Rob Ford may consider removing Jarvis bike lanes

Not even a year after they were installed, the fate of the contentious Jarvis Street bike lanes is in question.

“We would like to eliminate them,” said councillor Doug Ford. “We have had more complaints about the bike lanes on Jarvis than any other road in Toronto. Hundreds and hundreds of people.”

But ward councillor Karyn Wong-Tam disagreed, noting the revitalization of the downtown’s east side depends on the lanes and other projects on Jarvis.

“Hundreds? No, definitely we haven’t received hundreds,” Wong-Tam said. “I don’t think we’ve had even one hundred.”

Last July, the city replaced the alternating centre traffic lane on Jarvis with two narrower ones for cyclists, running curbside from Charles Street to Queen Street.

“It means a safer ride, both for me, and I think also for the motorists,” said one cyclist.

To bring back the fifth lane would cost an estimated $65,000. The price to put in the bike lanes – which included painting, signs and red-light cameras – was $90,000.

In a study released in April, the city’s Transportation Services Division found removing the centre lane delayed southbound drivers about a minute. The northbound trip during the afternoon rush took as many as four minutes longer – though that is expected to improve when an advanced green light is installed at Gerrard Street this summer.

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