Ontario announces bike lane oversight legislation
Municipalities would have to prove new lanes won’t increase traffic.
Key Takeaways:
- Ontario plans to introduce legislation requiring municipalities to get provincial approval before installing new bike lanes if they remove traffic lanes. Municipalities must prove these lanes won’t negatively impact vehicle traffic.
- Ontario is moving forward with plans to increase speed limits to 110 km/h on all 400-series highways, and potentially up to 120 km/h on newly designed highways where safe.
- The government is consulting with municipalities to create a pothole prevention and repair fund for the 2025 construction season, aimed at supporting smaller municipalities and improving road conditions across the province.
The Whole Story:
Ontario plans to introduce legislation that would, if passed, require municipalities to receive approval from the province before installing new bike lanes that would result in the removal of lanes for traffic. Municipalities would be required to demonstrate that the proposed bike lanes won’t have a negative impact on vehicle traffic.
“Cities in Ontario have seen an explosion of bike lanes, including many that were installed during the pandemic when fewer vehicles were on the road and their impacts on traffic were unclear,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation. “Too many drivers are now stuck in gridlock as a result, which is why our government is bringing informed decision-making and oversight to bike lanes as well as taking steps to increase speed limits safely and clean up potholes.”
These proposed changes are part of upcoming legislation that will kick off the fall sitting of the Ontario legislature on October 21, 2024, with a focus on tackling gridlock and getting drivers and commuters across Ontario out of traffic.
Ontario is also moving forward with plans to increase the speed limit to 110 km/h, where it is safe to do so, on all 400-series highways. This builds on the safe and successful increase of speed limits on more than one-third of provincial 400-series highways to date. The government is also developing a design standard to allow vehicles to travel safely at speeds higher than 120 km/h on new highways.
In addition, to help make Ontario roads safer and prevent accidents and damages that can occur from potholes, the government is consulting with municipalities to develop a potholes prevention and repair fund to open in the 2025 construction season. The program would support smaller municipalities with road maintenance and set standards to help improve road conditions and promote high-quality roadwork across the province.
The government is also proposing to enshrine in the legislation the current freeze on knowledge and road test fees so that any future increases would require a legislative amendment. The freeze on fee increases, which was scheduled to rise roughly 4.5% a year, is expected to save Ontarians $72 million this decade.
