London, Ont., budget to scrap $200,000 in bike lane infrastructure

The hot topic on Monday night at a London, Ont., public participation meeting was bike lane infrastructure.

The meeting was held to discuss the city’s 2014 draft budget. The budget suggests that city council cut $200,000 from the city’s spending allocation on bike lane infrastructure. The city has a 10-year plan to make the downtown core more cyclist-friendly.

The budget does protect $1.1 million to be spent between 2014 and 2023 on new bike lanes for the Forest City, but many locals showed up to the public participation meeting to contest the cutting of $200,000 worth of funding for the infrastructure project.

“Our young people aren’t getting drivers licences anymore. They want to be able to walk and bike work,” said Gary Brown, who heads London Cycle Link, a community-led initiative to promote cycling in the city, to Blackburn News.  “This is an investment not only in the present, but also in London’s future.”

In December the city established a cycling advisory committee to brainstorm and discuss cycling infrastructure with city council.

The next public participation meeting will be held on Feb. 10 and the final budget will be voted on by city council on Feb.27.