I am writing to state what…

I am writing to state what is obvious and factual. The Province's proposed legislation (Bill 212) flies in the face of all research on gridlock and urban planning to reduce carbon emissions. The rationale for Bill 212 is full of misinformation which is indefensible given the climate catastrophe that confronts humanity. 1) Building more highways is like building more bike lanes - "build them and they (users) will come". More users of bike lanes is the direction supported by climate research. More users of roads takes us in a direction that is environmentally unsustainable. The gridlock urban centres in the province are facing currently is not due to bike lanes, it is due to the failure over the last two decades to plan for and take the necessary action to provide commuters with effective public transportation alternatives to driving individual vehicles - both into the city and between urban centres in the province. Our gridlock is also due to the Eglinton Crosstown debacle and decades of provincial and city public transit debates and delays. 2) Because our population is expanding we need more, not fewer transportation options since we simply cannot sustain the same vehicle growth per capita no matter how many highways and vehicle lanes we add to infrastructure. The Ministry itself admits that opening the 407, a highway that should never have been sold to a private consortium, would be overfilled in ten years. This will be true of any highway we build.
3) We know that accidents and quality of life for Ontarians is actually improved with bike lanes because people ride bikes regardless of whether there are bike lanes or not. Those who live along bike lane routes, whether they are bike riders or not, appreciate that bike lanes make it safer to cross arterial roads and acknowledge that those in their families and community who use bike lanes are safer when they are separated from traffic.
4) There is absolutely no connection between improving broadband connection in Ontario and highway building. This appears to be a rationale that has nothing to do with transportation or gridlock.
5) The province admits that building highways and removing bike lanes is intended to help vehicle drivers - sadly their lack of evidence-based research will not end gridlock and will only encourage more individual vehicles on the road, as well as the growth of more low density urban sprawl. Both of these outcomes fly in the face of climate change research and the transformative environmental action we need to take in the areas of transportation and urban growth to reduce pollution, protect the environment, lessen Ontarian's dependence on fossil fuels, and lower our carbon emissions.