The Ford government plans to start its Toronto bike lane removals on or after the first day of spring.
"We have just received instructions and can advise that Ontario does not intend to make any physical changes to the infrastructure in question (the Yonge, Bloor or University bike lanes) before March 20, 2025," reads a Dec. 12 email from Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General obtained by The Trillium.
Ministry lawyer Cara Zwibel sent the email to attorneys representing Cycle Toronto, a charity challenging the Progressive Conservative government's plans to remove some or all of Toronto's Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue bike lanes.
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria has not said which parts of the lanes will be torn out.
Sarkaria’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said she’d like to see car lanes and bike lanes “coexist.”
“That will give us some time so that we could work collaboratively to find a win-win solution,” she said on Tuesday.
There had been rumours the work would start much earlier.
NDP MPP Joel Harden wrote in his Nov. 29 newsletter that the provincial government told the City of Toronto that it intended to remove "500 metres of the most western section of the Bloor Street bike lane and 400 metres of the Yonge Street bike lane" by the end of December.
Sarkaria's office told The Trillium at the time that Harden's post was "inaccurate" and that no decisions had been made.
Cycle Toronto executive director Michael Longfield, who is seeking an injunction against the bike lane removals, said the March date is a win.
“This is a pretty good sign that in response to our injunction threat, the government's not going to attempt to move forward right away,” he told The Trillium by phone from a Toronto hospital where he has spent the past week after being hit by a car door in the St. George Street bike lane.
“Our goal is that they don't ever get the chance to start at all,” he said.
The city has also pushed back against the provincial government's plans.
In November, Toronto city staff released a report saying it would cost nearly $50 million to tear out the three bike lanes and replace them with car lanes. Premier Doug Ford said the price tag was “hogwash.” His government hasn’t offered an estimate of its own.
That same day, councillors asked the city solicitor to prepare a report on “the potential for commending litigation” to challenge the bill.
Councillors have received the report but the section on legal advice has been kept confidential. They may discuss it at Tuesday or Wednesday’s council meeting.
