An advocacy group, Balance on Bloor, is raising concerns about the Bloor Street bike lanes in Etobicoke, claiming they pose risks to public safety. Cody McCrae, the founder of the group, stated on Tuesday that they obtained data through the Freedom of Information Act regarding emergency response times along Bloor Street West. According to their findings, the average response time has increased by 143 seconds since the bike lanes were installed.
“That isn’t a delay. It’s a difference between survival and a tragedy,” McCrae emphasized, highlighting that the debate centers not merely on bicycles versus cars, but on transparency and priorities in city planning. He called for the City of Toronto to provide clear and specific response time data, criticizing the necessity for groups like theirs to resort to the FOI process.
The City of Toronto responded to the claims by stating, “As the City of Toronto has previously stated, analysis of emergency response times before and after the installation of bike lanes on Bloor Street West shows no significant difference in response times.” The bike lanes were established in 2023, running from Kipling Avenue to South Kingsway, and have remained a contentious issue within the community.
Opinions within the neighborhood are divided. Some community members believe the bike lanes have led to increased congestion. One individual remarked, “Too bad they took up two lanes of traffic because congestion is pretty bad.” In contrast, a local cyclist argued that the lanes have reduced traffic speed from 70 to 50 km/h significantly improving safety, a point that he felt was being overlooked.
However, the debate extends beyond the bike lanes' impact on traffic. Balance on Bloor challenges the City’s reported cost for bike lane removal, claiming the City estimates it would cost $48 million. In contrast, the group has obtained independent contractor quotes suggesting the actual cost for removing these bike lanes along the eight-kilometer stretch of Bloor would be approximately $1.2 million, significantly lower than the City's figure, which they allege misleads taxpayers.
Local businesses also express concerns regarding the bike lanes. Sam Pappas, the owner of the Crooked Cue restaurant, is involved in a lawsuit against the City, Councillor Amber Morley, and Transportation Manager Barbara Gray. Pappas noted, “The businesses that were already struggling from COVID continue to struggle. People are avoiding our area,” reflecting a sentiment shared by many local shop owners who claim that the cycling infrastructure is detrimental to their revenues.
In response to the ongoing controversy, Balance on Bloor suggests that relocating the bike lanes away from a main arterial road could alleviate some of the traffic gridlock affecting the community. However, cycling advocates argue that the absence of a network of secondary bike lanes complicates this solution. Michael Longfield, Executive Director of Cycle Toronto, stated, “There’s a reason why a city like Toronto puts bike lanes on major arterial roads because people riding bikes want to get to the same places that people driving and in transit want to get to as well.”
This local conflict arises as the Ford government is preparing to appeal a recent court ruling that deemed its plan to remove bike lanes on three major streets, including Bloor, unconstitutional. The court found that removing these lanes increases the risk to cyclist safety and lacks evidence that such removals would effectively reduce traffic congestion.
