Ontario promises to pay for ripping out bike lanes that fail unannounced criteria | Globalnews.ca
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The Ford government is putting new bike lanes and any installed in the past half-decade on notice but has promised it will pay the costs if cities have to tear out routes.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21139835

The Ford government is promising to pay the cost of removing bike lanes from major city streets that fail to meet its unannounced criteria as it ploughs ahead with a plan to limit biking infrastructure and rip out some routes.

  • n2burns@lemmy.caEnglish
    50·
    1 month ago

    “Not everybody can use a bike to get around — these are some of our major arterial roads, whether it is Bloor, University or Yonge Street — people need to get to and from work,” Sarkaria said.

    I hate this so much. It’s so easy to reverse. Not everyone can drive and the idea that driving is the only way to get to work is so frustrating. When I need to go into the office (which is >100km away), I bike ~4km, take the train, then walk ~750m from the station to my office. It’s time competitive with driving, and I’m not even going into downtown Toronto!

    • yonder@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      10·
      1 month ago

      Also, with the existence of E-bikes and electric scooters, it seems like even older people who don’t have the stamina to ride a normal bike can still use and benefit directly bike lanes.

      • merde alors@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        6·
        1 month ago

        older people with their e-bikes are faster than not-so-older-people now. It’s fun to see a gran cycle past me with no effort and a smile

    • NarrativeBear@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      6·
      1 month ago

      I love how in the article they call Yonge Street and Blood Street an arterial Road

      Streets are for people that live along them, they are meant as “destinations”. They are meant to be traffic calmed as they are used more then just by vehicular traffic.

      Roads are for moving motorised vehicles, they dont act as a “destination”, they dont serve the “local area” but are meant as a way to get you from one side of town to the other generally at high speeds (50~70kmh) with very little stops or driveways. Its not called “road parking” for a reason.

      The trouble really is roadway classifications in North America. Traffic engineers need to stop designing every roadway as a “Strode”. Strodes act as neither a good street, or a good road.

      Proper bike lanes with traffic calming is exactly what city streets need, and its a huge plus for the local residents and businesses. It transforms a highspeed “dead” road into a lively and inviting destination.

      Final thought, the only well designed Road that I have seen in the GTA is a very small section of Allen Road.

      1000015086

      If we did want to get our cities vehicle traffic moving, then this small section or Road connecting to a Street is a good example of this in practice.