The Provincial government is working quickly to introduce legislation that will severely restrict municipal governments’ ability to install bike lanes in cities and towns across the Province. According to the Globe and Mail, Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria said earlier today that the government will introduce legislation when the legislature returns next week to change the process for installing bike lanes across Ontario, which he said will bring “informed decision-making and oversight to a process that is frankly out of control.”
The Provincial Coalition of Complete Communities is organizing a rally at Queens Park for October 23rd. BikeBrampton is organizing a ride in along the Bloor bike lanes that will arrive at Queens Park at 5:00pm, just as the rally is scheduled to start. We will return to Brampton via GO Train. Please send an email to info@bikebrampton.ca if you want to join this ride. If you aren’t able to attend the rally, see previous BikeBrampton post for other actions you can take.
Once the legislation passes the Province will be requiring Ministerial approval for a municipality to install a bike lane that replaces an existing traffic lane. The Province will also be asking the municipalities for data on bike lane projects that have been installed in the past 5 years although no decision has yet been made on whether to remove any of these bike lanes.
Dave Shellnutt (the Biking Lawyer) has written an excellent rebuttal to the government’s position. He says the government’s attempt to vilify bike lanes is more about politics and deflecting attention away from recent scandals than it is about addressing traffic congestion problems in the Province.
The big problem with this proposed legislation for Brampton is that many of our City’s roads are over-engineered with wide lanes that encourage speeding. Several years ago Brampton initiated traffic calming measures along various roads, removing traffic lanes, installing speed cushions and narrowing traffic lanes by installing bike lanes. This has helped make our roads safer while also encouraging more people to leave their cars at home and use active modes instead. Should this legislation pass, the Province would now be in a position to deny or delay Brampton’s plans.
AMO said this is a “significant overreach into municipal jurisdiction”.