The city has said ripping up the lanes would cost about $48M — a figure Premier Doug Ford has publicly disputed — while increasing driver travel time during construction and having a minimal impact once completed. (Patrick Morrell/CBC News) Ontario won’t begin removing bike lanes in Toronto until March 20 at the earliest — but a group of cyclists is applying for an injunction to prevent the work until their legal challenge against the plan has its day in court.
The group, led by Cycle Toronto, launched a legal challenge against the province’s plan to remove bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue in Toronto.
The challenge will be heard in April, but the group wants to ensure that infrastructure isn’t removed between late March and the April hearing. A hearing for the injunction that could do that is happening Tuesday at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in downtown Toronto.
The group’s lawyers say lawyers from the province informed them no steps to remove the bike lanes would come before March 20, something a spokesperson for the ministry of transportation confirmed. The March 20 date was first reported in The Trillium.
"This won’t help address traffic, and we know it’ll make our roads more dangerous for people and make it so that fewer people will choose to ride a bike," said Michael Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto.
The province fast-tracked Bill 212 in the fall, arguing that the bike lane removals are needed to reduce congestion in Toronto. […]
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