Ontario's Ministry of Transportation announces removal of bike lane on Bloor Street in Toronto

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Ontario's Ministry of Transportation will remove a bike lane on Bloor Street in Toronto, east of Islington station. Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria announced on September 1 that the removal work would begin "almost immediately." The move follows the province's most recent court victory, as the Ontario government continues to push forward with its plan to overhaul the bike lane network despite opposition from the City of Toronto. Sarkaria did not specify the length of the section to be removed, and his office did not immediately respond to requests for details.

The same day, Ontario's Ministry of Transportation issued a request for proposals for studies and design work to restore vehicular traffic on sections of Bloor Street, Yonge Street, Avenue Road, and Queen's Park. In a news release, the ministry stated that the successful bidder would also be required to identify sections where bike lanes are reasonable and would not exacerbate traffic congestion, and to explore options for retaining or reconfiguring bike lanes in those areas.

At a news conference, Sarkaria said that removing these bike lanes and restoring vehicle lanes would allow commuters to move faster and more quickly in one of the busiest cities in the world. He did not disclose the specific costs or timeline for the work.

Earlier this month, Ontario's Superior Court overturned a ruling that had blocked Premier Doug Ford's government from proceeding with the bike lane removal initiative. Cyclists who had launched the legal challenge argued that the province's own advisors and experts had determined the plan would not achieve its stated goal of reducing congestion and could even worsen it, yet the province pressed ahead anyway. The cyclists also cited an engineering study commissioned by the province, noting that removing the targeted bike lanes could increase collisions involving cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians by 54 percent.

The Ford government hopes to relocate these bike lanes to secondary roads, but critics argue that on many sections of the targeted lanes in Toronto, this is not feasible without creating discontinuous segments that would be more dangerous for cyclists. Last year, work on the Bloor Street section between Kipling station and Islington station was completed to restore one vehicle lane while retaining the bike lane, with the project initially estimated to cost $750,000 CAD.

Mayor Olivia Chow has previously called this project a win-win solution, and her office has issued statements in the past avoiding direct confrontation with the province on the issue. But her remarks on September 1 were more combative. Chow, who is running for re-election, said the province should focus on dealing with U.S. tariffs "rather than picking endless political fights with the City of Toronto." "I firmly believe in Toronto's autonomy and its right to govern itself," she said in a statement.

Regarding removal costs, the City of Toronto estimates that removing the bike lanes targeted by the province would cost approximately $48 million CAD. The Ministry of Transportation disputes that estimate but has not provided its own. When asked about the cost of the work, Sarkaria said the province would need to wait for the bidding results. A spokesperson for Chow previously stated that the City of Toronto has repeatedly proposed designs that would retain bike lanes while restoring vehicle lanes, including options that require no road construction. Chow's press secretary, Braman Thillainathan, wrote in an email: "You need to ask the Ontario Ministry of Transportation why they decided to ignore these solutions that protect the safety of all road users."