Latest news with #bikelanes
CBC
6 hours ago
- Politics
- CBC
What impact could an Ontario court decision have on Alberta bike lane plans?
On Wednesday, an Ontario court deemed a provincial plan to remove 19 kilometres of bike lanes to be unconstitutional. As Travis McEwan reports, it's unclear what impact that might have in Alberta, where the province is mulling similar legislation.
CBC
11 hours ago
- Politics
- CBC
Reaction pours in after Ontario judge blocks Ford's bike lane removal plan
An Ontario court ruled against the Ford government's plan to remove bike lanes along three major Toronto streets. CBC's Tyler Cheese has reaction from those on both sides of the debate.
National Post
15 hours ago
- Politics
- National Post
Michael Taube: Of course Ontario's activist judiciary would invent a right to bike lanes
Removing bike lanes is … unconstitutional? Article content I know it sounds completely insane. Yet, that's exactly what the Ontario Superior Court ruled on Wednesday with respect to Premier Doug Ford's plan to remove bike lanes on three busy Toronto intersections — Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue — to improve the flow of traffic and reduce congestion. Article content Article content The advocacy group Cycle Toronto set out last December to prevent the lanes from being removed: in a notice filed to the court, it claimed the Ontario government had 'embarked on an ill-conceived, arbitrary and hurried legislative campaign against people who ride bikes in the City of Toronto by mandating the removal of approximately 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes.' This, it added, was done 'in full awareness of, or lacking all concern about, the increased number of injuries and deaths that will result.' Hence, the cycling advocates wanted to bring an end to this 'reckless legislative act.' Article content Article content Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Schabas granted an injunction on April 22 that temporarily paused the removal of the bike lanes. This was ridiculous in itself, but even worse was his decision Wednesday to take the side of Cycle Toronto. Article content Article content 'The evidence shows that restoring lanes for cars will not result in less congestion, as it will induce more people to use cars and therefore any reduction in driving time will be short-lived, if at all, and will lead to more congestion,' Justice Schabas wrote. He also accepted the expert testimony on Cycle Toronto's behalf that 'bicycle lanes, and in particular separated or protected bicycle lanes, reduce motor vehicle traffic congestion by providing an alternative method of transportation that is safer for all users of the roads.' Moreover, the removal of these bike lanes 'will put people at increased risk of harm and death, which engages the right to life and security of the person.' Hence, the ruling stated that 'any steps taken to 'reconfigure' the target bike lanes that removes their protected character for the purpose of installing a lane for motor vehicles in order to reduce congestion, would be in breach of s. 7 of the Charter.' (This particular section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ensures that 'everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.') Article content Article content The Superior Court ruling is preposterous on many levels. Creating bike lanes in our cities and communities has always been an impediment to traffic. They reduce the amount of space on the roads for cars and trucks to move at proper speeds, which slows down the overall traffic flow and creates more congestion. At the same time, anyone who has ever driven a car on a busy street in a metropolitan city like Toronto knows that plenty of cyclists weave in and out of traffic. Cars and trucks are therefore forced to slow down to avoid hitting, injuring or killing cyclists who don't seem to care where a city's bike lanes have been painted. Article content While people are free to ride bikes for work, exercise and transportation, they're not making our roads any safer and they're consistently slowing down traffic. Any so-called 'expert' who suggests otherwise likely doesn't have much experience driving vehicles of the four-wheel variety.
