Region may have to pause bike lane builds on roadways due to province

Waterloo Region has been consistently building bike lanes for the last couple of years, but that may come to a stop if the province pushes forward with a plan to limit bike lanes built that replace vehicle lanes.

Some sources told 570’s sister station, 680 NewsRadio in Toronto, that legislation is being brought to Queen’s Park next month that could change the rules around building bike lanes. Ontario’s Transportation Minister decided not to release any details about the legislation during a press conference last week.

A local Associate Professor out of the University of Waterloo’s School of Planning was on the Mike Farwell Show Sept. 23 to talk about the province’s proposed plans.

“It’s a terrible idea,“ Dr. Brian Doucet said. “The biggest reason why this is such a bad idea is it’s not going to work; it’s not going to solve congestion and may actually just make things worse or will distract from the actual solutions that would be effective.”

“We know for example that separated bike lanes are much safer for not only people riding bikes but for everyone involved,” he noted. “There’s a whole host of other factors about ensuring everyone can get around the city safely and effectively.”

Doucet mentioned some of the biggest traffic in the region is near Costco due to the fact there is no other way to get there but to drive. Doucet also thought the new legislation is aimed at Toronto, a city that sees constant traffic congestion.

If the Ford government goes ahead with that legislation, municipalities like Waterloo Region have to abide by it, which could change where future bike lanes are built.

“This kind of threatening to limit city’s ability to make streets better for everybody is certainly not helpful,” said Doucet.

Adding more lanes of traffic won’t solve the problem, Doucet thinks it could make congestion worse because it creates an infrastructure system where people have no choice but to drive.

“We look at a lot of the suburbs that have been built say over the last 50 or 60 years there aren’t a whole lot of options in terms of how you get around, so people have to drive,” he said.

Doucet mentioned the bike lanes built downtown Kitchener and the ones that take students to or from the university enable more people to take up biking, reducing time inside cars.

“It’s the same with trains, you add more trains, and you get more people riding them.”

Doucet added there are a lot of roads where it makes sense to reduce lanes and use road space more effectively.

“The research is actually very, very clear: bike lanes don’t cause traffic. In fact, well-designed bike lanes and redesigning roads for all users can be actually more efficient for everybody,” said Doucet.