Ontario completes first stage of bike lane removal on Bloor Street West - Toronto Star

Work to remove the lanes resulted in a multi-day protest earlier this month. 

A car traveling Westbound crosses into a turning lane for oncoming traffic to pass by a group of cyclists running a “Bike Bus” along Bloor Street.

Bike lanes are now gone from Bloor Street west of Royal York Road. The lanes to the east are next — but not until spring, says Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria.

“It’s back to how it was,” he told the Star on Friday as contractors completed work on a 1.2-kilometre stretch of bike lanes whose removal since Oct. 13 prompted a number of protests — which slowed the work — and four arrests over several days.

More resistance can be expected as Premier Doug Ford’s government persists with its contentious project to remove 19 km of bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge Street and Avenue Road, said lawyer and cycling advocate David Shellnutt.

“People will not take this lying down,” he predicted. “You may have had 200 people out there at Royal York, but you’ll have 2,000 at Christie Pits.”

Sarkaria said it’s too soon to say how much it cost taxpayers to remove the lanes from Royal York Road west to Clissold Road, but pledged to “share the number” once details are finalized in the next few weeks.

It will be important to factor in the costs of policing the protests to get an accurate figure, Shellnutt said, warning those costs will be “exponentially larger” the closer that the bike-lane removals get to the centre of the city, where two-wheeled traffic is heavier.

Contractors have until Dec. 3 to respond to a request for proposals from the province on removing bike lanes on the rest of Bloor, parts of Yonge Street north of Bloor and Avenue Road in the city core. 

“This was just the first phase of Bloor Street that we knew we could complete relatively quickly,” Sarkaria said, adding it “makes sense” to continue removing bike lanes on Bloor from west to east.

That westernmost portion of bike lanes has been a political hot potato, with some businesses complaining they have caused parking problems and traffic congestion. Cycling advocates have launched court challenges and argued removing the lanes leads to more cars on the road. 

Ford has maintained bicycle traffic is too low to merit separate lanes on major routes and should be diverted to secondary roads. He previously called a city estimate of $48 million to remove all the lanes “hogwash.”

Shellnutt argued Bloor Street is a natural east-west route across the city and that removing the bike lanes will make riding more dangerous for cyclists and motorists alike. 

Sarkaria said construction companies bidding on the request for proposals are being asked to “explore options on secondary routes” with the province expecting to consult with city hall on that as well.

Protesters on Bloor this month were arrested for using their bodies to physically block removal work. One person was charged with theft under $5,000 for allegedly removing a municipal sign. 

Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1.

Megan Mills Devoe is a staff reporter with the Star. Reach her via email: mmillsdevoe@thestar.ca