CBC
18 hours ago
- Politics
- CBC
Alberta monitoring debate over bike lanes in Ontario, considering similar legislation
Alberta's transportation minister said the province is monitoring how a debate plays out in Ontario over a bill that would remove three Toronto bike lanes, while considering similar legislation in Alberta. On Wednessday, an Ontario court deemed that the province's plan to remove 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes in Toronto was unconstitutional, because it would "put people at increased risk of harm and death." Ontario's transportation minister said the province will appeal the decision. Devin Dreeshen, Alberta's minister of transportation and economic corridors, said on Wednesday his government will watch how the appeal plays out closely, after previously noting the province is "actively reviewing" bike lanes in Calgary and Edmonton that draw complaints from residents. "We're obviously looking to see how that legislation plays out in Ontario, and the possibility of introducing a similar type of legislation here in Alberta," said Dreeshen. Mayor, minister meet face-to-face to talk bike lanes amid threat of removal 11 hours ago The province's transportation minister, Devin Dreeshen, is calling on Edmonton and Calgary to remove bike lanes from some areas and hasn't ruled out the province stepping in. On Wednesday, Dreeshen met in person with Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek to discuss the issue. The transportation minister said he supports cities expanding bike routes without "cannibalizing" driving lanes engineered for cars, and increasing daily commute times for drivers. He added Alberta can learn from what worked and didn't work in Ontario's legislation, when crafting its own policy. Dreeshen specifically pointed to bike lanes at Ninth Avenue and Fourth Street S.E., at the intersection near the National Music Centre, as a problem area in Calgary the province is looking at. Calgary currently has roughly 290 kilometres of on-street bikeways and cycle tracks. City council approved $56 million for Calgary's network of pathways and bikeways in 2023, and its long-term transportation plan looks to expand the network more throughout the next 60 years, including several ongoing projects. Earlier on Wednesday, Dreeshen met with Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek at city hall to discuss the issue. It's part of an overall effort, he said, to gather information from Alberta's major cities on bike lanes before potentially presenting new legislation. "Hopefully, both Edmonton and Calgary can look at some really problematic bike lane expansions and cancel them, but we'll see how the conversation goes in the next couple months," said Dreeshen. He said the province will ask the same questions in Edmonton to understand its cycling network as well. But on Wednesday, the City of Edmonton said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi hasn't received a request from Dreeshen to meet and discuss bike lanes. In April, Dreeshen voiced opposition to Edmonton's planned bike-lane expansions, and said the province won't support "tax dollars being used to reduce road capacity." Wednesday's court decision in Ontario came as its provincial government pushes to remove bike lanes as a solution to Toronto's traffic congestion, while cyclists and advocates have argued the infrastructure is crucial for public safety. Justice Paul Schabas concluded that removing bike lanes will not reduce traffic buildup, highlighting expert evidence that bike lanes do the opposite by providing an alternative mode of transportation. Bike lanes account for under one per cent of Calgary's roads: mayor After meeting with Dreeshen, Calgary's mayor said their meeting was a positive one where the city and province agreed to work together on how best to accommodate all modes of transportation. "Today was not a meeting of contradictions, it was one of collaboration," said Gondek. Calgary's pathways network keeps cyclists safe and separated from traffic, Gondek said, while adding that bike lanes account for less than one percent of the city's road surfaces and are designed for minimal disruption. She also noted Calgary's bike lane infrastructure is movable, and the city regularly reviews bike lanes, like any other transportation infrastructure, based on public feedback. "These bike lanes are not fixed. If a bike lane is causing any concerns with congestion or parking, our traffic team is open to reviewing and making any necessary changes," said Gondek. Dreeshen said he was pleasantly surprised to hear Gondek has the view that bike lanes are temporary. He further said the build-up of bike lanes in Calgary and Edmonton affects nearly all commuters in those cities. "If you have a municipal council that is taking away driving lanes that's actually increasing people's daily commutes, or emergency vehicles or delivery vehicles from being able to just do what they do, that's obviously a problem," said Dreeshen. Francisco Alaniz Uribe, an associate professor at the University of Calgary's school of architecture, planning and landscape said historically, transportation regulation is based on safety and improving the number of ways people can access their streets, and that it doesn't make any technical sense to remove safe ways for cyclists to use the city's roads. "We know that when you make biking infrastructure more safe, people use it more," said Alaniz Uribe. "The main objective of the discussion should be about safety, it should be about [affordability], and bike lanes do that. They make the space safer for everyone, for pedestrians, for cycling, even for drivers." Converting on-street parking into separated bike lanes creates a safe way for more people to get around the city, Alaniz Uribe argued, while also making commutes easier for people who can't afford a car during a time when vehicles are getting more expensive.
