As a downtown Ottawa…

As a downtown Ottawa resident, I am dismayed that this government is proposing a review and potential removal of existing bike lanes, including the protected bike lanes on O’Connor Street. The O’Connor Street bike lanes have been overwhelmingly successful and are a much-loved part of our active transportation infrastructure, with over 150,000 uses per year.

This legislation undermines good transportation planning, and I'm concerned it will make it more difficult to build bike infrastructure that can reduce the number of deaths and catastrophic injuries on our roads. It will also put all of the city’s goals to mitigate climate change at risk.

While it often goes underdiscussed in conversations about traffic and modal share, the reality is that many cycling infrastructure projects are put in as a direct response to tragic accidents and deaths of cyclists on the road. Cyclists are not just statistics – they are beloved family members, colleagues, and community members. This legislation is profoundly disrespectful to thousands of Ontarians whose lives have been profoundly changed by a road accident.

This is a government that claims to want to reduce red tape, and to be strong stewards of taxpayer dollars. If that’s the case, why are you adding layers of bureaucracy to local decisions, and proposing to waste public dollars on ripping out brand new, highly used infrastructure? The data on bike lanes is clear – rather than increasing congestion, they decrease it by providing a safe alternative option.

Premier Ford, Ontarians want common sense policies – to get from Point A to Point B safely and securely whether that’s on foot, by bike, by bus, by train, and by car. Bicycles are part of traffic and deserve space on our roads. Municipalities know what their residents are asking for, and it’s safer streets. There’s still time for the province to do the right thing for Ontarians, and to pull back from this outrageous over-reach and withdraw this uninformed and dangerous bill.

In short, bicycles don't cause gridlock. They reduce gridlock. Supporting more, better and safer bike usage is the future.