It is a complete waste of…

It is a complete waste of taxpayer's money to destroy or remove public infrastructure that was built by the City of Toronto. If this government truly cared about taxpayers and citizens in Ontario, the premier and the ministry of transportation would not be rushing to rip up existing infrastructure to make streets even more unsafe for people using bicycle lanes to get around the city. It is bad policy to misuse statistics (like ridership percentages in one riding like Etobicoke) to create wide-reaching policy that affects people across Toronto but also across other towns and cities in Ontario. The premier has no business dictating policies at a municipal level, specially when they add red tape, waste money and time. It is widely known that widening streets, building highways and destroying existing cycling infrastructure will not alleviate gridlock. This will actually worsen it, as more people will want to drive. This is a principle called induced demand, meaning as more car-centric infrastructure is developed, more cars will use it, not less, and gridlock and congestion will continue. Good transportation policy to actually tackle gridlock would require the province to invest in all modes of transportation, not just car-centric ones, including intra- and inter-city public transportation, and protected bike lanes for people who want to get around faster. This is not an issue between cyclists and drivers but about people not having safe alternatives to get around the city. I am a pedestrian, a driver and a cyclist in the city, because I use all three of these methods to get around. I often choose to take transit or walk because traffic has always been heavy, and will only worsen if people currently cycling to get around lose the option to do so safely. One cyclist or pedestrian death is too many and will only increase if the protected lanes on Yonge St, Bloor St, and on University get ripped up.