CTV News
a day ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Province to appeal after Ontario court finds bike lane removal law unconstitutional
Arda Zakarian has the details after Ontario's Superior Court of Justice struck down the Ford government's attempt to remove bike lanes in parts of Toronto. The Ontario government says it will appeal a court decision that found a new law to remove three Toronto bike lanes unconstitutional, after a judge ruled the lane removals would put people at an 'increased risk of harm and death.' Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Schabas found the province's plan to remove bike lanes along Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The challenge was brought by the advocacy group Cycle Toronto and two individual cyclists — a university student who relies on the Bloor Street bike lane to get to school and a bike delivery driver who uses the lanes daily. They asked the court to strike down parts of the law that empowered the province to remove 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes on the three roads. 'The applicants have established that removal of the target bike lanes will put people at increased risk of harm and death which engages the right to life and security of the person,' Schabas wrote in his decision. '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.' Dakota Brasier, a transportation ministry spokesperson, said the province plans to appeal the ruling. 'We were elected by the people of Ontario with a clear mandate to restore lanes of traffic and get drivers moving by moving bike lanes off of major roads to secondary roads,' Brasier said in an email. 'To deliver on that mandate, we will be appealing the court's decision.' Six cyclists were killed in Toronto last year, all on roads that did not have protected bike lanes, court heard. As part of the same law, Ontario inked in a requirement that municipalities get provincial approval if they want to remove a lane of vehicle traffic in order to install a bicycle lane. Michael Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto, called the judge's ruling 'a full win.' 'We won on the facts and on the law. The court accepted our argument that the government's actions increased the risk of harm to Ontarians, and that doing so without justification breaches our most basic constitutional rights,' Longfield said in a statement. Ford has blamed the Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue bike lanes for contributing to increased traffic in Toronto and vowed to get the city moving again. He also made removing the bike lanes a campaign issue during the snap election he called and won in February. Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow had been negotiating a compromise for months, with the mayor conveying that she believed there was a solution that would keep the bike lanes and add an extra lane of traffic in each direction on the three roads. A spokesperson for Chow said Wednesday the city is reviewing the court decision and the impact on its discussions with the province. 'Mayor Chow maintains that the City of Toronto and its elected council should be the ones making decisions about municipal infrastructure,' press secretary Zeus Eden said in an emailed statement, noting the city is working to reduce congestion by hiring more traffic agents, speeding up construction and improving public transit. The provincial government had argued before the court that cycling is a choice, and risk is assumed voluntarily by cyclists while there are alternative forms of transit available, Schabas wrote, concluding that submission 'has no merit.' 'The evidence establishes that cycling in Toronto is often driven by reasons of reliability and affordability. For many, such as couriers, their livelihood depends on using bicycles,' Schabas wrote. Schabas also noted that the government had received advice from experts, reports from Toronto officials and evidence from the city and elsewhere that removing bike lanes 'will not achieve the asserted goal' of the law to reduce traffic. 'The evidence shows that restoring lanes for cars will not result in less congestion, as it will induce more people to use cars and therefore any reduction in driving time will be shortlived, if at all, and will lead to more congestion,' Schabas wrote. 'This makes the law arbitrary.' The judge also noted that expert evidence provided by the government did not address whether restoring a vehicle lane will alleviate congestion. 'The evidence presented by the respondent consists of weak anecdotal evidence and expert opinion which is unsupported, unpersuasive and contrary to the consensus view of experts, including the expert evidence, data and studies presented by the applicants,' he wrote. Schabas previously ordered an injunction to keep the government's hands off the bike lanes until he rendered a decision. By Liam Casey and Rianna Lim This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2025.
