In 2023, there was only one…

In 2023, there was only one cyclist death recorded in the city of Toronto. In 2024, we have already had 6 and the year is not even over. We as a province should be finding ways to make cycling MORE safe in cities not less. With all of the existing construction projects that are clogging up city streets it’s becoming more dangerous for bikers. A girl was killed and Bloor and Avenue this summer because she had to merge out of the safe bike lane into traffic because of a DUMPSTER blocking the bike lane. All of these deaths are completely preventable with the right infrastructure. The perfect example of this is the Adelaide St bike corridor in Toronto. During the construction on Adelaide when the bike lane was closed there were almost no bikers on the street. Once construction was complete and a safe bike lane was done there are now more bikes travelling down that road everyday than cars. People will bike if they feel safe on the roads. As a society we should be doing more and more to encourage alternate modes of transportation to fix traffic issues. Cars cause traffic not bikes. We should be investing in safe and reliable public transit, MORE bike lanes, illegal parking enforcement on major transit corridors, and consistent Go Train service. Studies show that bike lanes improve the flow of traffic, not hurt it. At any hour of the day if you go down King st, Adelaide or Richmond there are dozens of cars illegally parked forcing everyone to merge around them causing blocks and blocks of backup. An easy solution would be to have parking officers patrol those streets during rush hour and enforce the no parking rules to keep traffic moving. Lastly, a blanket solution for the entire Province will not solve this issue. What works in a small municipality like Stratford or Barrie does not work in a complex, highly populated city like Toronto. This should be a law that is decided upon by each municipality who understands the complexity and nuance of their individual communities, not something that the Province dictates. The last thing the city needs right now is more construction, taking out bike lanes is taking a huge step backward in the progress we are making. Try driving down University avenue during rush hour right now with all the Ontario line construction and turn left on Queen and tell me that MORE construction in that area would make anything better.