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JACK LAKEY / TORONTO STAR Order this photo
Signs along a recreational path that cuts through Riverdale Park West, just outside the Riverdale Zoo, offer contradictory advice that is confusing to cyclists and even pedestrians.
Don’t believe everything you see on signs, particularly when it comes to riding bikes in city parks.
There are still signs posted near mixed-use paths running through inner-city parks that say cycling is prohibited, along with hikers who agree and object to sharing the space with bikes.
But they are not a sign of the times at Riverdale Park West, right outside the Riverdale Farm, at least not any more.
B. Hall emailed to say that just over a week ago, “contradictory new signs were erected, showing the pathway as part of the city cycle route despite a clear sign next to it saying that bikes are not allowed!
“There is a very good reason to restrict cycling, as this particular part of the park is next to the popular, family oriented Riverdale Farm and is intensely used by families and small children throughout the summer.
“It is already a problem with some bikers and even e-bikes illegally crossing the park, sometimes at speed. Keeping bikes out of this family park should be enforced, not encouraged.”
We went there and found a sign that says “No bicycle riding” just a few metres away from a new sign, attached to a utility pole, that indicates the path is part of a cycling route.
At the other end of the path, which cuts through the park at an angle, we found a similar sign, not far from another sign that also shows it as a cycling route.
The no-cycling signs are very old and show the logo for the former City of Toronto, which changed after amalgamation in 1998. It prompted a foggy memory of a similar complaint from a reader in 2011.
About a year later, a reader contacted us to say he’d done some research and figured out the bylaw on which the signs are based was repealed shortly after amalgamation, and that cycling on park paths is no longer prohibited.
But the signs are still capable of befuddling cyclists, pedestrians and even parks officials.
STATUS: Ray Stukas, who’s in charge of inner city parks, emailed to say “it does sound confusing. I have copied the local Park Supervisor to investigate and remove the no-cycling signs. I have also copied the supervisor for the farm to see if they know why there was a no cycling rule to begin with.”
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