Weeks after winning its appeal to remove bike lanes from several major Toronto streets, the Ford government is forging ahead with plans to rip the infrastructure from Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue.
In a mid-August ruling, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned a lower court’s decision that removing bike lanes violated the Canadian Charter, allowing the government to proceed with its plan.
The decision reactivated a policy that Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government first put in place at the end of 2024 to restore space for vehicles — and remove bike lanes — from portions of Bloor, Yonge and University.
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The plans also extend north as University Avenue turns into Queen’s Park Crescent and then Avenue Road.
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The province announced on Tuesday it was seeking bids from companies to undertake the work, with the earliest removal taking place in Etobicoke in the near future.
“We’re keeping our promise,” Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said in a statement. “Under Premier Ford’s leadership, we’re getting people and goods moving again and giving commuters back more of their time.”
The government said it was issuing a request for proposals from companies interested in redesigning the three major streets to either remove the bike lanes or, if possible, alter them to add more lanes for cars.
Work will begin immediately, the government said, on a short section of Bloor Street West where “minimal design work is required.”
Very happy about this. Another target should be to remove bike lanes that go against traffic on one way streets, like Adelaide and Richmond. If a street is one way east, then remove the lane going west instead of sacrificing two car lanes.
Police also need to start enforcing traffic laws against bikers. Too many unpredictable bikers who ignore traffic laws, weave through traffic, go the wrong way on one way streets, ignore red lights, etc., yet they always blame the driver when their stupidity gets them injured.
One last thing: You aren’t special just because you ride a bicycle. It doesn’t make you more virtuous or give you any moral high ground. But what it does do is make you more vulnerable. It would be nice if bikers would look out for themselves half as much as they expect drivers to.
IanP, put up or shut up. Where is the proof that “engineering reports said this won’t do anything to aid congestion and that people will die.” ?
“Interesting. Can you provide proof of that?”
How lazy, this has been a key fact of this case and why a judge ruled earlier the lane removals shouldn’t proceed. Just do a little reading.
Ford loves to complain about judges being ideological, while he and his fan club ignore the studies and facts to push ahead his agenda as a culture war despite its clear flaws, which seems the definition of ideological.
Sure if a cyclist get injured or killed, the guilty Ford government cannot be sued. How irresponsible.
Anonymous.
“No mention of the fact that their own engineering reports said this won’t do anything to aid congestion and that people will die.”
Interesting. Can you provide proof of that?
People get kiIIed routinely in this city. I also see cyclist, and even cars, illegally passing streetcars on their left on to oncoming traffic. I’ve witnessed no de@ths so far, but if one were to happen what would be your thoughts on the cause of de@th?
FANTASTIC NEWS , HOPE THEY START SOON HERE IN VANCOUVER BC
No mention of the fact that their own engineering reports said this won’t do anything to aid congestion and that people will die.
Conservatives keep cheering his stupidity where his own studies say they work.
How many more ways will we tolerate Ford wasting our money?! Greenbelt scam, wind project cancellations ($230M), speed cameras (210M + similar lost revenues), unneeded highways benefiting donors and 401 tunnel pipe dream (billions), the incessant ads everywhere, now bike lane removal (48M+28M spent). Plus all the legal costs.
They spend on consultants that tell them these removals won’t reduce traffic congestion (likely the opposite, as Toronto is too big and dense for cars to be a primary mode now), and have no actual plan for the mythical secondary roads cycling routes, as there are no reasonable alternates, people will die needlessly, so a future government is going to have to spend our $$$ to redo this soon enough. Stop this waste!
Good. University bike lanes were never meant to be permanent, but only during shelter in place to keep people active. Not only did the city keep them, they built a bike lane one block east on York where 501 Streetcars are diverting due to subway construction.