I live in uptown Toronto. I…

I live in uptown Toronto. I am in favour of the removal of the bike lanes, as proposed by the Premier. In particular, I am in favour of removal of the bike lanes on University Avenue (and other main arteries in the City such as Bloor, Yonge Street and now Avenue Road). The placement of a raised lane and, in any event, restricting traffic to a single lane on Hospital Row was extremely ill-conceived and possibly life-threatening - there is no way that an ambulance could quickly attend to anyone in an accident on University or access the hospitals from University with the modifications that have been made. As a cyclist, I would not feel safe riding on a major congested artery with frustrated drivers and I favour placing cycling lanes on less busy secondary streets. Further, I am a lawyer who has worked in Bloor West Village for the past 31 years - I can count on my hands the number of cyclists who ride on Bloor Street in that area between Runnymede and Jane in particular. The bike lanes are detrimental to area businesses as street parking and the flow of traffic have been impacted, making people think twice about whether to venture into the area to shop. As for the bike lanes on Bloor Street in the annex area - these are a nightmare for pedestrians - bikes do to stop or even slow down for pedestrians trying to cross the road or cross the small space from a parked car to the sidewalk. I have been verbally abused, had to leap out of the way to avoid being hit and when driving have had my car pounded on, kicked and otherwise damaged by belligerent cyclists who are completely unaccountable for their actions - unlike drivers, they have no license, no insurance and unless they are home owners contribute nothing to the expensive creation and upkeep of the bike lanes. I am not impressed that bike lanes are plowed of snow before my own road and sidewalk, for the handful of people who venture out on a bicycle in winter. I have no problem creating a safe infrastructure for cyclists in the City but placing bike lanes on main, already excessively crowded streets feeds into the seeming unspoken agenda of City Council to attempt to limit car traffic in the City. With the non-stop building of condos and influx of new residents, this is completely unrealistic and has created an untenable situation for everyone - whether trying to drive, walk or cycle. I strongly support the removal of these bike lanes from our main City streets.