It’s hard to imagine a…

It’s hard to imagine a bigger waste of provincial resources than this proposal. If the city consults with the people who live and work in that community and they agree that there should be a bike lane, why would the province ever need to step in? To defend whose interests? People who have driven in from other municipalities?

Not only is it ridiculous from a political-economic standpoint, but the proposal likely wouldn’t even achieve its goal. Study after study shows that adding more lanes for cars does not actually reduce congestion. Construction makes congestion worse; construction of the kind required to remove (popular and well used) bike lanes.

Bike lanes make drivers and cyclists safer, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and encourage a healthy lifestyle. Allowing the province to veto—or, even more absurdly, force the removal of—a bike lane is simply a way for the government to drum up support among its car-reliant base at the expense of the rights and desires of those living and working along these bike routes.