Ontario’s transportation minister has confirmed that a stretch of cycling infrastructure along one of Toronto’s busiest corridors will be ripped out “almost immediately,” as the province forges ahead with its controversial bike lane removal programme in the wake of a major court victory.
Prabmeet Sarkaria announced on Tuesday that the government had issued a bid request to study and design options for restoring vehicle traffic along sections of Bloor Street, Yonge Street, Avenue Road and the area surrounding Queen’s Park. The successful bidder, he said, would also be charged with identifying stretches where bike lanes might be retained or reconfigured “where they make sense and do not make gridlock worse.”
It marks the clearest signal yet that Premier Doug Ford’s government intends to press on with its overhaul of Toronto’s cycling network, despite fierce resistance from the city and cycling advocates who argue the plan could prove dangerous.
Province targets Bloor Street first
Speaking at a news conference, Sarkaria said work would begin “almost immediately” on removing a section of the Bloor Street bike lane east of Islington station. His office did not respond to requests for clarification on how much of the lane would be eliminated.
“Getting these bike lanes out of the way, restoring vehicle lanes, will allow us to get people moving quicker and faster in one of the busiest cities in the world,” the minister said.
Last year, the province completed work to restore a vehicle lane while also preserving a bike lane along a stretch of Bloor Street between Kipling and Islington stations, at an initially estimated cost of $750,000. Mayor Olivia Chow hailed that compromise as a win-win solution, and her office had previously avoided direct confrontation with Queen’s Park on the broader file.
City pushes back as legal roadblock falls
Ontario’s top court earlier this month overturned a ruling that had previously blocked the Ford government’s bid to remove the bike lanes, clearing the path for the province to act. Cyclists who brought the original legal challenge argued that the government had pursued the plan despite warnings from its own advisers that doing so would fail to reduce congestion and could potentially worsen it. They pointed to a provincial engineering study suggesting that removing the targeted lanes could increase collisions among cyclists, drivers and pedestrians by 54 per cent.
The government has insisted it wants bike lanes moved to secondary roads. Critics counter that this approach is untenable for large sections of the targeted routes, arguing it would create disconnected stretches more dangerous for riders.
On Tuesday, Chow struck a notably more combative tone. Running for re-election, she said the provincial government ought to be focused on tackling U.S. tariffs “not picking endless political fights with the city of Toronto.”
“I believe strongly in Toronto’s autonomy and right to govern itself,” the mayor said in a statement.
Cost estimates and unanswered questions
The city has pegged the total cost of removing the province’s targeted bike lanes at roughly $48-million. The province has disputed that figure without offering an alternative.
Asked at Tuesday’s press conference how much the work would ultimately cost, Sarkaria said he would wait for the bids to come in.
Braman Thillainathan, Chow’s press secretary, wrote in an email that the city had repeatedly presented designs preserving both bike lanes and vehicle lanes, including options that required no road construction. “You will need to ask the Ministry of Transportation why they decided to ignore these solutions that keep all road users safe,” he said.
The Canadian Press has reached out to the transportation ministry and Sarkaria’s office for further comment.
Why it Matters
The province’s accelerating push to dismantle Toronto’s cycling infrastructure sets up a prolonged clash with city hall at a moment when both levels of government are also grappling with the economic fallout of American tariffs. Beyond the legal and political sparring, the decision will reshape how Torontonians move through their downtown core for decades to come, with road safety, congestion and climate goals all hanging in the balance. Whether the removal delivers the faster commutes the Ford government promises, or the spike in collisions advocates fear, will become one of the defining transportation experiments in the city’s recent history.
