Removing bike lanes on major Toronto streets would cost at least $48 million: city staff

Removing bike lanes on sections of Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue could cost taxpayers at least $48 million.

Removing bike lanes on sections of Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue could cost taxpayers at least $48 million.

That is according to a city staff report looking into the impact of the Ontario government’s proposed Bill 212 tabled last month, which would require municipalities to ask the province for permission to install bike lanes when they remove a lane of vehicle traffic.

The province later added a new regulation that would see sections of bike lanes on those three major Toronto roads to be ripped out.

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“This estimate includes the cost of road reconstruction for sections of the streets that were recently reconstructed and would need to be rebuilt, and road resurfacing that would be required for other sections,” staff wrote in the report posted on Wednesday.

The price tag, staff said, does not include potential costs associated with changing or cancelling existing construction or maintenance contracts that may be impacted by the plan.

They also noted in the report that as the legislation was just recently announced, the estimates are “at a preliminary order-of-magnitude level” and more details would be needed before they can come up with the true cost.