Toronto City Council has voted to move ahead with a proposal to install bike lanes on Parkside Drive even as the Ford government has threatened to rip out existing lanes on several other streets.
Councillors voted 19-7 to endorse, in principle, the road safety project on Parkside Drive that includes intersection safety improvements, reducing speeds and a bikeway between Bloor Street West and Lake Shore Boulevard West.
A report prepared by the Infrastructure and Environment Committee points out that in the last 10 years, there have been almost 1,500 collisions on the two kilometre stretch of roadway resulting in five serious injuries and three fatalities.
“All seven collisions involved vulnerable road users,” the report says. “Narrow and missing sidewalks, lack of bikeways, excessive vehicular speeds and aggressive driving, and a history of collisions resulting in fatality or serious injury are frequently heard concerns.”
The proposal would see a bi-directional cycling lane installed on the west side of Parkside Drive which would reduce the number of motor vehicle lanes to one southbound and one northbound lane.
The report pegs the cost of the safety improvements at $7.5 million.
The decision comes in the wake of the Ford government’s impending legislation that would see the province rip out existing bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue. The bill would also require municipalities to ask the province for permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a lane of vehicle traffic.
A city staff report released Wednesday revealed the cost to remove the bike lanes would be $48 million.
