The Ford government has officially put its plan to remove at least three Toronto bike lanes into action, posting details of a regulation required to make the move online.
As it prepares to pass new transportation legislation, the government is focusing on Toronto’s bike network, claiming the creation of designated lanes for cyclists is making traffic worse and clogging city streets.
The province’s proposed new law will force cities to ask for permission to remove a lane of traffic in order to add a bike lane. It will also mean municipalities have to provide data to justify lanes installed in the past five years.
Premier Doug Ford also plans to remove three specific bike lanes from Toronto.
The three routes, as first reported by Global News, will be torn out from Bloor Street, University Avenue and Yonge Street. The new regulation offers few specifics on which parts of those streets will see bike lanes removed but says the change will “return them to a lane of traffic for motor vehicles.”
Ford previously said he planned to remove the three bike lanes regardless of what data was presented to him. “They’re coming out,” he said, suggesting they could be replaced with bike lanes on side streets.
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“Toronto already loses $11 billion each year due to congestion,” Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said in a statement.
“We are doing everything we can to fight congestion and keep major arterial roads moving, but the removal of lanes of traffic on our busiest roads, such as Bloor Street, University Avenue, and Yonge Street, has only made gridlock worse.”
The government has said it will pay the cost of removing bike lanes back to the municipalities it orders to rip them out.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has shown no signs of slowing down or playing along with the premier’s plan.
“Mayor Chow is committed to the city’s cycling network plan recently adopted by council,” a spokesperson for the mayor previously told Global News.
“She will continue to work with city council and the city’s planning staff to find opportunities for all modes of transportation, including bike lanes.”
While the province focuses on the three Toronto bike lanes, it remains unclear what data cities will need to provide for other routes, how long it will take the province to assess and what criteria will be measured.
The government will need to pass its congestion legislation to bring the removals forward.
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