To Whom this May Concern, I…

To Whom this May Concern,

I'm a small business owner located on Yonge Street between MacPherson Ave and Roxborough St W. I'm writing this letter to voice my concerns regarding the bike lanes. Ever since these bike lanes were installed on Yonge Street in 2022, my business has been negatively impacted.

I have lost many customers who went out of their way to use the services I provide. Why? - the number one complaint I hear from my customers is the amount of traffic and difficulty it is to access my business.  Most hours of the day the portion of Yonge St in front of my store is a parking lot.  This is due to the combination of 7 traffic lights in less than one kilometre stretch of road and the bike lanes choking off lanes of traffic.

During a past conference call with Councilor Mike Layton, the explanation given as to why Yonge Street was chosen for the bike lane project was to help bring customers to the area.  As a business owner I can honestly say it has the opposite effect. I constantly hear from customers complaining it took "X" amount of time being stuck in traffic to get to my location.  Even though I offer customer parking, accessing the laneway in the rear of my building is very difficult as more cars are now overflowing onto the side streets.  My biggest concern became a reality where my customers were frustrated coming to the area and eventually went elsewhere.

I also experience issues with my suppliers and vendors who complain about the amount of time it takes to get to my location.  Complaints about where to park and drop-off.  In fact one supplier has refused to make deliveries and I'm now forced to travel to Vaughn to pick-up my orders.

In conclusion, these bike lanes should not exist on Toronto's main and most busiest street. There has been too much pain and suffering within the small business community due to Covid-19 where many have been forced to shut down.  I can only hope my business will continue to operate for the foreseeable future, but in-order for this to happen, idealistic notions should not clash with the realities of everyday life. Please do not harm businesses further by promoting an agenda that doesn't work for the community.

Thank you for your consideration.