Biking advocacy teams supporting bike lanes protested in entrance of the Chateau Laurier resort on Tuesday whereas Ontario Premier Doug Ford spoke at a convention. The Progressive Conservative authorities not too long ago launched a invoice requiring municipalities to get provincial approval to put in bike lanes in the event that they cut back automobile lanes. The federal government then proposed an extra rule mandating Toronto to take away sure bike lanes to revive automobile visitors movement.
Bike owner Hans Posthuma informed Ontario Chronicle that Ford has no enterprise interfering with cities’ bike lanes. “That would be up to municipal politicians, and if the people of those cities don’t like it, they can vote those politicians out. But it’s not Doug Ford’s business to be destroying our bike lanes or bike infrastructure,” he mentioned.
The way forward for bike lanes in Ottawa
Nevertheless, there appears to be contradictory messages about what would possibly occur to bike lanes in Ottawa. Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria highlighted Ottawa and different cities when saying new laws final month, arguing that bike lane enlargement has been speedy and has raised considerations about visitors impacts. He mentioned there have been a number of cities in Ontario, that he claimed had “underused bike lanes,” together with Kitchener, Toronto, and Ottawa.
Bike lanes preserve folks protected, transfer folks effectively, make our metropolis extra accessible to extra folks, and cut back our emissions. If Premier Ford actually wished to cut back gridlock, he’d add bike lanes and assist fund transit operations. William van Geest, Ecology Ottawa) #ottbike pic.twitter.com/ZPUviP18NY
— Bike Ottawa (@BikeOttawa) November 6, 2024
He cited a typical, and debunked declare that bike lanes decelerate emergency autos as properly. It’s been a typical play by the Ford authorities to make use of false or deceptive information about biking infrastructure.
Is Ottawa protected…for now?
There are lots of biking initiatives deliberate for Ottawa, together with new bike lanes or enhancements. Native cyclists are nervous they could be underneath risk. Regardless of what the Transport Minister mentioned, Ford says he’s not too involved about Ottawa bike lanes. For now.
Ford continues to be laser-focused on Toronto on the subject of ripping out lanes, saying there, it’s “bike lanes on steroids.” He mentioned that in Ottawa he wasn’t involved as he felt visitors was shifting higher there. Nonetheless, the worry of jeopardizing the way forward for protected biking in Ottawa has many involved. 13 Ottawa metropolis councillors have launched an internet petition urging Premier Doug Ford to halt laws that will restrict the place bike lanes might be inbuilt Ontario.
The petition, hosted on Coun. Ariel Troster’s web site, calls on residents to “stand up for cycling infrastructure.” Troster warns that the proposed legislation might jeopardize many initiatives in Ottawa’s Lively Transportation Grasp Plan.
In an open letter, the councillors say that “This legislation undermines good transportation planning, and we are concerned it will make it more difficult to build bike infrastructure that can reduce the number of deaths and catastrophic injuries on our roads. It will also put all of the city’s goals to mitigate climate change at risk.”
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