Removal of bike lanes will cost $48M: City of Toronto report

A highly anticipated report on the potential removal of bike lanes on major routes in Toronto says the cost of removing the lanes will be $48 million.

That is on top of the $27 million that was spent by the city to construct the bike lanes in the first place.

The Progressive Conservative government has tabled a bill requiring municipalities to ask the province for permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a lane of vehicle traffic and specifically, will remove bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue in Toronto.

Mayor Olivia Chow has called it an overreach by Premier Doug Ford and the province, but it remains to be seen what the city can do aside from polite persuasion.

The City report said there would also be unknown additional costs to identify, design, and construct alternative cycling routes along with additional staff resources and infrastructure costs to redesign and reconstruct these roads to add space for motor vehicles.

“How is it that this government can’t build homes or deliver a functioning healthcare system, but they seem to have limitless resources to rip out bike lanes in downtown Toronto?” said Ontario Greens Deputy Leader and MPP for Kitchener Centre Aislinn Clancy.

“This is not an appropriate use of taxpayer money. People who live in Huntsville, Sarnia, Kitchener, Thunder Bay – this is their money being used to tear out bike lanes in downtown Toronto.”

The report also details statistics about the bike lanes use since it’s construction. On Bloor, areas have seen an increase of 30 per cent to over 650 per cent in some places.

Along Yonge, there was between a 221 per cent to 600 per cent jump in bike lane usage, while University Avenue saw an increase between 71 per cent to 256 per cent.

The city also cited Bike Share Toronto usage, which has doubled in the last three years from 2.9 million trips in 2020 to 5.7 million rides taken in 2023. 

The report also notes ongoing construction of major provincial transit projects, private development activity and major infrastructure renewal including the Gardiner Expressway reconstruction as the primary factors contributing to congestion across the city.

“Construction has increased, travel patterns and habits have changed, the city population continues to grow rapidly and, as a result, overall congestion is having a significant impact on people’s daily lives and travel. People who rely on motor vehicle travel also benefit from bikeways when enough other people choose to leave their car at home,” read the report.

On top of that, it was noted that the removal of the bike lanes would contribute to worsening travel times due to reconstruction of the roads taking several months.

As for what the City will be doing about the potential removal of bike lanes, staff have been directed to continue to review and analyze impacts of the proposed Bill 212 and prepare a submission to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy and continue to monitor the bill as it moves through the legislative process.

Currently, the city also has two projects that involve bike lanes being added that will potentially remove motor vehicle lanes that could be affected by Bill 212.

Both projects, Parkside Drive between Keele Subway Station and the Martin Goodman Trail and Danforth Avenue between Victoria Park Avenue and Kingston Avenue, are still subject to City Council approval.