Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 1

The intersection of Queen Street West, King Street West, Roncesvalles and the Queensway

With the early arrival of summer weather, Toronto’s streets are flooded again with cyclists. Perhaps it’s because there’s more light and perhaps it’s because you want to see them, but bicycles and the people who ride them are always apart of the city scene, they just seem to stand out in the sunshine.

In this series of photo posts I’m going to start on a major Toronto street and travel from end to end, documenting the bicycles and people who use these paved routes for work, school, play and life.

I’m starting with Queen Street. Home to the world’s longest streetcar route, thriving and struggling neighbourhoods and a vibrant cross-section of the people who are Toronto, Queen Street connects east to west even though the outer limits may seem worlds apart.

Part 1 begins where Queen Street West ends, at the intersection of King, Queen, Roncesvalles and the Queensway.

To the south of this intersection you’ll find a bridge that can take you down to the waterfront. On a quiet morning this bridge seems to see more traffic than the intersections nearby:

While there is plenty of street parking here, bicycles are the transportation of choice for Easy Rider patrons:

Rebuilding:

New retail is proposed, an ugly building that wouldn’t look out of place in a strip mall. How does this mix with the existing neighbourhood?

Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 2 Queen Street West and Jameson Avenue – Parkdale Continued