Ontario’s premier and transportation minister are suggesting cyclists avoid Toronto’s major roads as the province forges ahead with a plan to remove bike lanes from some streets.
The latest part of that plan is an addition to the proposed law that would block lawsuits from cyclists injured or killed on roads that used to have bike lanes.
An amendment, tabled and passed on Thursday, gives the government and contractors it taps to tear bike lanes out on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue protection from lawsuits, including if someone is injured on those roads.
“Our position continues to be that from a safety perspective, putting some of these bike lanes on some of the busiest roads is not safe, is not the way to go,” Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria told reporters.
“We are putting these lanes on secondary streets, where we believe it is much safer for people to ride their bicycles.”
Sarkaria encouraged cyclists to ditch main roads for safety reasons.
“I think the safer thing for a cyclist to do would be to make a decision to go on streets that are safer, less volume and that’s what we believe is the right way to do it, on our secondary streets, where there is much less traffic volume” he said.
On Friday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford echoed his transport minister’s call for cyclists to keep off main roads.
“I want to keep everyone safe across the roads,” he said at an unrelated event.
“I want to save everyone’s life. Don’t get me wrong, bike riders are important — go on the secondary road that run parallel, a few feet away from the existing roads. Be careful out there.”
The last-minute amendment gives the government the ability to remove bike lanes from the entirety of Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue, not just the most controversial parts the government has talked about.
Sarkaria said it was possible the routes could be removed in their entirety — but a final decision had not yet been made.
“We’ll examine the entire stretch to see which parts — ultimately all of it could be removed,” he said on Thursday.
“We know the Bloor Street West section is a huge problem as well, so we do have the ability to remove all of them and we’ll examine the entire stretch.”
At city hall, strong opposition to the plan continues.
A motion passed by council last week agreed to formally oppose the province’s plan, explore legal options to block it and install signs blaming Doug Ford for any congestion removing them causes.
On Friday, Chow said the best way to ensure safety for cyclists was through bike lanes.
“What I’m concerned most (about) is the safety,” Chow said. “I’ve been doored on Bloor Street without a bike lane. Now, I ride on Bloor Street with a bike lane. I feel very secure — that is because of the bike lane there.”
The law making its way through the legislature at Queen’s Park applies to bike lanes added in cities where a lane of traffic has to be removed to add the cycling infrastructure.
Ford also suggested that rule doesn’t mean new bike lanes can’t be built, instead suggesting cities could create them by removing a portion of “the 70-foot sidewalk” on streets like University Avenue.