I don’t like this proposal…

I don’t like this proposal. Many studies have shown that adding bike lanes reduces car traffic and congestion, and adding more lanes to cities would not make cars move faster unless there were no traffic lights. If the province is serious about gridlock, why not focus on more efficient smart traffic lights and intersection designs that include turning lanes so cars aren’t stuck behind other turning cars?

Even if bike lanes did make traffic lanes move more slowly, how many biker-deaths is worth it for faster traffic? In a province with a healthcare crisis, it seems unconscionable to prioritize (assumed, but not proven) slight time gains in a non-active form of transportation over the lives and safety of bikers who use a form of transportation that makes them, and the province by extension, passively healthier.

This act should consider street parking lanes rather than (or in addition to) bike lanes. Street parking lanes take up as much or more space than bike lanes, and involve more interactions with traffic that could cause lanes to stop and congestion to increase. For example, when someone is parking on the street, they generally block a lane and briefly stop traffic there. As well, street parking is incredibly inexpensive given the cost of space anywhere else in the downtown of cities. Removing street parking on major roads would be cheaper, faster, and likely more helpful for traffic than removing bike lanes.

Removing bike lanes is not a sensible or serious proposal for reducing grid lock, and it has a myriad of downsides which make it an actively harmful decision.