Today's "Cyclometer" newsletter that is sent out by the City of Toronto mentioned that there's a new bike lane on Renforth Dr., in the far west end of Etobicoke. I checked it out on my way home from work.

Not surprisingly, there were two cars parked in the bike lane pretty much as soon at it started, just south of Rathburn Rd. All of the houses along here have huge, generous driveways, none of which were full, so there was no excuse for these people to park illegally in the bike lane.

Pickup truck, license plate 925 3WN.

As you can see the "bike lane" narrows at this point, and this truck decides to stop just exactly where the lane narrows to the point where only he can fit. Just back behind me the lane is wide to provide parking. And of course there's the appartment driveway that he could have turned in to to get off the road... but no.

At least once a week this truck is parked here in the morning blocking the bike lane on a narrow street. Note that i've recorded the truck's plate here, but the trailer plate is 054 15W. The insanity is extreme here where he is parked right under the bike lane sign, AND a NO STOPPING sign, AND right in front of a driveway he could presumably pull into if desperate. Pathetic. Every week it is the same.

This scenario at this corner happens more days than not. There is legal parking just a bit ahead, but usually in use. The bike lane curves out around the parking area (which is bad enough). However delivery vans seem to consider this zone in the bike lane to be their convenient private parking spot. I know they are just trying to do their job, but they are making it so much more dangerous for cyclists. This is a very busy intersection. Check the second picture to see the clearance of a truck passing the parked truck... deadly.

I sympathise with these movers. There are no drive ways on that side of the street, and it'd be a lot more work for them to park anywhere else. But... it's my bike lane! The angle of the truck nicely squeezes you into traffic gradually so you almost don't notice how far into the middle of the road you've been forced (and its a pretty busy intersection during the morning commute).

This blockage is near the bottom of a curvy, one-way, FAST, downhill. These vehicles seem to belong to people work on the house they are in front of... so they figure they have the right to force all the cyclists into traffic (and people with strollers on the sidewalk into the street)? Note also the UPS van which just squeezed through... this street is heavily trafficked by boxy UPS vans in the morning.

Bike lane parking is almost always about the convenience of motorists. The collection of shops at Runnymede and Annette is like a magnet for bike lane parkers.

Canada Cartage truck blocking a bike lane and regular lane, right under a no stopping sign.

Dumpster carrier in the bike lane.

Two vans blocking Beverley at D'Arcy.

parked in a bike lane at a bus stop. Isn't there a parking lot for the business this truck is parked in front of?

Is it always necessary for truck drivers to park in the bike lane during the morning rush hour? There are always free spaces just north of here.

This section of bike lane is pretty useless at the best of times. The pavement is borderline rubble, it's almost completely in the door-zone, and you get people parking in it all the time. In this case it's a huge truck parked facing the wrong direction.

Lots of free spaces on the other side of the street, or just a little further up the block. Chose to block the bike lane instead.

I've seen this one here a few times now.

Blocking the lane on Runnymede at Annette. didn't get license plate though.

Three in a row at the start of the Runnymede bike lane. First one is an Enbridge truck.

I'm purposely not posting this truck's license plate number, because it looks like the driver may actually be parked legally, they put some cones out, and there's really no other way to park a moving truck around there.

Anyway, this photo still shows how silly the little Runnymede door-zone bikelane is. When bigger vehicles park in the spaces next to it, not only do cyclists end up riding right in the door-zone, but there just might not even be enough space to ride through!

For many parts of this bike lane, even when there's nobody parked in it, I ride outside the striped line.

Landscaping Ontario, one bike lane and sidewalk at a time.

Truck blocking the lane on Runnymede just outside the Subway Station and McDonald's.

Yet another parked illegally at Runnymede and Annette. I'm convinced this bike lane was built just for the convenience of motorists who want to park here. I can pretty much ride by here every day and take a photo of someone parked illegally.

This time it's a truck. And hey....does that "No Trucks" sign on the pole mean that they're not even allowed to drive on this street at all?