Ontario transport minister not offering estimate of Toronto bike lane removal cost

Ontario's Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria takes a call in a government room at the Queens Park Legislature in Toronto on Thursday, June 10, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Ontario's transportation minister says he doesn't believe the City of Toronto's estimate that it will cost $48 million to remove bike lanes on three major roads in the city, but he has not provided an estimate of his own.

Prabmeet Sarkaria says the province will look at the costs, but he believes the cost of not removing them is "far greater."

The Progressive Conservative government is fast-tracking legislation that would require municipalities to ask the province for permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a lane of vehicle traffic.

It also plans to go one step further and remove sections of Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue bike lanes and restore them as lanes for vehicle traffic.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow asked city staff to look into what can be done to push back, and a staff report last week concluded that work to remove the three bike lanes would cost more than $48 million and likely lead to only minimally faster commutes for drivers.

Sarkaria says removing the lanes cannot cost double the price tag of installation.

A legislative committee is conducting one day of public hearings on the legislation Monday.

Among the first presenters is the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which says that municipalities are best positioned to make decisions on bike lanes without provincial intervention.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.