This is an ill-advised…

This is an ill-advised proposal. Removing bike lanes on Bloor St, University Ave, and Yonge St will not ease traffic congestion.

Removing this vital transit infrastructure will have multiple negative impacts: 1) the proposal will put citizens who commute by bicycle in greater danger of injury or death on Toronto’s streets; 2) the proposal will have a negative impact on local economic activity on main street shops (i.e, many local businesses will lose out on customers who would have passed through the area on their bikes); 3) tearing out bike lanes will be a waste of taxpayer money and it will only cause more temporary construction (which is one of the major causes of urban congestion).

Over the past ten years of living in this city, I have seen too many ghost bike memorials. These memorials are signifiers that both the city and the province have failed to modernize and thoughtfully design our transit infrastructure with all citizens in mind. This has resulted in unnecessary deaths, and this proposal to remove bike lanes only serves to worsen the problem and make people less safe on our roads.

I urge the province to reverse this proposal and instead focus on improving our transit infrastructure with safety and sustainability in mind. Thank you.