I am strongly opposed to the…

I am strongly opposed to the proposal being advanced by the government.

I am a Toronto resident, and have been since 2011. I was a student in the city from 2011 until 2018, in both my undergraduate and in law school. I practice as a lawyer.

Despite owning a car, I regularly cycle in the city for both health and the convenience it offers. It allows me ready and flexible access to various points in the city, whether for work (which I sometimes commute to by bike), attending doctor's appointments, errands, or family and social engagements.

I can personally attest to the real sense of safety bike lanes offer me, particularly the separated bike lanes of the type provided by the Bloor St. and University Ave bike lanes. When I bike on the road, either through a "chevron" shared route or otherwise, I regularly have a sense of potential danger from vehicles that do not adequately respect my legitimate space on the road. I have almost been hit by cars in "near misses" on several occasions. I have personally witnessed others nearly be struck by vehicles. I regularly see "ghost bike" monuments to deceased cyclists in our city. Bike lanes of any variety add a much needed sense of safety to this essential form of transit.

If bike lane construction is halted, I sincerely fear that the Province will be committing to a model of urban transportation that simply accepts that cyclists will be forced to share the road with cars. This will result in deaths and injuries that could have been avoided. It may also stem the increased uptake of this low cost form of transportation, which will itself likely increase congestion and the environmental impacts of driving.

In addition to the above, the proposal to tear up the nearly finished Bloor St. and University Ave. bike lanes is simply incomprehensible to me. Significant resources have been invested in adding this vital infrastructure. In the past, I have genuinely thought this government was committed to transit investment with its large infrastructure projects in roads and rail. However, the move to now "tear up" functional infrastructure for what may be purely political purposes is very disappointing, given the safety and environmental benefits of those costs.

Finally (and in a real sense, most importantly), there is something truly wrong about this proposals plan to fetter the ability of local governments, representing local communities, to determine for themselves what form of local infrastructure their communities need. Why is it that the Provincial Government believes the people of Toronto, Kingston, Windsor, London, or otherwise are incapable of deciding, through their elected municipal representatives, whether bike lanes work for them or not? The lack of faith this government has in the ability of such communities to make such decisions is very disheartening, and I believe out of line with the important democratic values that I worry this government may not value as fully. This is not the first time such a proposal interfering with such local democracy has been put forward by this government. I point specifically to the previous changes limiting the number of representatives in Toronto city council, and the prohibition of ranked choice voting for municipal elections.

If this proposal goes through, despite the many clear reasons it should not, it seems very unlikely to me as a member of the impacted community that I will be able to support this government in the next provincial election (despite real gains that the government has made elsewhere). I do sorely hope that they take notice of voices such as mine and not spurn them.