John Dance

New legislation empowers the province to approve adding bike lanes, eliminating existing ones

Old Ottawa East residents strongly oppose Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s new legislation that gives the Province the power to remove existing bike lanes on primary roads.

The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024, establishes a framework for bike lanes that require removal of a traffic lane. Now provincial approval will be required for new bike lanes on municipal roads requiring removal of a traffic lane. And, of greater concern for local residents, the legislation gives the Province the authority to establish a review process on other existing bike lanes where the removal of a lane of traffic took place.

During the first Main Street rehabilitation project, completed in 2017, bike lanes and wider sidewalks were created by removing two car lanes along much of the Smyth Bridge to Hawthorne Avenue stretch, although near a number of intersections effectively only a single lane was removed, given that turning lanes were built to limit traffic back-ups.

When the proposed legislation was first noted on the OOE Grapevine Facebook page, respondents overwhelmingly objected to the possibility that Main Street bike lanes could be removed and Main could revert back to a four-lane roadway.

New provincial legislation could result in the removal of bike lanes on primary roads like Main Street. Image above shows the four lanes and narrow sidewalks of Main Street before the initial reconstruction was completed in 2017. Photo by John Dance

“Let us hope that there will at least be no removal of raised lanes, as along Main Street. I never rode my bike along Main until the segregated lanes, and now I do it frequently,” Wendy McRae commented.

“Spending money to undo infrastructure when this province needs so many other things, hello family doctors, is insane!” wrote Carol Buckley. “The Main Street bike lanes are important travel conduits. My head hurts just thinking about this.”                 

“Walking, biking, shopping, ‘eating al fresco’ and living on Main Street is more pleasant and far safer since the street was improved,” commented Barbara Lunney. “There seems to be a balance between pedestrian and vehicular traffic now. Previously, the cars were the predominant presence; walking was crowded and pressured at intersections, and I didn’t consider biking down Main. My sense of living in a neighbourhood is stronger since the City responded to the efforts of the community and provided safe routes for walkers, cyclists and cars.”

When the Main Street bike lanes and wider sidewalks were approved by most City councilors in 2013, it was in the explicit context that replacing car lanes with bike lanes and wider sidewalks would add about three minutes to the duration of a motorist’s transit of Main Street at peak times. This delay was seen by most councilors and residents as less significant than the advantages that would result from a “complete street,” with bike lanes and wider sidewalks.

“Why would we go backwards?” asked Brenda Dee. “People know by now how long it takes them to commute to work. Three minutes more than in 2016? Leave the house three minutes earlier. My family of five cannot safely bike along this street without these designated bike lanes. Ottawa drivers simply do not respect any non-physical barriers when sharing the road with bikes. They don’t respect signs or traffic lights, lines or flex posts. Why would we want to favour commuters’ convenience over our own neighbours’ safety?”

Capital Ward Councilor Shawn Menard, supported by 12 other City councillors, says the proposed removalof bike lanes is “a political ploy that will set cities back, significantly.” In his newsletter he noted, “This isn’t going to do anything for traffic congestion. It’s just going to make our streets less safe for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. In fact, congestion will likely get worse, as more people will be induced into driving, instead of having viable alternatives like transit, walking, bicycling and scootering. The provincial government is clearly overstepping their responsibilities as they try to manufacture a culture war for their political gain.”

The focus of Ford’s proposed bike lane control is on Toronto, although the legislation would have province-wide application. Old Ottawa East cycling advocate Don Fugler is of the view that removing Main Street bike lanes won’t be a government priority but, “I fear for the O’Connor Street bike lanes which make travel to the City centre much safer than the alternatives.”

In a last-minute amendment to the legislation, the government added a provision to give it protection from lawsuits if people are killed or injured on a street where a bike lane is removed. Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden and many others objected to this but it passed.