Biking activists and residents are speaking out as the Doug Ford government moves towards removing bike lanes from the downtown core.
On Thursday, the province posted updated plans online of a regulation required to remove bike lanes on Bloor St., Yonge St., and University Ave. The government says removing the lanes will help combat gridlock in the city, however, the motion to do this still needs to be passed by parliament.
“Bike lanes belong on secondary streets, not clogging traffic on main roads. It’s time to get you moving again,” Ford posted to X Thursday.
In October, the province posted details of Bill 212: Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024 – Framework for bike lanes that require removal of a traffic lane. If passed, the proposed new rules would require municipalities to obtain permission from the province before creating bike lanes.
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On Friday, the province’s Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said that if the legislation is passed “everything is up for grabs on these streets to be ripped out.”
However, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the bike lanes have been through many layers of approval before being installed and that the province should allow time for a formal review.
“The three bike lanes that the Province of Ontario is interested, whether they are the Bloor bike lanes, or the University or the Yonge St., have gone through at least three to four years of study, and different councillors, a different mayor, different council, before the last municipal election, since the last municipal election, and the by-election, have all said it’s the way to go,” Chow told reporters on Friday.
“It has gone through a lot of consultation and a lot of studies, and I wish the province would give us the time to submit the information to them formally. They can study it, and then say, ‘We agree/don’t agree,’ [then] allow time so we can collaborate,” the mayor continued. “If not, it’s totally arbitrary.”
ACTIVISTS, LAWYER SPEAK OUT AGAINST PROPOSED BIKE LANE LEGISLATION
Following Thursday’s update, people across the province, including the activist group Cycle TO, have spoken out against the proposed new rules.
“If it wasn’t clear before, it should be obvious now: for all the province’s bluster, this isn’t about traffic or even safety. It’s about spite. It’s clear the government was never serious about requiring ‘information from the municipality including traffic information’ or putting ‘bike lanes where they make sense’. It was never about working with municipalities or making data-driven decisions to help address congestion,” Cycle TO said in a statement.
“Bill 212 is unprecedented jurisdictional overreach that will put lives at risk.”
The organization is behind an online petition against the proposed legislation which has garnered nearly 15,000 signatures at the time of publication.
“It’s also essential now that our Municipal leaders hear clearly that there is no compromise, and there’s no meter or kilometer of bike lanes that we’ll accept being removed. We need Mayor Chow and City Council to take real leadership and use the City of Toronto’s full moral and legal weight to resist,” the statement continues.
Dave Shellhut, a Toronto-based lawyer with The Biking Lawyers, also has concerns about the proposed legislation. He told Now Toronto that the group works with hundreds of cyclists across the province who have been injured in collisions involving vehicles, and looks at the issue from the perspective of families who’ve lost loved ones, and people who have had their lives changed by cycling incidents involving motor vehicles.
“Many of those collisions could have been avoided with safe, protective infrastructure,” Shellhut told Now Toronto on Friday.
“The cost in not keeping vulnerable real users safe is really what we should be talking about.”
Shellhut said from his perspective the proposed legislation is a significant overreach from the province, which he says should be focused on issues that fall within its purview.
“You know, we’d much rather them deal with congestion on 400 series highways, wait times in ERs, nursing shortages – than going into the backyard of municipalities and messing with infrastructure planning that you know has occurred over years,” the lawyer shared.
“Everybody knows in Toronto that congestion is caused by construction, never-ending construction,” Shellhut said, adding that this is obvious when looking at Ontario’s 400 series highways, or the Gardiner Expressway.
“There isn’t a bike lane on those roads, but they are slammed.”
Shellhut says he has concerns about the potential for people to get injured if bike lanes are removed “for reasons not supported by data or evidence,” saying there will be grounds to take legal action when people are hurt.
“If a bike lane is removed and someone is injured as a result, you know, hit by a car where they wouldn’t have been if the bike lane was there, and we are retained, we will sue the province of Ontario.”
TORONTONIANS REACT
Across the city, people have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the new development, with many not impressed with the proposed plans.
“Not only does this not make sense, it’s just not how people use roads in this city…” one person commented.
“Stay in your lane, Ford! You didn’t get elected as Mayor of Toronto, stop trying to take that role. Also, did you notice there are other 443 municipalities of Ontario? It seems you haven’t with the obsession you have with TO,” one person commented on the premier’s X post.
While others are agreeing with Ford.
“Bike lanes should be on secondary roads..1000%,” one person posted to X.
“Yes Dougie! Common sense like this is why your part[y] will win another majority,” another person commented.
