Toronto Cycling Activists Build Their Own Bike Network

Fed up with city government, which is two years behind schedule implementing a 1,000 kilometer bicycle network, Toronto’s Other Urban Repair Squad have begun striping their own bike lanes — in hot pink. The Toronto Star reports (via ibiketoronto):

The first time the group struck was on May 30. The gang spray-painted an illegal bike lane in the Annex, between Spadina Ave. and Bathurst St., along Bloor. To make the paths appear legitimate, painters stenciled the city’s bike lane logo – a bicycle and large diamond – along the road as well.

“The shop owners on Bloor said they thought it was the city staff painting,” said Rick Helary, manager of road operations in Toronto. He says the total cost of the clean up was $1973.74.

This is a small price to pay, says the Repair Squad’s ringleader, a man in his late 30s (members of the group asked their names not be used). “The city is taking way too long. There is no need for this. Why don’t they just paint the bike lanes? People are dying.” The most recent cyclist killed in the GTA died earlier this month when he collided with a garbage truck on Bayview Ave., near the 401.

Photo: bikelanediary