I am writing to you today as…

I am writing to you today as an Etobicoke Lakeshore resident and a father who is also a car driver, cyclist and pedestrian and has major concerns about the discussion of prohibiting bike lanes if they remove a lane of traffic. I appreciate that congestion is a major concern of this government and there is a desire to use every tool in the toolbox to address it. However, a forced review of all bike lanes on roadways by the Ministry of Transportation is not the correct policy as we risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater. First, numerous studies have shown that lane reductions due to protected cycling infrastructure do not increase congestion over time and any temporary decrease in vehicular travel time from removing lanes is eventually eliminated due to induced demand on these roadways. This is especially true in Etobicoke Lakeshore where we will see over 10,000 new residents in the next 5 to 10 years along the Bloor corridor which will increase congestion unless we find safe alternatives to driving.

Furthermore, as we see in the case of Parkside drive in West Toronto where the local community has worked closely with the City of Toronto to address excessive speeding on this roadway which includes a by-directional protected bike lane in one lane in order to help reduce the speed on this road and prevent accidents. A policy such as this will only add red-tape to a project that has been studied in great detail by the city and potentially cost lives of all road users through any such delay.

I contrast this with Burnhamthorpe in Etobicoke Lakeshore between Dundas and Kipling where there have been multiple accidents including the death of a cyclist this year. This is all despite the local communities best efforts to reduce speed in this roadway. We can almost guarantee that a bike lane on this road would have saved this cyclist's life and would help accomplish a true reduction in speed that only a roadway adjustment would allow.

Lastly, the issue I wish to speak to is the very lives of Ontario citizens which will be put at risk from this policy. Toronto has already seen six cyclist lives lost so far this year and the majority of these lives were lost on streets without bike lanes (the most deaths in the 20+ years since Toronto has been tracking this data). Going forward with this policy will increase the safety risk for cyclists and will lead to an increase in injury and death. This risk will directly affect myself and my daughter as I use my bike to take her to local events and after school classes. I don't know if you have biked with a child in mixed traffic without bike lanes, but I can say that protected bike lanes are the only thing that makes this form of transportation viable for a family.

Ultimately, I hope the government does not go forward with this policy due to its negligible benefits and increased long term health and safety risks for citizens.