Removing bike lanes in Toronto will cost at least $48 million, a city staff report says.
The report, released on Wednesday, comes after the Ontario government introduced legislation on Oct. 21 to remove bike lanes on Bloor Street, University Avenue and Yonge Street.
“The removal of existing bike lanes will be a complex project that will be challenging to implement within a short-time period, due to planning, design and construction requirements,” the report says.
According to the report, the removal will mean the city loses the $27 million it has invested in installing the infrastructure.
The removal also means “as yet unknown additional costs to identify, design, and construct alternative cycling routes” and “as yet unknown additional staff resources and infrastructure costs to redesign and reconstruct these roads to add space for motor vehicles,” the report says.
However Ivana Yelich, deputy chief of staff for the premier, said in a social media post Thursday morning that there is “no real-life example of the costs being even remotely close to what the City of Toronto is suggesting.”
Ontario’s transportation minister has defended his government’s decision to rip up bike lanes on Toronto’s major streets by saying just 1.2 per cent of people in the city commute by bicycle. But as CBC’s Lane Harrison explains, federal data shows the number is higher in places where the targeted bike lanes already exist.
Other costs include redesigning, reconstructing roads
Ripping out the bike lanes would have other impacts on Toronto too, the report notes, including “increased travel times for drivers due to traffic congestion from additional construction that would be necessary to facilitate the removal of existing bike lanes.”
The report says the three roads where the bike lanes are located would also need to be redone.
“Restoring vehicle lanes on Bloor Street, University Avenue and Yonge Street would take additional staff resources and time to redesign and reconstruct these roads, and would negatively impact driver travel time and businesses during construction, with likely minimal improvements in travel time once lanes are removed.”
Bike lanes promote “active transportation,” the report says, adding they come with public health, environmental and economic benefits.
Removing them would limit the city’s ability to meet its TransformTO strategy target of net zero emissions in Toronto by 2040, the report adds.
The report says 28 cyclists have been killed in Toronto from 2015 to the present time, with 380 people seriously injured. A full 68Â per cent of those collisions took place on streets without cycling infrastructure.
The report also refers to a study from Toronto Metropolitan University, which looked at cyclist-vehicle collisions before and after the city installed fully separated bike lanes between 2000 and 2016. That study found there were 2.57 times more people cycling on city streets and a 35 per cent drop in collision rates in surrounding areas after bike lanes were installed.
Province’s plan ‘arbitrary,’ mayor says
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters on Wednesday that the bike lanes are part of the city’s cycling network and were planned for many years. Her comments came before the report was released.
“Ripping up our roads will make congestion worse, especially during the time that you are ripping it up,” Chow said.
“It’s costly and it will make our roads less safe for cyclists. And at this point, the province’s plan is arbitrary because they need to look at our numbers.”
Toronto’s mayor spoke with Metro Morning’s David Common about a new city report that says removing bike lanes in Toronto will cost at least $48 million.
Chow said she wants to work collaboratively with the province to ease traffic congestion but added that she believes the province should respect the city’s decisions.
“Respect is what we are asking for. It’s democracy. I think it matters,” Chow said.
Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie told reporters on Wednesday that the legislation is an “unfortunate distraction” from the real causes of congestion, which include a lack of public transit and unprecedented construction.
“Well, I’m looking forward to a strong recommendation from the mayor that we fight back and we say: ‘This is not okay, this is overstepping local democracy.’ We have a role in the City of Toronto and within that mandate certainly is to deliver on safe infrastructure for everybody,” McKelvie said.
‘City’s approach isn’t working,’ ministry says
In a statement on Wednesday, Dakota Brasier, spokesperson for Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, said bike lanes contribute to gridlock.
“As we’ve said many times, one per cent of people shouldn’t be making decisions for the majority of people who travel on our busiest roads and sit in gridlock every day,” Brasier said.
“Toronto is one of the economic drivers of this country, but we are losing more than $11 billion every year to gridlock and congestion. Bike lanes should only go where they make sense. It’s clear that the city’s approach isn’t working…” Braiser said.
Sarkaria has previously said just 1.2 per cent of people in the city commute by bicycle. However, Census data shows that number is higher in several areas where bike lanes actually exist.
Under the legislation, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, municipalities would be required to ask the province for permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a lane of vehicle traffic and demonstrate that proposed bike lanes would not negatively impact traffic.
Sarkaria said in an Oct. 15 news release that the legislation would make life easier for drivers.
“Cities in Ontario have seen an explosion of bike lanes, including many that were installed during the pandemic when fewer vehicles were on the road and their impacts on traffic were unclear,” Sarkaria said.
“Too many drivers are now stuck in gridlock as a result, which is why our government is bringing informed decision-making and oversight to bike lanes as well as taking steps to increase speed limits safely and clean up potholes.”