Store owners along Bloor Street say their businesses are suffering because of bike lanes installed this summer.
Installation of the lanes - which run from Shaw Street to Avenue Road - was completed in August as part of a year-long pilot project approved by city council in May.
Matthew Lee, a Koreatown cafe and ice cream shop owner, told CTV Toronto he believes his nightly business has dropped by as much as 70 per cent.
“We've seen a significant drop in a lot of businesses in the area especially after 8 p.m., 9 p.m.,” he said. “So it's been an adjustment period for businesses here.”
To make way for the lanes, 13 nearby on-street parking spots were removed near his store.
Hannah Hwang, who owns a hair salon on the corner of Bloor Street and Palmerstone Avenue, agreed with Lee, saying the loss of parking spots for clients has hurt her bottom line.
“They used to just come and park on the street,” she said.
The head of Cycle Toronto, however, said the lanes have been beneficial for cyclists. According to numbers collected by his group, cyclist use along Bloor Street for one day measured in September was up 300 per cent from the number recorded three years ago.
“For a lot of people who are riding bikes … this is like an oasis,” Jared Kolb said. “It’s finally safe streets in many ways for those who are riding bikes.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory weighed in on the matter after meeting with local business owners Monday.
“I've been out myself to visit literally 20 businesses to ask what impact has been,” Tory told CTV Toronto.
“ We're measuring for the whole of the pilot project to make sure, so we know what the facts are.”
These factors will eventually help decide if the bike lanes will stay or if the city will decide to against them.
“Extensive monitoring and evaluation, as well as public feedback collection will be carried out over the year and reported to council in late 2017,” the Bloor Street Bike Lanes page on the City of Toronto’s website reads.
With files from Natalie Johnson
