We made it, baby! In true Canadian fashion, we love when other countries pay attention to us, even if it’s for the wrong reasons. Especially when it’s a paper from dear old Mother Britain. In an article from The Guardian, entitled “Bikes v cars: backlash after Ontario premier threatens to tear up cycling lanes in Toronto”, Leyland Cecco sums up the fiasco that has been going on for months. Cecco, who is based in Toronto and covers Canada for The Guardian, describes what Ford calls “insanity”: bike lanes.
Ford continues his crusade against bike lanes. Bill 212, officially known as the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, would require provincial approval for new bike lanes on municipal roads that involve removing vehicle traffic lanes. It also mandates the removal of bike lanes along Bloor St., Yonge St., and University Ave. in Toronto, converting these lanes back to vehicle traffic.
A report from city staff, examining the potential impact of Ontario’s proposed Bill 212 introduced last month, shows that the legislation would require municipalities to seek provincial approval before adding bike lanes that eliminate a lane of vehicle traffic. In response, the province has introduced a regulation requiring the removal of bike lanes from these three major Toronto streets.
Cecco, who also writes for the BBC and Al Jazeera, quotes some of Ford’s choice words used during his several speeches on the matter. “Last month, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, shocked residents of Canada’s largest city when he pledged to rip out three of the city’s bike lanes ‘that are just absolutely insanity right now,’” he writes.
What Ford hasn’t been addressing is the cost of all of this. The cost of removing the bike lanes is estimated at $48 million—and could be even more. This includes not just demolishing barriers but also reconstructing recently rebuilt sections of streets, resurfacing other road areas, and potentially adjusting existing maintenance contracts.
However, the lane removal in Toronto has caused considerable uproar with both advocates and local politicians. As Cecco says, “The Toronto city council has voted 21-4 to oppose a provincial bill which would grant Ontario the power to block planned cycle paths that remove a traffic lane.”
A spokesperson for the province argued that removing bike lanes will reduce congestion, claiming bike commuters “clog primary…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…