I am have been a resident in…

I am have been a resident in the islington and bloor area for nearly 10 years. I am strongly supportive of removing the bike lanes in bloor west. The reduction in flow of traffic arising from the installation is patently obvious. This reduction presumably is supposed to be offset by public benefits. I don’t see how that can be given the obvious deleterious effects. Reduction in traffic flow generally results greater carbon emissions from vehicles. Emergency vehicles and school buses cannot get to their destinations on time. With the hassle of getting to a destination on Bloor, small, family owned businesses are likely suffering - and I expect they are still recovering from the pandemic.

I’m not against cyclists or bike lanes, but there must be a better location for them or very strong evidence that the benefit outweighs what I outlined above. I strongly doubt it does. Even over the long term, Etobicoke and adjacent Mississauga area is becoming increasingly dense. Just look at how many condos are coming up in the Bloor area. What alternative transportation is in the city’s plans for the expected increase in east-west traffic? Is all that traffic just going to jump on the TTC? They’re not. And even if it did, imagine the disaster of shuttle buses trying to move along bloor when the TTC inevitably fails.

As a family whose kids now walk to a co pool to avoid the bus getting there late, I am also concerned by the cars taking detours to avoid traffic on Bloor going at breakneck speeds through residential areas. Someone is going to get hurt or killed one day.

I believe in making good policy decisions that balance competing interests, including interest in a greener, healthier environment. Unfortunately, the policy that resulted in installing the bike lanes was ill conceived. The added cost of removal adds insult to injury. But when you make a mistake, you have to own it and fix it - hopefully some ingenuity can be applied to mitigate the cost.