Ontario presses ahead with Toronto bike lane removal plan after court win

A stretch of bike lane on a major Toronto road is set to be removed, according to Ontario's transportation minister, as the province moves forward with plans to alter the city's cycling infrastructure despite objections from the city. The decision follows a recent court win for the province. Ontario's transportation minister Prabmeet Sarkaria announced that work to remove a segment of the Bloor Street bike lane east of Islington station would commence "almost immediately" following a bid request to study and design options for restoring vehicle traffic on the affected bike lanes.

The province aims to study and design ways to retain or reconfigure the bike lanes where possible, without exacerbating traffic congestion. This move comes after Ontario's highest court recently overturned a ruling that had blocked Premier Doug Ford's government's efforts to remove the bike lanes. Cyclists had challenged the plan, arguing that the government proceeded despite its own advisers and experts indicating the removal could potentially worsen congestion and increase collisions for cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians by up to 54%.

Ford's government has expressed a desire to relocate bike lanes to secondary roads, a proposal critics argue is impractical for many of the targeted lanes without creating disconnected and more dangerous stretches for cyclists.