This is a disappointing bill…

This is a disappointing bill. I’m commenting specifically on the parts of the bill relating to bicycle lanes including the removal of some Toronto bike lanes.

I’m sure other comments will argue the benefits of protected bike lanes with respect to healthcare and the environment, so I will avoid reiterating those arguments.

As someone not living in a major city, I’m frustrated seeing the provincial government concern itself with issues that are clearly not relevant to the province at large. The provincial government should not be intervening in matters clearly more relevant to municipalities. City streets should not be the concern of the Province.

From a government supposedly concerned with cutting red tape, this bill is quite perplexing, as it seemingly adds an unneeded level of bureaucracy to what I expect is an already arduous process decided by municipal staff and locally elected leaders with significant input from the public.

Financially speaking, whether it’s Torontonians or provincial taxpayers who foot the bill for removing those Toronto bike lanes, it seems an incredibly wasteful exercise.

On a different note, the majority of people, myself included, drive to work. That said, it is unjust that those without the means to drive are given no reasonable alternative in most areas of the province. This bill suggests that the provincial government has decided that ostensibly catering to those of us privileged enough to drive everywhere is more important than allowing cities to provide safer infrastructure for everyone.

Removing existing bike lanes and limiting future bike lanes will do nothing but force more people to drive instead of allowing cities to do the pragmatic thing and get more people out of cars to reduce traffic. This bill will increase red tape and the scope/size of the government, things not aligned with the claimed ideals of this government.

I urge the government to reconsider this bill and the scope of their involvement in obvious municipal matters.