Toronto reopens debate on Bloor bike lanes

Toronto bike commuters may yet get bikes lanes on Bloor Street. The infrastructure on one of the city’s major east-west arteries has been part of an ongoing debate in a city divided over cyclist traffic.

On Monday morning, the Toronto public works committee OK’d an environmental assessment to study the feasibility of bikes lanes on Bloor Street. Bloor is one of the city’s busiest streets, with an estimated 45,000 vehicles using it each day.

There was a similar approval by the public works committee in 2011, but it was shut down by city council. If approved this time, the assessment would study the stretch of road between Keele Street in the west end to Sherbourne Street. Dupont Street, which runs parallel to Bloor to the north, will also be examined for potential bikes lanes.

It is a contentious issue as Bloor is a narrow street with high demand for city parking.

Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the public works committee, was the only councillor of the six to vote against reopening the discussion on Bloor bike lanes.

“[Bloor] is an important corridor for vehicular traffic,” Minnan-Wong told Now Magazine. “Traffic is exceedingly congested now and to take out existing road capacity for cars is not something I support.”

The study still has to pass a city council vote. This is the same council that canned the idea in 2011. If approved, the assessment would cost an estimated $450,000 and not begin until early 2015.