To whom it may concern: I am…

To whom it may concern:
I am a physician working at St. Joseph's Health Centre, but living in the East End of Toronto. The Bloor bike lane has been an integral part of how I get to work every day as a frontline healthcare worker. It helped me avoid the crowded subway so that I did not get sick myself and could continue my healthcare work; it helped me avoid multiple TTC closures this year so I could get to work on time and not have to cancel appointments; it helped me get home safely at night after a 14 hour call shift without being afraid of being hit by a car on my way home. Its closure would force me to use the Lakeshore bike lane, which, while safe, is not cleared in the winter and has no winter maintenance requirements. This would force me back onto the subway in the middle of flu, COVID, and RSV season, increasing the potential of me having to miss work due to illness.
Around the world, bike lanes have actually contributed to reduced gridlock and traffic, and have taken cars off the road, improving the environment and reducing traffic at the same time. It is ill-informed to believe that adding more car lanes will reduce congestion, as this has been disproven time and time again, especially with the widening of Toronto's highways.
I am not the only healthcare worker in this predicament -- I am pleading with you to see the importance of this bike lane to the functioning of our hospitals and our city. I am pleading with you to read the dozens of studies that have been done around the world demonstrating the importance of bike lanes on major streets, and how they have been extremely helpful to the cities that implemented them.