Ontario Premier Doug Ford passes bill to limit bike lanes [Video]

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has passed a controversial law that will force municipalities to seek approval for installing new bike lanes on arterial roads and could see some existing bike lanes torn up.

Bill 212 passed its third reading by a vote of 66-27 at Queen’s Park Monday.

• Download our app to get alerts on your device

The bill requires that municipalities obtain provincial approval before installing bike lanes if a lane of vehicular traffic will be removed to accommodate them.

The bill also paves the way for the province to remove bike lanes on stretches of Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue without consulting the City of Toronto.

“We promised to get drivers out of gridlock by bringing sanity back to bike lane decisions and we’re getting it done,” Premier Doug Ford said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday afternoon.

According to a recent staff report, installing the bike lanes cost around $27 million …