City bulldozes away bikes

July 1, 2009 8:55 AM

So a friend of mine locked his bike to a city-provided bike post... he came back and the city (Toronto) had torn up the entire sidewalk for 2 blocks, including where he had locked his bike. The workers tossed the bikes aside, some still locked to the posts, but some of the posts broken in two thereby freeing up the bikes. His bike was gone. There was no indication from the city that they were going to do this (signs not to lock your bike, etc.). Police have been called but consider it a "stolen bike" issue... now what? Photos and more inside.

Picture of bulldozer about to tear out bike post.

Same area post-post.

Picture of heaped bike posts, some broken in two by bulldozers.

Picture of some heaped bikes that weren't yet stolen.

Some other info: when the situation was explained to the workers (that the bike was missing) they laughed. When asked why there were no signs saying not to lock bikes up, they said, "There've been bulldozers out here for weeks." Yes, there had, but they had been tearing up the road, not the sidewalk. The city had not cordoned off the sidewalk the way it is in the pictures, until they were about to start bulldozing--that is, when the bike was locked up, less than 12 hours earlier, the sidewalk had regular access just like it always had before.

This is a major intersection, one of the busiest in the city: Yonge and Eglinton. My friend owns a store in the area and is there 4 times minimum a week--there were never any signs saying they were going to bulldoze away the bike posts.

Also note that the city recommends that bikes be locked to the post, not the ring, which is what my friend did. (Instructions are actually stamped right into the ring.) As you can see from the second photo, some of the rings were ripped free of the posts, which would allow bikes to just be lifted right off, which is what we assume happened.

Also of note is that the city made no attempt to keep an eye on the bikes once they'd tossed them to the side of the road. Anyone could just walk up and take them. I met no resistance walking into the area to examine the bikes in the photos.

Suggestions on how to proceed?

posted by You Should See the Other Guy to law & government (16 comments total)

Oh, he already called The Toronto Star and NOW Magazine.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 8:57 AM on July 1

Call your local City Councilor or Selectman
posted by Gungho at 8:58 AM on July 1

I'm not sure what we can offer.. he's called the police and the media, you've a suggestion to call a Selectman.

He might also call his insurance company.

I'm guessing the bike isn't worth getting an attorney over...'

Write it off and get a new bike... like they say "shit happens"
posted by HuronBob at 9:03 AM on July 1

Your pictures aren't very compelling. I see a heap of posts (no reference in the picture to where they are) and a two junk-yard bound bikes locked to other posts (again with no frame-reference to location.)

Your city must have a transit manager or even a bicycle transit person you can speak with.

It's doubtful you'll get your bike back or any type of damages, but at the very least you can raise enough hell so that this doesn't happen again.
posted by wfrgms at 9:08 AM on July 1

(Join then) Ask Toronto Cyclists Union.
Also, this is the sort of thing that Spacing would care about.
posted by scruss at 9:10 AM on July 1

It seems to me that the issue is larger than just your friend's bike. It would be nice to prevent this from happening to others. City workers could be made more sensitive to personal property, and this might involve a directive or policy change. He might note this larger issue in the letters he writes, rather than just focusing on his bike. The CBC might be interested.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:11 AM on July 1

Minor point, that's not a bulldozer, but a telescopic boom excavator. Commonly known as a Gradall.
posted by electroboy at 9:46 AM on July 1 [4 favorites has favorites]

Does he know any of the other people whose bikes were abandoned/stolen? If he's not making any progress on his own, maybe a larger group of people would have better luck.
posted by Meg_Murry at 9:57 AM on July 1

Drop Torontoist a line. They're grassroots enough that this story would interest them, but they've got enough mainstream connections (officially Globe, unofficially National Post) that there's a good chance the piece gets re-tweeted by the big boys.

It'll also help if the evidence is still fresh enough for them to send their own writer/photographer.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:26 AM on July 1

If you're talking to city hall, talk to Councillor Heaps, who while not the most bike-friendly ever does chair the cycling committee.
posted by mendel at 11:51 AM on July 1

(Also, they're probably contractors, since city outside workers are on strike right now.)
posted by mendel at 12:04 PM on July 1

It would be nice to prevent this from happening to others. City workers could be made more sensitive to personal property, and this might involve a directive or policy change.

This. Can you even imagine if they were tearing up a street and someone inadvertently left a car there, which they would toss aside like junk, perhaps smashing a window in the process? No, they would have it towed and impounded, to be retrieved (after paying a fine/storage fee). They would be liable for damage or loss. At minimum a bike should be given equitable treatment. Even if it's not convenient, even if it involves a begrudging ransom, personal property should not be treated this way.

Good luck getting it enforced or getting anything better than an apology, but I'm appalled.
posted by dhartung at 7:32 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

(Also, they're probably contractors, since city outside workers are on strike right now.)

Yes, they were almost certainly contractors -- not just because of the strike, but because that's how road work is done in Toronto.

You mention he contacted The Star. I would suggest contacting their "The Fixer" column if that was not the point of contact.

RE: Council, consider also contacting Glenn De Baeremaeker as he is a pretty serious cyclist himself, as well as Councillors for Ward 22 and Ward 16 and which together encompass the four corners of Yonge & Eglinton.

Here are various City contacts related to cycling; however, I would assume that many of these points of contact will be unstaffed during the strike.

I wouldn't expect a satisfactory resolution to your friend's problem, but hopefully something can be done to prevent this from happening in the future.
posted by onshi at 7:13 AM on July 2

I would second trying The Star's "the Fixer."
posted by captaincrouton at 9:20 AM on July 2

Get the contractor's name, if they're still working at the site. Your story might be more easy to write up if it involves more specifics. Also, not all contractors will be jerks like that.
posted by anthill at 1:42 PM on July 2

I contacted the Mayor's office and they sent a reply basically saying that this is the procedure that's followed in these circumstances and the workers followed them. I emailed back outlining how they hadn't and I'm waiting for their followup.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 8:44 PM on July 31