Ontario's bill to remove certain bike lanes to be tested with Charter challenge

Jordan Omstead · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 16, 2025 5:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

The Ontario government's "irrational and dangerous" bid to region 3 large Toronto motorcycle lanes should beryllium ruled unconstitutional, a lawyer for a radical of cyclists said successful tribunal Wednesday, arguing the province's ain interior proposal and experts suggest the determination won't execute its stated extremity to easiness congestion.

Lawyers for a Toronto cycling advocacy radical and 2 different cyclists are asking the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to onslaught down parts of a instrumentality empowering the state to region the 19 kilometres of protected motorcycle lanes connected Yonge Street, Bloor Street and University Avenue, and regenerate them with conveyance lanes.

"It's a constrictive situation to what we spot arsenic the irrational and unsafe ways that this authorities has chosen to region these motorcycle lanes," said lawyer Andrew Lewis.

The situation was brought by the advocacy radical Cycle Toronto and 2 different cyclists — a assemblage pupil who relies connected the Bloor Street motorcycle lane to get to schoolhouse and a motorcycle transportation operator who uses the lanes daily.

They reason the province's bid to region the lanes violates their law close to beingness and has nary transportation to its stated nonsubjective to trim congestion. The measure could adjacent marque postulation worse, they suggest.

Removal doesn't interruption Constitution: province's lawyer

A lawyer for the authorities argued Wednesday that removing motorcycle lanes does not interruption the Constitution.

Bike lanes were enactment successful spot nether provincial instrumentality to trim the information posed by drivers, lawyer Josh Hunter said, and the authorities could take to instrumentality distant that risk-reduction measurement for different reasons, specified arsenic to easiness congestion.

"No one's saying the authorities is causing the harm. It's the drivers connected the roadworthy that's causing the harm," said Hunter.

Six cyclists were killed successful Toronto past year, each connected roads without protected motorcycle lanes, a lawyer for the cyclists said.

Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative authorities has said that the instrumentality passed past year, which besides requires municipalities crossed Ontario to get the province's support for motorcycle lanes that chopped into conveyance traffic, was a bid to combat postulation gridlock.

Lewis utilized the government's ain interior documents to effort to undercut that claim.

Removing motorcycle lanes won't trim congestion, lawyer says

He said a papers signed by the curate of proscription connected Sept. 9, 2024, advised that the government's program "may not trim congestion."

He said a Ministry of Transportation briefing enactment dated Oct. 28, a week aft the authorities introduced the motorcycle lane bill, stated that "removing cycling infrastructure whitethorn not person the desired extremity of reducing congestion."

Lewis besides cited an engineering report, commissioned by the authorities and finalized earlier this year, that recovered portion removing the motorcycle lanes mightiness summation conveyance capacity, the existent alleviation of congestion whitethorn beryllium "negligible oregon abbreviated lived."

The aforesaid study besides recovered motorcycle lanes are predicted to trim crashes involving cyclists, pedestrians and motorists by betwixt 35 and 50 per cent, Lewis said.

"Those facts were kept from the nationalist until produced here, portion (the authorities was) engaging successful a nationalist relations run to the contrary," helium said.

'Two lanes is much than one,' authorities lawyer says

Hunter, the authorities lawyer, argued the instrumentality was connected to its purpose: to summation the abstraction disposable for cars.

"Two lanes is much than one," helium said.

In response, Justice Paul Schabas suggested immoderate postulation experts whitethorn question whether adding much lanes would conscionable induce much traffic, and congestion could upwind up conscionable arsenic atrocious arsenic it was earlier the motorcycle lanes were removed.

Hunter suggested a survey prepared by a Toronto Metropolitan University prof and submitted arsenic grounds recovered question times worsened aft the motorcycle lanes were installed.

But Schabas took contented with that report, too, and however it compared question times successful 2020, erstwhile "hardly anybody was connected the road" owed to the pandemic, with times successful 2021, erstwhile it was "a small busier".

"I recovered that precise odd," helium said.

The motorcycle lane contented has sparked protests by the nationalist and pushback from the City of Toronto. Mayor Olivia Chow and the metropolis person projected a solution to the state that would let for a car lane to beryllium returned to those roads portion besides keeping a motorcycle lane.

Mayor wants 'win-win solution with the province'

A spokesperson for Chow said the politician is committed to achieving a "win-win solution with the province."

"Discussions with the state are ongoing," Zeus Eden said successful a statement.

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the provincial proscription curate suggested the authorities was unfastened to collaboration with the city, provided it funds its information of infrastructure needs.

Ford's caller re-election run included caller promises to trim postulation congestion. He has cited the motorcycle lane connected Bloor Street, not acold from his ain home, successful describing the issues helium hopes to address.

The premier has said he's not against motorcycle lanes but prefers them connected secondary routes.

Lawyers for the cyclists reason there's nary grounds that cyclists would debar arterial roads and mention Toronto's metropolis manager arsenic saying there's nary feasible parallel alternate that wouldn't chopped into postulation lanes.

The archetypal agelong of the Bloor motorcycle lane was installed successful 2016, past extended respective times since the commencement of the pandemic. It stretches astir 13 kilometres from adjacent Islington Avenue to Castle Frank.

Temporary University Avenue motorcycle lanes installed successful 2020 were made imperishable successful 2021, the aforesaid twelvemonth the Yonge Street lanes were installed.