The government of Alberta is celebrating an Ontario Court of Appeal decision that paves the way for that province to remove contentious municipal bike lanes.
The ruling, handed down on Aug. 14, overturned an earlier court ruling that blocked Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government from removing several bike lanes in downtown Toronto.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Alberta’s Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen echoed remarks from his Ontario counterpart, calling it “a win for common sense.”
“Albertans expect their government to make transportation decisions based on what works for our communities,” Dreeshen said.
“The appeal court made clear that governments have the authority to make and change transportation policy and that there is no constitutional right to a bike lane.”
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Dreeshen said the government of Alberta is drafting legislation for the fall sitting of the legislature to give the province more power to remove existing bike lanes.
It has also set up an online complaint system to solicit feedback and complaints online about specific routes.
“For too long, transportation decisions have been driven by ideology rather than common sense,” Dreeshen added.
“We need to consider how infrastructure works for everyone who uses our roads.”
With files from The Canadian Press
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The establishment of bike lanes is a very good, healthy and safe road measure. It will provide a favorable condition for the safe travel of citizens, the elderly, the disabled and children. It should be actively promoted.
Many of the objections I consider to be incorrect. What they were discussing was merely the rationality of the lane design. Rather than the bicycle lanes themselves.
As drivers get worse and pushier, we will find ourselves further corralled behind protective barriers…
Lookin at all you people thinking it’s ok to push past everyone on the right and then cut in at the front of the line… These are the people who run over cyclists, and these are the people complaining about bike lanes… The entitlement is astounding.
So much for local democracy, the last I checked Mayor’s and city council are elected officials elected by local constituents. The province is the one applying its ideology by over ruling the will of the local community.
Bicycle lane decisions based on ideology versus common sense. That sums up a lot on the issue. Where there are low levels of bicycles they should mix in fine with the vehicle traffic. All these separation raised curbs come at a price. Less road room to move the vehicles for miniscual or non-existent bicycle flow. And how do cars, vans and buses access the curbs, to unload or load passengers? They cannot, and there is no chance of curbside parking as well. One double parked vehicle can plug up the entire block. A constant bike lane going along for great lengths creates a no go exclusive territory for bicycles. And it presents a PITA for the other street users. [26yr municipal retired traffic operations technologist]
Ontario is a joke
This is gross. Better stick to Toronto.
Hey global news stop fluffing the fascists running the province mmmkay? Seriously tho, dreeshan has a responsibility to the public safety, not to gargle the nuts of every rube with an f150 that wants to own the libs.
Do better.
It cracks me up how these conservative governments pretend to be about small government and how government needs to stay out of one’s business. Yet here they are, always looking for a way to get up in your face at every turn. Worrying about how and where you ride a bike, what you can read in a library. And the list goes on.
As a constant user of bike lanes, in Ontario….if the bike lanes are taken out and i am legally not allowed to ride on a sidewalk, that will leave me no choice but to ride down the middle of a car lane. I cannot trust many drivers not push me off the road even when i am in my bike lane….staying as close to the curb as possible where there are no bike lane… people are worse…and come so close.. pushing me in to the curb. So, take out the bike lanes and that leaves me no choice but to take up an entire lane, on a bike as the safest option.
..oh yes my maximum speed is maybe 24 kmph. I invite all other cyclists to adopt the same strategy and “share” the road with motorists….at a much reduced speed!
Why do we have a rural minister dictating on the need (or not) of urban bikeways? Hypocrisy at its finest with UCP telling others what they can or cannot do within their own city. Leave it to the people who need to live with it.
Ironic how Smith whines about the federal government controlling Alberta yet has no problem doing the same to municipal government. Smith isn’t a conservative she’s a dictator.
Conservatives always raising the alarms on things very few dislike; while saying “the majority” without evidence.
Bike lanes will soon disappear if you make the decision to licence the bikes and pay as the rest of us pay through registration and fees.
Yes @ Tom FG. I will turn my music down so I can see better. Lol.
This kind of thinking explains why a person gets so brain dead when they climb onto a bike
Common sense prevails for once. And for all you whiny bikers its not all bike lanes. Its the ones like in downtown Toronto that creates more problems than good.
