This article previously appeared on TorontoToday.
Six cyclists have been killed on Toronto roads in 2024, the deadliest year in at least a decade.
On July 25, another biker narrowly avoided dying in a collision at Bloor and Dufferin.
Video shows a cyclist going along Bloor nearly getting crushed after being struck by a flatbed truck making an illegal right-hand turn.
The accident spurred Davenport Coun. Alejandra Bravo to ask city staff to study whether the intersection could be revamped to make it safer.
“That’s why we’re here now,” she said.
On Thursday, the Toronto and East York Community Council will vote on Bravo’s motion. On top of the general safety study, staff will probe whether to install “geometric safety improvements” — such as changing the curb’s radius to allow for safer turns — as part of an ongoing project to prioritize bus routes along Dufferin ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Even before this summer’s near death, Bravo had her eye on the intersection.
“Pedestrians and cyclists have for a really long time complained about safety at Bloor and Dufferin…The curb radius is too wide [and] vehicles often ignore signage because of a lack of physical separation and infrastructure,” she said.
Safety at Bloor and Dufferin is particularly important as the neighbourhood goes through a population boom with massive condo developments set to finish construction soon, Bravo said.
“People understand that the Bloor and Dufferin area is growing really fast. There are buildings and cranes coming up along that corridor. So there's a need for a plan that creates a safer intersection for everybody,” she said.
Bravo said she “certainly” expects the motion to pass. If it does, city staff will report back to the subcommittee early in the new year.
From 2006 to the end of last year, five cyclists have suffered major injuries in collisions at Bloor and Dufferin, according to city data.
Bike lanes were installed on Bloor between Shaw and Runnymede — which includes the Bloor and Dufferin intersection — in the summer of 2020.
Thursday’s debate at the subcommittee is happening while the Ford government threatens to rip out existing bike lanes across the province. It’s part of a potential early election pitch to drivers who are frustrated by what they think is longer commute times stemming from bike lane expansion.
“It isn't enough to keep an eye on future bike lanes … We need to and will remove and replace existing bike lanes on primary roads that are bringing traffic in our cities to an absolute standstill,” Premier Doug Ford said in a speech last week.
On Monday, provincial Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria tabled a bill to make good on the promise. Sarkaria didn’t answer when he was asked directly which bike lanes are in his government’s crosshairs.
