The Ford government says it will restore a lane of traffic in each direction on a short stretch of Bloor Street West without removing existing bike lanes, as it tries to find ways to fulfil its election promise without violating a court order.
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria’s office confirmed Wednesday morning that work would begin this month to add traffic lanes back from Resurrection Road to Clissold Road, a roughly 500-metre stretch.
The work will see the existing, separated bike lanes stay in place as the government appeals an Ontario court decision that blocked it from taking bike lanes off Bloor, Yonge Street, Avenue Road and University Avenue.
“It’s a first step,” Sarkaria told Global News, adding he thought reinstating traffic lanes was “core and key” to getting traffic moving in Toronto.
“Ultimately, this shows us in some cases, the City of Toronto and their planning department didn’t take into consideration easy solutions where you could maintain vehicle lanes but also have protected bike lanes.”
The move comes as the government appeals a court decision that declared its plan to remove bike lanes unconstitutional and poured scorn on its argument that removing bike lanes would help congestion.
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In his July ruling, Superior Court Justice Paul Schabas said the province’s move to take out bike lanes would be “inconsistent” with the constitutional protection of life, liberty and security.
The case was brought by the group CycleTo, which told Global News it had no issue with the government re-adding a lane of traffic on condition it didn’t take away the protected bike infrastructure it had fought to protect.
Executive director Michael Longfield said the government’s approach was “still a win for the group,” arguing that without the court challenge, the province would have removed the lanes entirely instead of adjusting the road and keeping them in place.
“This isn’t about bikes versus cars,” he said, adding that the government should make data-driven decisions.
In his ruling, Schabas said CycleTo had successfully argued that removing bike lanes would “put people at increased risk of harm and death” when they ride in the city.
“The evidence is clear that restoring a lane of motor vehicle traffic, where it will involve the removal of the protected, or separated, nature of the target bike lanes, will create greater risk to cyclists and to other users of the roads,” the ruling said.
Sarkaria suggested there could be other areas of the city where vehicular lanes could be re-added without removing biking infrastructure, although he said it was too early to provide a list.
“We also want to be very cognizant, consistent of the court hearing that is going to happen in January,” he said. “So this is the first that will be proceeding on at the moment, and we will continue to engage not only our engineers and our designers, but also others to see what else might be available.”
The work will cost roughly $750,000 and begin on Oct. 20, the day politicians return to Queen’s Park after a lengthy summer break.
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