Highway Traffic Act, 1990 &…

Highway Traffic Act, 1990 & Bike Lanes

Removes the ability for municipalities to reduce the number of marked lanes on a road for the purpose of installing bicycle lanes.

City of Niagara Falls Staff Response: Bicycle lanes are an important component of a municipality’s active
transportation network. The provision of bicycle lanes encourages more residents to cycle leading to healthier residents, lower obesity rates and lower vehicle emissions. In fact, the provision of bike lanes improves traffic flow as they give bikers a safe place on the roadway. No longer do city cyclists need to dodge cars or people and vice versa.

In addition, the City of Niagara Falls experiences at least 14 million tourist visitors per year. Not all the tourists drive to the city and many rely on active transportation and public transit to get around. By limiting the municipality's ability to focus on both cars and bike lanes could impact the City as a destination for tourists. Accordingly, the City of Niagara Falls is not in favour of this proposed change.