Originally Posted by
cyclocommuter
What the GTA needs are a few decent North - South roads that go across the 401 and the 407 but with no ramps to them. Birchmount is a good example on the east but it does not intersect the 407 (yet). Again in the East, Roddick road has a bridge over the 407 with no ramps to it so it is safe for cyclists to use going across the 407. Unfortunately it leads to Woodbine and/or Warden which are full of cars during rush hours. Instead of Leslie, you could also try Bayview where traffic is not too bad north of Elgin Mills.
Yeah, cycling through the suburbs to get up North is a crap shoot especially on weekdays... though it is not as bad on the weekends. One best option is to just drive up North of the 407, park the car at some strip mall parking lot or in a park and ride from there.
It's really not good much beyond the old city of Toronto, North York isn't really bicycle friendly, although it is getting better, slowly, very very very slowly. York Region is 10 times worse. As for driving north of the 407, that's not really an option, no car.