Cyclist blasts cars for driving up downtown bike lane

A video of cars turning mistakenly into a bike lane on Wellesley Street at the corner of Queens Park Crescent East is racking up views on YouTube, but the City of Toronto maintains the lane markings are clear.

Eric Soelberg, who shot the video on a camera mounted to his helmet, said he's seen cars make their way up the bike lane illegally a number of times.

"Something is not right in the design," he said.  

"I think the roadway is a bit narrow there, so the bike lane could be mistaken for a second lane."

Soelberg had posted his video on the weekend hoping that the city would see an issue at the intersection and step in.  

"What they should have is maybe a pole in the middle to separate the lane so vehicles can't enter it. Or maybe green paint across it, to distinguish it from the regular lane," he said.

Jacquelyn Hayward Gulati, Toronto's manager of cycling infrastructure, disagreed in a statement she sent to CBC News. The city does not plan to intervene.

"It appears that these are isolated incidents of driver error," she wrote. "The cycle track is well signed and marked with painted symbols, with separation provided by a concrete curb."

But Soelberg said the statement just lays out the facts, and does little for prevention.

"It's wrong," he said. "The city should be investigating why this is happening because it shouldn't happen. There's absolutely no reason why a car should be entering there."

Soelberg acknowledged that many drivers are likely entering the lane without even realizing it's a cycling path. But he was still "shocked" the first time he saw it.

"I kept seeing it over and over again and I thought, 'Maybe it's not just careless drivers, maybe it's a bit more.'"

Cyclist Jeannine Haller said Thursday that she bikes in the area often, but was confused the first time she saw the bike lane, particularly the part that goes in both directions.

"Now I know what to do," she said.

But Emma Whitle, another cyclist riding through the lane Thursday, said the path is clearly marked. There are pictures of bicycles painted in the lanes.

"Can you not see what is on the road?"