The removal of bike lanes in…

The removal of bike lanes in the city of Toronto will be devastating.

I’m both a driver and a pedestrian and love the bike lanes. They keep cyclists separate from the roadway and I feel much safer driving in areas with bike lanes. When I have to share the road with bikes, like on King St. W. and Dundas St. W., I’m often caught behind a slow bicycle that can’t be passed safely because of parked cars or construction on the roadway. So I have to reduce speed to share the road per the law - the cyclist will have moved over as much as possible and there’s just not enough space on city streets.

The bike lanes allow cyclists to move safely through the city and actually remove obstacles for drivers. When driving along Bloor St. W. I never find the traffic too bad - the biggest delays I encounter are because of left-hand turners! But also general congestion - there are simply too many cars in the road. A safer cycling infrastructure gets more people on bikes and off the roads, improving traffic for those who do need to drive.

I also think education needs to be done about how driving in a city is different than driving in the suburbs. There are many road users sharing the space, drivers, cyclists, walkers, and the road has to be built to safely accommodate all these people. Drivers can’t speed down Bloor St. at 60 km/h. It is a slower space to keep everyone safe.

I adamantly believe in the importance of maintaining the existing bike lanes and expanding that infrastructure. Anecdotally, it’s been easier to drive through Bloor St. downtown since the bike lanes were installed.