7 thoughts on “King St West at Crawford to Yonge and St Clair”

1. If I might….

   I’d say going over to Christie on one of the side streets just before Dupont and then riding up Christie to St. Clair would be a better alternative then Shaw to Davenport. Particularly, the road you head north off of Davenport on has got to have one of the steepest inclines you could choose and wouldn’t exactly be for the faint of heart (Christie is much more gradual).

   Secondly, that left hand turn on to Bathurst, probably not a fabulous idea as there are likely no lights and you could be sitting there for a while waiting for a break in traffic. Might as well just ride over to Bathurst and St. Clair and then head north.

   Mind you, if this is just meant as a distance calculator then (in the words of Roseanne Roseannadana): nevermind.

2. leckyf,

   I know, that IS a killer hill – but it’s short! I stand up and boot it up there – and then your done.

   It is, I think the shortest way in the city to get up that ridge.

   Good to see people who know are watching; thanks for the comment.

   You can make a map of the alternative if you want; I’ll post it with a note that it avoids the ‘death hill’. :)

   Michael

3. Oh, Sorry – on your second point, yes no light, but when the light turns at St Clair your usually good to go – if it’s rush hour it’s grid lock and your good to go.

   The only thing I don’t like about the route is the after that left onto Bathurst you go DOWN and the UP Heath. But, Heath is such a good east west route it’s worth the work to get there.

4. I second Christie st. up, the bike lane and mostly unimpeded climb up (only 1 cross walk in the way between Davenport and St. Clair West) make it easier than having to stop at stop signs.

   Making the left turn onto Kenwood will be tricky since there is no left turns allowed due to the St. Clair RoW. In addition, they lane parallel to St. Clair used to make the left onto Bathurst is actually an alley which is closed due to construction between Raglan ave and Bathurst.

   Personally, if i want a safe route, I would ride through Davenport then ride my bike up Spadina then use Spadina north until heath and jet east. but the gradient on Spadina wrapping around Casa Loma is the steepest compared to Christie or Bathurst (granted it’s also the shortest).

   My other alternative would be to use Christie, cut through the barns, get onto Vaughan road then to Claxton which has a controlled intersection so you can cross Bathurst to Heath (all this is on either a bike lane or sharrows): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3588810
   This alternative route sees a bunch of stop signs, 5 controlled intersections, and 2 crummy hills (Christie up to St. Clair and Heath between Tweedsmuir and Spadina) but only adds about 0.6km extra to the commute.

5. The Hillcrest – Yep, it’s short but STEEP! Hell, it’s hard to walk up!

   I’ve never been on Heath and generally just stay on St. Clair when I’m riding over from Moore.

   I live at Ossington/Davenport so the area’s pretty familiar to me.

6. Bikeroo,

   Good points all. I’ve used that route, up and around to Heath.

   Thanks for making the map. I’ve added it to the King West to Young St Clair map page. This is new, several variations of a route on one map page – I think it works.

   I like the gmap-pedometer.com application – going to try it.

   Michael

7. @leckyf,

   Yep, it IS hard to walk up!

   For a smooth, longer ride up the ridge I like Avenue Road.

   Michael