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leslie street north is the cycling super-highway »

for sandra

May 7th, 2009 by Andrew

I got a comment from Sandra that she had recently moved into Markham and needed some suggestions about how to get around the heinous crossing of 16th and Highway 404.  Here goes :)

Highway crossings are always tricky, but here is one method that works pretty well for me.  It does requrie some sidewalk riding and a little walking.  Use at your own risk.

From the east:  take the sidewalk on the south side of 16th and go under the first bridge.  The sidewalk ends under the second bridge where it becomes a narrow dirt trail.  Follow the little  dirt trail on to the triangular piece of gravel between 16th and the 404 on ramp.  Wait for a gap in traffic and cross the ramp.  You’ll find another dirt trail that you can use to access the parking lot on Leek Crescent.  Take Leek Crescent over the Mural Street and head North.  You can get back on 16th from the light there.  See the photo below or the Gmaps Pedometer Route.

Sneaking around 16th & 404

Sneaking around 16th & 404

I don’t find the eastbound leg to be as much as problem, as there is only one ramp on the south side of 16th to navigate.  From the light at 16th and Leslie, travel east towards Mural Street.  Just east of Mural is the entrance to a parking lot.  Turn in there and do a bit of a U turn.  Wait for the lights at Mural to go red for the westbound traffic and you should be able to get a nice clear road past the southbound on-ramp (Thanks to Paul, who showed me this little strategy).  Alternatively, you can use the sneak shown above.

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Posted in commuting, cycling, region of york, safety

2 Responses to “for sandra”

  1. Todd says:
    May 7, 2009 at 3:16 pm

    Wow – I won’t ever complain again about the cycling in my neighbourhood. That sounds horrendous!

    I have a potential client at 7 and Leslie so I may well be sharing some of that Markham cycling pain soon, either that or reacquainting myself with the 25D and 90 Leslie bus routes…

  2. Andrew says:
    May 9, 2009 at 9:16 am

    DarrenJ is the guru for getting to Leslie & 7 from South of Yonge & 401. He also writes on the ibiketo.ca website.

    See in particular his post from a couple of years ago “How-to: Yonge St and Hwy 401 by bike” for getting around the mess. I’ve ridden the route with Darren and it works great.

    Once past Yonge/401, You can use streets like Willowdale Ave., Maxome, and Henderson to connect to John St. or Green Lane in Markham. You can’t totally avoid Leslie, but it makes the ride much more enjoyable.

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