I am a resident of central…

I am a resident of central Etobicoke (near Islington and Dundas) and I am a user of the bike lanes on Bloor Street between Kipling and Jane Street. They provide convenience to cyclists. However, I would much prefer to have the bike lanes removed to have the main thoroughfares back to the way they were. I say this for several reasons:

(i) as a cyclist, I can find other roads to bike on,
(ii) if I need to commute along Bloor and the distance is too far for me to cycle, I can take the subway which runs right under Bloor Street,
(iii) congestion has increased significantly, there is more road rage, and it is near impossible to live life normally in this suburban environment - anything from grocery shopping to taking my child to school - takes nearly twice as long to do, as well as causing spillover traffic into residential neighborhoods which is more dangerous for residents (especially children), and
(iv) I don't believe proper protocols for consultation were performed to get feedback from the community. Over the past 1.5 years, I don't know many people who have been supportive of adding bike lanes at the expense of car lanes but I have had many conversations with residents of Etobicoke who are upset by the bike lanes.