The province should not be…

The province should not be taking away municipalities ability to make locally relevant decisions on the placement of bike lanes, street safety in school areas, seasonal patio placement, and transit priority lanes. Municipalities are the level of government that is closest to local residents' needs are the best placed to adapt road design to meet those needs.
A personal story: Like many residents of my municipality, I bike to work every day (rain or shine), 9 months of the year, and December-February, I take public transit. I use my local network of bike lanes, which take up less than 1% of my city's road space, to make my commute as safe as possible so that I can come back to my 3 children alive and uninjured at the end of the work day. By commuting on that 'less than 1% of road space', myself and my fellow cyclists are taking tens of thousands of cars off the road and out of our province's traffic jams. Prior to the expansion of my local bike lanes, I have had numerous close calls with drivers that could easily have ended tragically for my family. Bike lanes make me safe, and I would like to see them extended to other neighbourhoods where many folks currently do not have the ability to make the switch from driving to safe cycling for their daily transportation needs.
I also live in a vibrant neighbourhood that benefits from a summer patio program. During the summer months, the many food businesses in my neighbourhood are able to extend their outdoor seating due to our municipality's temporarily reducing the road. This patio program drives a lot of business for our neighbourhood restaurants and even makes the neighbourhood a local destination, driving positive impact for non-restaurant businesses too. The province should not be micromanaging the municipalities' ability to run such programs that are beneficial to residents and businesses alike.
Lastly, I have 3 school-aged children, and we have had numerous close calls crossing my street at our blinking crosswalk sign on their way to school or daycare, due to drivers speeding and disregarding pedestrian priority when the signal was blinking. Recently the speeding and danger situation on our street drastically improved with the placement of a speeding camera. I was devastated to learn that this will now be removed at the provincial government's request, with no plan to replace it with any other traffic slowing and life-saving measure in the near future. This puts my children as well as all of the other vulnerable residents in our neighbourhood, including children, elderly people, and all pedestrians, at risk. All to prioritize the convenience of drivers who disregard our safety.
I implore the provincial government to leave local road design to municipalities who are better placed to meet local needs, and prioritize the safety of local residents.