Toronto north to south
 

I'm moving up north temporarily next month, and am looking for a route that takes me from Yonge and Shepherd to King and York. I suppose I could just barrel down Yonge (well, up, if I include the Hog's Hollow hill), but I wonder if there's any way to avoid all that traffic. I really hate riding on Yonge Street. Is it worth cutting across to Avenue or to another north-south street, and if so, when and where should I make the cut. What's the Yonge-401 intersection like, or should I take that pedestrian overpass?

I'll probably have to leave around 630 or 7am to get to work on time, so traffic shouldn't be too bad at the start, but it will get busier toward the end.

Ideas welcomed.

Me personally, I would cut across and enter the bike path system at Serena Gundy.
Much more relaxing ride, and no traffic lights.
You'd have to cross once at Pottery and that's about it until you get to lake shore area.

My ideas:
Option 1 - straight down Yonge St. The nasty part in my opinion is right close to home for you at the on ramp north of the 401 and, even worse, the off ramp south of the 401. The hill you can live with and the rest of Yonge St isn't too bad really. You could cut over to Mt Pleasant at Lawrence, it's not bad for going south.
Option 2 - Head west to Bathurst, south to Armour Heights( just south of the Earl Bales park) then cut through the residential area to get to the top of Avenue and go south from there. I haven't ridden Avenue south in the morning rush. I imagine it might be slower than the evening rush. (Avenue and Lyttons was the site of a fatal collision a year or two back. Experienced cyclist and a dump truck, just FYI )
Option 3 - Combination. Use option2 to get to Avenue, get over the 401, then head one block east on Wilson to Yonge blvd and head south-east on it (cutting the corner on Hogs Hollow) to get to Yonge St. Traffic going down Yonge Blvd won't like ya 'cause it's tight to pass a cyclist, but there ya go.

I've used all of those routes quite often, but pretty much always in the evening. Bathurst St. (south of the 401) I avoid at all costs, but that's mostly because of the older drivers who seem to use it. It might be an option for the morning commute though.
That's all that I've really got any experience with. There might be something to the east but someone else'll have to let you know about it.
Cheers, Dave

Thanks for the ideas, and keep 'em coming. I've got another month before I have to try it, by which time it should be a few notches warmer. I'll take a trial run over a weekend to get an idea of how long it will take and how badly I will need a shower at the end. Stopping off at the gym before going to work would add significant time and effort, not least the need to take a lock for the bike. With any luck it only lasts three months.

Any clues how many more klicks the bike path system would add? I admit I'm a little wary of riding it at 7am, especially if it's not light yet.

Check out the "Ride the City - Toronto" Map linked to below:

http://www.ridethecity.com/toronto

Just type "Yonge Sheppard" on the "Where From?", type "King York" on the Where To?", and finally, select the type of route you wish to take (Safer, Safe, Direct).

Pretty good tool.

That is seriously cool. :)

The so-called "safe route" is something like 16km. There's a safer route that's 19 or so, and a direct route which is just Yonge all the way.

Great site.

Maybe I'm a chicken, but I don't think I would be riding the DVP trail alone on a weekday morning. Especially the part south of where you cross the small bridge and have the river on your left going south. Around Gerrard, I think? There are always people sleeping and hanging out by the river there, I'm not a fan of that part.

I admit I wonder about that too, both in the evening and first thing in the morning. Not that much bicycle traffic. They've always been friendly enough as I go past, but I'd sooner not meet them on a bad day.

That's what I mean. Most of them are fine and don't care about bikes passing by. But you just never know. And there's really nowhere to get away, just the narrow trail, fence and river. You could take the stairs by Riverdale (there's a rail to push the bike up) and ride the rest on the street.

I have to agree about not riding on the Don River Trail south of Gerrard. I've ridden past some dicey looking people before and was glad they were too busy to pay attention to me.

I'm not familiar with the routes north of Yonge Blvd but it is pretty easy riding on Jedburgh (a street west of Yonge St. -- turns into Duplex south of Lawrence). I take that until Orchardview Blvd (that's the street north of Eglinton). Turn right on Orchardview Blvd and then left onto the park trail next to the North Toronto Memorial Community Centre until you get to the lights. Then keep going south on Lascelles, through the park (watch for dogs and free range children). Usually I continue south on Laselles then turn left on one of the side streets to Lawton and head to Heath. Heath St to Russell Hill Road to Bolton Rd to Dupont. Head left to St. George through U of T until College St when St. G turns into Beverly until Queen. Head east to John Street and head south to King St.

My only concern with riding Yonge Street is the part south of Bloor. Oh the constant red lights! Whenever I ride that section I hit every red light -- tedious.

A different route is to travel south on Yonge until Davisville then go west until Avenue Road and ride that downtown. Nice thing about Avenue is it's wide and when I rode it I had the right hand lane to myself.