The Bloor Street bike lane is staying, Etobicoke councillor says at heated public meeting

Emotions ran high at a community meeting about Bloor Street West bike lanes on Wednesday evening.

At Etobicoke Collegiate Institute, where the meeting was held, there was a clear divide between those who support the bike lanes and those who do not. More than 300 people attended.

There were laughs when city staff said travel times for motorists had increased only a few minutes because of the bike lanes. There were cheers when city staff said cycling had increased 60 per cent along the stretch of Bloor Street W. where the cycle tracks have been installed.

Coun. Amber Morley, who represents Ward 3, Etobicoke Lakeshore, organized the community meeting.

Its focus was what the city calls the Bloor Street West Complete Street Extension. The project aims to improve road safety, add cycle tracks and upgrade public infrastructure on a section of Bloor Street W. from Runnymede Road and Resurrection Road, the city says.

"Would we consider removing the bike lanes? At this time, as the local representative, my objective is to continue to work towards improving this infrastructure and the removal of the bike lanes is not something I am interested in," Morley said to applause as well as some boos.

Toronto Fire Deputy Chief Jim Jessop told the meeting the fire department has not seen an increase in response times, based on international standards, in the last few years due to the bike lanes.

"Your response times have been improving," Jessop said to applause.

Over 100 cyclists ride in support of bike lanes

Earlier on Wednesday evening, more than 100 cyclists rode for six kilometres to show their support for the bike lanes. The cyclists rode from the High Park north gates to the community meeting.

"Modern cities build bike lanes and Toronto is a modern city," Michael Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto, said before the ride.

"In the case of Bloor West, it makes a lot of sense. It checks a lot of boxes. It's already connected to this stretch of Bloor. It's connected to some infrastructure out of Kipling at six points. It already has Royal York as a major north-south route on it too. We're confident that the numbers will continue to grow," he added.

Longfield said bike lanes give people more transportation options.

Christine Hogarth, Ontario MPP for Etobicoke-Lakeshore, said before the meeting that she is opposed to the bike lanes. She said she heard from thousands of constituents that the bike lanes impede traffic and hurt business.

"There's other roads on either side that they can put the bike lanes on. Just choose another road. Just not on Bloor Street."

Toronto has already spent $4.5 million on the project and Hogarth says the city should spend the money to remove them.

Legislation will give province power to restrict bike lanes

The bike rally and community meeting come one day after Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria announced that the province plans to introduce legislation that would require municipalities to obtain ministerial approval for new bike lanes that would reduce lanes of vehicle traffic.

"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 in a news release on Tuesday. 

"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."

Municipalities would need to demonstrate any proposed bike lanes will not have a "negative impact on vehicle traffic," the Ontario government said in the release.

The government will request data from municipalities on bike lane projects initiated in the last five years, Sarkaria added.

Sarkaria, who made his announcement with the Bloor Street West bike lanes as a backdrop, said the province is not ordering the removal of those lanes at the moment, but is asking for more data and pausing the installation of any new, similar bike lanes.

City says Bloor Street bike lanes installed in phases

Since 2016, protected bikeways have been installed in phases along Bloor Street, according to the city. 

In 2016, the Bloor bike lanes were installed as a pilot project from Avenue Road to Shaw Street. The city evaluated the pilot project and city council decided to make the cycle tracks permanent in 2017.

In fall of 2019, the city consulted the public on what it called the Bloor West Bikeway Extension. Crews then built cycle tracks on Bloor Street W. from Shaw Street to Runnymede Avenue in 2020 and 2021.

According to the city, Bloor Street W. bike lanes from Runnymede Road to Aberfoyle Crescent, as part of phase 1, were substantially completed in December 2023, while Bloor Street West bike lanes from Aberfoyle Crescent to Resurrection Road, as part of phase 2, was substantially completed in June 2024.