronto Cyclists should get involved in the consultation meetings to ensure that the designs that come forward improve cycling infrastructure all along the waterfront. They should also start lobbying the federal government right from the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to the Opposition Leaders right to our local MPs to make sure that the 2009 federal budget and economic stimulus package includes infrastructure money dedicated for cycling infrastructure. These waterfront projects are a good place to start.