As a person born and raised…

As a person born and raised in the GTA, and who has live and worked in Downtown Toronto for several years, I firmly do not support the removal of bike lanes located on Bloor St., Yonge St., and University Ave nor any other main roads throughout the GTA. Not only is this a complete waste of taxpayer money, but it will not deter cyclists from using these routes to get to work, school or recreation but rather would force cyclists to go back to sharing the road with cars, leading to more deaths and injuries, further straining our already crumbling healthcare system. Cyclists are not the reason why Toronto is being strangled by traffic; years of underinvestment in both municipal and regional transit options are. By limiting people's options for transportation, you're inadvertently creating even more traffic for the urban and suburban populations by forcing them to buy a car. Canada is population is rapidly growing, and the solution to investing in our future is not demolishing brand-new infrastructure. The Gardener expressway is actively crumbling down onto cars and pedestrians. Why spend money demolishing bike lanes when we actively need over $500 million taxpayer dollars to fix this crumbling parkway? What happens to traffic when this essential artery falls apart? How does massive amounts of traffic support Canadian economic productivity in its economic capital? Ontario needs to modernize its infrastructure to remain competitive, including with improved roads, cycling lanes and transit. It makes no sense from either a rational or fiscally conservative perspective to make this decision. Keep the protected bike lanes; the lives of your citizens should come first.