As the Ontario government moves closer to passing legislation
restricting how cities can construct bike lanes
, Ottawa councillors are starting to get a clearer picture of exactly which projects may be on the chopping block.
There are three main projects that city staff say will not be able to move forward if Bill 60 is enacted, as the omnibus bill would,
among many other things
, prohibit the construction of new bike lanes if it meant removing a lane of vehicle traffic.
Unless Ottawa can find alternative ways to incorporate bike lanes off the street, future bike infrastructure on O’Connor Street, St. Joseph Boulevard and Albert and slater Streets is no longer in the cards,
according to a staff report
presented to the public works and infrastructure committee on Thursday.
The good news is that more than 70 active transportation projects throughout Ottawa comply with the provincial legislation and can go forward. But the bad news is that the bill’s impacts will likely be far-reaching and have already cost the city around $1.7 million in design concepts it can no longer use.
On top of the three main projects expected to face roadblocks, the city anticipates having to face many other challenges in building out its cycling network, especially in the downtown core, where space is already at a premium.
Here’s a look at what the Ontario government has told Ottawa it can’t do under Bill 60.
O’Connor Street bikeway, phase 2
Located on one of the major north-south arteries heading into Ottawa’s downtown core, the O’Connor Street bikeway project was intended to extend the existing bike infrastructure on O’Connor beginning at Laurier Avenue and
all the way north to Wellington Street
.
The city’s design plans envisioned repurposing one general-purpose traffic lane to build a bi-directional, winter-maintainable, separated cycling facility along the east side of O’Connor.
The city also intended to complete underground watermain rehabilitation and sidewalk improvements while bike-lane construction was underway, the staff report said. While there’s nothing saying Ottawa can’t proceed with these two efforts, staff have indicated that those plans will be deferred.
This project has been in the works for a long time. Designs for both phases were approved by council in 2015, two years after O’Connor was identified as a crosstown bikeway.
The first phase of the O’Connor bikeway between Fifth Avenue in the Glebe and Laurier Avenue in Centretown was completed in 2015. Construction for Phase Two was intended to start next spring and wrap up by the end of 2026.
While the infrastructure is already half-way there, provincial legislation may prevent the final six-block extension from becoming a reality.
Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster says she worries about cyclist safety if this infrastructure remains half-finished, given the difficult transition from a protected bike lane onto the side of the roadway.
“It maintains an incredibly dangerous connection onto a very safe lane, and that merge is very terrifying,” Troster said. “Stuff like this is life or death.”
Albert and Slater Street improvements
The Albert and Slater corridors between Bay Street and Elgin Street were once a bustling rapid transit bus route, but the O-Train Line 1 — which runs parallel just a block north underneath Queen Street — has since replaced many of the bus routes that once cruised along these streets.
Ottawa saw this as an
opportunity to repurpose the rapid bus lane infrastructure
between Bay Street and Elgin Street “to better accommodate walking, cycling, buses and traffic when the existing bus lanes are decommissioned.”
The project design plans envisioned the construction of physically separated bike lanes, which would use a combination of precast curbs, cast-in-place islands and raised cycle tracks along both streets.
But, even though the city is working with now-defunct bus lanes, staff interpret the provincial legislation to mean that the cycling component of this project will be barred from moving forward.
“It’s completely absurd to tell us we can’t transform former rapid bus lanes into something else because the buses aren’t on those roads anymore and we don’t need them for that purpose,” Troster said during the committee meeting.
Much like the O’Connor project, this plan also involves watermain construction. But this time, the city intends for that work to proceed as planned, just without the attached cycling infrastructure.
Construction was tentatively planned to start in early 2026, pending budget approval, with anticipated completion in fall 2028. It’s unclear whether the watermain work will follow the same timeline.
“Potential surface improvements will be assessed based on the overlap with underground impacts, with the opportunity to request additional funding for this purpose in future budgets,” the staff report said.
Troster is also developing a motion that would ensure the revised design of Albert and Slater streets doesn’t include any elements that would preclude cycle lanes from being incorporated at a later date, should Ontario legislation change.
St. Joseph Boulevard upgrades
This east-end project is the one we know the least about. Still in its conceptual stages, it involves money from the budget being earmarked to fund the design phases on the Orléans corridor between Jeanne d’Arc and Belcourt boulevards.
The one thing that we do know is that it hinges on being able to remove a lane of vehicle traffic, making it an automatic no-go if Bill 60 is enacted.
The staff report recommends that the project be put on hold, with the design funding reallocated to another project that would not be impacted by Bill 60.
Orléans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas expressed frustration about navigating the new provincial requirements when planning this project, alongside many others in her ward that may be impacted.
“This piece of legislation has meant that it has stripped my community’s ability to have a say on their own streets away from them, and that is just beyond comprehension,” Dudas said.
What else is up in the air?
City staff identified dozens of other projects in the planning stages that will need to be redesigned and may require the removal of planned cycling facilities altogether if Bill 60 is enacted.
At the city level, many questions around Bill 60 specifics remain. Can cycling projects remove a lane that’s designated for 24/7 street parking? Will intersections be impacted if turn lanes are removed?
The coming weeks and months will be all about finding answers and developing alternative plans.
“It’s like drinking from the fire hose on this one and we’re pushing, and every time we think we’re OK in our interpretation, suddenly the province comes back and hits us with a stick and says, ‘Where did you interpret that from? Who’s your lawyer?” said committee chair and Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney.
All funding for the impacted bike lane projects is expected to be preserved in the upcoming city budget and used for other active transportation initiatives not affected by Bill 60.
City staff are expected to report back in 2026 with a more fulsome assessment of the implications of Bill 60 and to provide recommendations on how the earmarked funds can be reallocated.
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