Besides being an egregious…

Besides being an egregious overstep by the provincial government, if implemented, removal of bike lanes will put lives at risk and as such is grossly irresponsible. The Government's responsibility is to ensure the safety of ALL residents of the province. All available evidence proves that bike lanes do not make traffic worse or negatively impact business, but they in fact do the opposite. The Annex BIA is in favor of the lanes on Bloor, and the Toronto Fire department has said there's been no negative impact to their response times on roads with bike lanes. The Government should be making evidence-based decisions, not ones made on personal feelings or anecdotes. The needs of all the residents of Toronto - regardless of their mode of transportation - should be considered, and safety should be the primary criterion by which decisions are made. The Government should spend their time and resources on improving transit and getting the existing projects on Eglinton and Finch completed and operational. The City of Toronto needs fewer cars on the road (especially in the downtown core and Lakeshore, getting on/off the Gardiner Expressway,) not more lanes, to get traffic moving. Eliminating on-street parking and illegal stopping on arterial roads would have an immediate impact on traffic flow.