It’s happening, the worst mayor Toronto has ever had is removing three major recently completed bike lanes at tax payer expense. That’s right, Ontario tax payers are footing the bill for Ford to meddle in Toronto municipal infrastructure. This is of course to distract us from failing healthcare and education while appealing to his mostly car centric base.
There is a protest happening Wed. 23rd of October, please come out if you can. https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/rally-ride-for-road-safety-tickets-1045417761667
I hope cyclists start riding together slowly in large groups in the middle of traffic lanes such that cars can’t get around them, as they are legally entitled to do.
They really should do this around Etobicoke/Ford leaning areas too…
Wearing signs that say, “Sorry to bother you, Doug Ford destroyed our bike lanes so we’re stuck here with you”.
I hope cyclists start riding together slowly in large groups in the middle of traffic lanes such that cars can’t get around them, as they are legally entitled to do.
It’s a hilarious bit of irony, but the more I think about, the more it seems that just driving more would be the most effective way to exacerbate congestion.
At least that way, they can’t blame cyclists. #maliciouscompliance
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driverless cars would massively improve both congestion and parking (the other thing bike lanes interfere with) in cities.
I would agree that they could improve congestion on highways, but in cities? The congestion is there because a huge ass vehicle is being used by a single person x 1 million. Unless you’re talking driverless buses :)
And if infrastructure isn’t balanced, so it benefits ALL road users, and not just driverless cars, then it will cause more harm than good. City infrastructure that is balanced won’t make cars go any faster than everyone else (in fact, it makes drivers take less direct paths to their destination!), so the only thing you might be solving is fewer crashes caused by negligent drivers.
So, indirectly, yes, they may help with congestion, but not for the reasons we’d assume.
We already have perfectly good examples of things working in other cities and countries. It’s our (Government’s) stubborn refusal to implement what we need that’s causing these problems.
Not unless driverless cars somehow end up reducing trips made. Which seems unlikely!
I appreciate the sentiment but I really don’t want to see a story on the news about some road rage asshole deciding to run over a bunch of cyclists. Your life is worth more than that! There are better ways to change things.
Uh, first, Doug Ford was never mayor. It was his shithead junkie brother.
Second, Ontario can order Toronto to remove them, but Toronto can refuse or take them to court. I doubt the MTO is going to send a crew into downtown Toronto – it’s not their turf.
Third, if Ontario contracts a third party to do the work, they’d be setting themselves up for getting named in a lawsuit.
This whole thing is a clusterfuck, and Thuggie needs to get a new hobby.
Doug Ford was never mayor.
I think you missed my jab there. You’re right he was never elected the mayor of Toronto, but as the Premier of Ontario, he has meddled in what would be Toronto municipal jurisdiction more than any premier before Mike Harris amalgamated Toronto. The joke in local politics has been “He’s the worst mayor of Toronto ever” when he does stuff like this.
Second, Ontario can order Toronto to remove them, but Toronto can refuse or take them to court. I doubt the MTO is going to send a crew into downtown Toronto – it’s not their turf.
They can, but will they? Olivia Chow has been abscent from this discussion since it started. And as someone who actually cycles to her job, she has stonewalled CycleTO. She’s going out of her way to not present herself as a cycling mayor for some reason.
Third, if Ontario contracts a third party to do the work, they’d be setting themselves up for getting named in a lawsuit.
He just has to legislate it away. There is no risk for him. And at worst, taxpayers will pay for it.
Olivia Chow has been abscent from this discussion since it started.
Chow says she can fix the “irritants” that residents in the area have flagged, including concerns about parking and taking away car lanes.
Bringing in provincial legislation to tackle those issues is “like using a big hammer to go after a fly,” she said. CBC - Oct 11 '24
And as someone who actually cycles to her job, she has stonewalled CycleTO.
Stonewalled? cycleTO is rightly focusing on the provincial govt and they understand that DoFo is using this as a demonstration of the municipal powers he can yoink at any time, and they know Chow is pushing back against that. I don’t know where you’re getting your facts.
She’s going out of her way to not present herself as a cycling mayor for some reason.
The mayor, often seen using a bicycle and who ran on adding more bike infrastructure in her 2023 election campaign, told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning this week that she’s asked the premier to hit pause on potential new legislation for the moment.
“I’ve asked the premier to give me some time to work on it and I’m working on it flat out,” she said. “I could show him that I could help mediate and find a solution that works for everyone.”
