I am a resident in Etobicoke…

I am a resident in Etobicoke who lives just north of Royal York and Bloor. I have lived in this area all my life. The introduction of bike lanes has changed our community for the worse. Traffic along Bloor St has slowed immensely and drivers are diverting off the arterial road onto the side streets which were not built for this volume of traffic. The traffic on our street has increased by a factor of 10. There are no sidewalks on our street and vehicles speed up to make up for lost time on Bloor. It is no longer safe to walk in our neighborhood and it is only a matter of time until someone is injured or killed.
I personally am not against bike lanes, but consultation with the community has been minimal. City officials have done their best to minimize impact once two vehicle lanes were assigned to bikes. However, there has been no meaningful impact assessment. We are told that it was a political decision.
Now city politicians tell us that it will cost 3 times more to remove bike lanes than it cost to install them in the first place. At a meeting held at Etobicoke Collegiate, we were told by city officials that emergency response times have improved since two dedicated traffic lanes were removed. This has to be nonsense - emergency vehicles must also divert because traffic driving along Bloor have nowhere to pull over.
All of this to say, please save our community and remove the bike lanes on Bloor.