As a regular driver, transit…

As a regular driver, transit user, resident of the affected area and also cyclist I strongly object to the proposed process of requiring provincial approval for most bike lane installations as well as the forced removal of bike lanes on Bloor St, University Ave and Yonge St.

Requiring provincial approval for bike lane installations is a serious overreach by the provincial government and a disenfranchisement of municipal voters. Cities are best positioned to decide how to design their streets for the needs of their residents. By interfering in this process, the province is taking away a crucial municipal core competency, adding red tape and worsening quality of life for all residents of Ontario. The people of each municipality deserve to decide themselves what their city or town should look like.

The stated reasons for this intervention do not stand up to scrutiny: there is no credible evidence that bike lanes contribute meaningfully to traffic congestion. Traffic congestion in Toronto is extreme mostly in places that do not have bike lanes such as Lakeshore and Jarvis.

Arguments that emergency vehicles are blocked and local businesses suffer have been conclusively disproven. All emergency services have e.g. stated that response times on Bloor St have not worsened since installation of the bike lanes and Bloor Annex BIA has come out as strongly against removal of the lanes and stated that they contribute to business.

Another argument is that bike lanes should be installed on secondary streets instead. However, there are not contiguous routes on most secondary streets, so alternatives are either not possible at all or would add considerable distance to the route. Cyclists' destinations such as their work, school, shops or restaurants are also mostly located on major streets, so building bike lanes on residential streets will often not respond adequately to demand. Secondly, there have also been major objections in the past to bike lane projects on side streets, such as the recent project in Parkdale.

The addendum to the proposed bill is even worse. The suggestion is that the province should order, without study or consultation, the removal of a number of successful and popular bike lanes after a democratic process spanning in each case many months or years, multiple public consultations, surveys, revisions and in each case a vote by a majority of city council. Each of these projects have been approved with large majorities in city council and anti-bike lane candidates have mostly lost their candidacies in recent municipal and mayoral elections.

Therefore, I therefore urge the provincial legislature to reject the proposed legislation and continue the proven practice of allowing municipalities to plan and implement their local road infrastructure according to the will of their electorate and their local needs.