“I’m trying to come up with a compromise that would re-open some car lanes but keep the bike lanes…so make the design work better,” the mayor said. As for what that might look like, she didn’t say.
Chow says she and a fellow councillor and city staff met with the Kingsway Business Improvement Area and local residents on Oct. 7 for multiple hours to discuss the issue.
… To anyone reading, the petition to the Provincial Government that CycleTo put together is here.
The premier is in practice the head of government of every municipality. Mayors have very little power. For one thing, they are just the face of council and have no more power than any other member of the municipal board. But more relevantly, municipalities and their councils only have advisory power. The province can disband a council, merge it into another one, or override any decision they make with their own decision instead.
I remember Bloor street before it had bike lanes. It was awful for bicyclists and almost as bad for the drivers competing with them for road space.
This wouldn’t be a concern under proportional representation (PR). And let’s get PR without this nonsense of a referendum.
Join the discussion over at [email protected].
If this doesn’t bump the poll numbers, expect them to start talking about sex ed and drag-queen story hour next.
Oh that’s right, we haven’t heard much about sex ed on a while.
I haven’t lived in Toronto in years, but was a bike courier there in my student days. My recollections, dated as they may be, are as follows:
- University is a huge expanse of road with ample room for bike lanes. I can’t imagine why you would remove them? I suspect it has something to do with Queen’s Park sitting in the middle of it and Ford having a personal axe to grind?
- In all the time I lived in Toronto, I don’t think I ever drove on Young St. At least not in the downtown core. Does any self-respecting local do this? I always thought it should be made into a pedestrian mall like Sparks St. in Ottawa.
- To be fair, I tended to avoid Bloor on my bike except in places where you really can’t avoid it like crossing the viaduct. This was more to do with it being a perpetual construction zone than because of automobile traffic though. I don’t know how it is now?
Bloor/Danforth is one of the best ways to travel east-west on a bike. The bike lanes have concrete dividers from car traffic along a lot of the length. There are other good options, but they tend not to go as far or be as well connected.
I saw the Danforth side last time I was visiting relatives in the area and was definitely impressed! I would hate to see them take away the cycle tracks there.
Last week I biked on Bloor’s new west end bike lane and it was amazing. Would be a shame for it to be destroyed.
I fear this is going to be a campaign where most of the planks are “hurting the right people”. Expect talks of mandatory treatment that won’t amount to much because they won’t even pay for voluntary treatment right now, but will still inflame hatred against the poor and homeless.
Yup. Anything to distract the populace as he pushes private healthcare and education.
HHHMMMM. I can see Doug sending a bunch of unwilling people to expensive private health care where investors get most of each dollar the government spends. Plus, they would basically be prisons, so that’s the wedge for private prisons in Ontario.
the worst mayor Toronto has ever had
Quick question, what does the mayor have to do with this? The article says,
In Toronto, where the three routes would be removed and many others could be blocked, Mayor Olivia Chow has shown no signs of … playing along with the premier’s plan.
Also, looks like it’s not quite a done deal yet,
The legislation, introduced on Monday, still has to be debated and reviewed by a parliamentary committee before becoming law.
But what are the odds of it passing? I guess quite high, otherwise we wouldn’t be worried about it.
Quick question, what does the mayor have to do with this?
The joke in local politics has been “Doug Ford is the wort mayor Toronto has ever had” because he’s constantly meddling in Municipal affairs in retribution for failing to win the mayoral election. This was a jab at Ford, not Chow.
But what are the odds of it passing? I guess quite high, otherwise we wouldn’t be worried about it.
Pretty much guaranteed. The cons have a majority and can do whatever they want.
The joke in local politics has been “Doug Ford"
Ahh, gotcha. Makes sense now, thanks for the explanation. TIL!
Pretty much guaranteed.
Well, that’s disappointing…
Just so everyone knows, the real reason for this appears to be buried in the bill: Doug wants to sidestep striking civil engineers, as well as bypass having to do an environmental assessemnt, on Highway 413.
The bike lanes nonsense is a red herring to distract from Doug once again trying to get something done for his donor base: land developers.
It would be interesting if the bike lane removals were countered with speed cameras being installed, along with more red light cameras on Bloor, Yonge and University while maintaining the no right on red restrictions.
Six cyclists have died so far this year in Toronto. Perhaps this will save some lives.
Is this sarcasm?
No