You mean a gas loving separatist province like Alberta hates bikes .. no way!
Get rid of them ALL.
Should hold those who implemented them as financially responsible for the removal.
Y’all are going on about one incident where a biker did something illegal and you want all the effing laws changed. What a joke. You know how many times I’ve had to jump out of the way from a car at an intersection? And to those who drive in the city, turn down your music so you can see better.
While the UCP are at it, why don’t they attend to Alberta’s massive infrastructure issues, which is likely $40 billion? That goes back to the Ralph Klein era. The gripers gripe about bike lanes in Alberta’s capital city, Edmonton, which cost $100 million. Petty cash, in comparison to how much money the UCP has squandered. For example, the UCP gave rich oil companies a $20 billion gift, for rectification of things they should have been paying for themselves, such as remediation of orphan wells. Six and a half years ago, the UCP allowed power companies in Alberta to take power consumers to the cleaners, with economic withholding. It’s a hefty price tag of $2.4 billion a month. The UCP has done an enormous amount of pricey boondoogles, and made life harder for many Albertans. That’s not a concern. Bike lanes are. Backwards priorities.
This is classic UCP hypocrisy at its finest. The UCP has to divert people’s attention away from how they aren’t governing good. That’s what this is. Same for Doug Ford in Ontario. For those who are griping about the municipalities wasting money, they should look at what the UCP wastes money on in Alberta and what Doug Ford’s PCs in Ontario waste money on. It even costs billions of dollars, time after time, and it’s worse. The MH Care (Corrupt Care) scandal which the UCP are part of, that has a cost of $614 million, or likely more, is still being investigated. Because of that, the UCP has to be concerned about bike lanes in Edmonton. While the UCP is at it, why don’t they get the oil companies in Alberta to pay their taxes they owe the provincial government, which is at least $250 million. That way municipalities in Alberta don’t have to increase property taxes.
This comment section doesn’t seem to have replys but to people pointing out that bike lanes arent needed, consider that they provide a free lane emergency vechles can cut into in emergencies or people can pull over to if an emergency vehicle needs to get by, they can also be an emergency shoulder for a driver, and they help to keep bikes from blocking actual lanes of traffic.
Its not that I think governments shouldn’t be allowed to manage their roads, it’s that when you dig into what fords government is doing a little, theyre micromanaging Toronto instead of letting the municipality manage it, and are not actually doing the proper studies or taking public opinion into account before making these decisions.
“there is no constitutional right to a bike lane.” Is there a constructional right to a highway or any road?
good. Perhaps knack and his cronies can return our tax dollars?
Cyclists should be licensed and pay into it.
Pretty rich to be talking about “Decisions based on ideology instead of common sense.” Look into the mirror you hypocrite. While you’re at at please try “Staying in your lane” lol 😂 Agin, you hypocrite Deven!
Cyclists want them they can pay extra taxes for them just like car drivers! There is a commentor on this list whining about conservatives, open your eyes, a vast majority hate these lanes!
People like to feel good about themselves when they build them but find the intended users often ignore them and use the sidewalk or cross the highway next to the bridge instead.
I just saw a bicycle rin a red light, while riding in a crosswalk. He then drove down the sidewalk beside a bike lane. So exactly what do we need to make bicycling safe? Enforce the laws so the bicycle drivers realise they have to obey the traffic laws, and remove the unneeded and unused bicycle lanes.
It is shameful and ridiculous that tiny streets in a downtown core as large as Toronto and as densely populated as Toronto, would cut the traffic lanes to allow bicycles that now include toxic batteries that like to burst into flames, or the inevitably persistent traffic with delivery, public transport, and emergency amd other municipal vehicles, let alone the tourists that are not quite sure where they are going leading to one of America’s most crippling traffic congestion.
Yes, arterial roads are small in the downtown core save for a small few.
Toronto is a grid though and one can easily take a series of side streets and parks to get through the city efficiently without the need for bike lanes.
The city only needed to create maps showing the best routes to take to avoid heavy traffic.
Conservatives are quite disgusting. Continually going against the will of the people.
Common sense indeed.
These and infills get voted against by the majority. Problem is, somehow we keep getting a mayor and councilors that don’t listen to the people.