The Ford government is promising to pay the cost of removing bike lanes from major city streets that fail to meet its unannounced criteria as it ploughs ahead with a plan to limit biking infrastructure and rip out some routes.
The government has been teasing its changes to bike lanes for a week, with Premier Doug Ford announcing recently that his party “will remove and replace existing bike lanes on primary roads that are bringing traffic in our cities to a standstill.”
Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria confirmed Monday that bike lanes could be removed from some roads as part of a “reasonable” approach to transit planning in Toronto and across Ontario.
“Not everybody can use a bike to get around — these are some of our major arterial roads, whether it is Bloor, University or Yonge Street — people need to get to and from work,” Sarkaria said.
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“What we don’t agree (with) and don’t think — …