Weeks after being ordered to pause plans to remove bike lanes from three major streets in Toronto, the Ford government says it is filing an appeal against the injunction.
At the end of April, an Ontario judge told the government it must suspend any imminent plans to remove bike lanes from Bloor Street, Yonge Street or University Avenue while he deliberated on whether or not the move was constitutional.
The judge said not granting an injunction ran the risk of the government removing bike lanes before the courts could decide if the law enabling it to do so was constitutional.
While cycling advocates welcomed the short-term reprieve as a win, it infuriated Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who accused the judge of being guided by “ideology” in controversial comments.
“We get elected, we move forward, and some judge — because of ideology — decides to put an injunction on bike lanes,” the premier said on April 30. “You’ve got to be kidding me; the system is broken.”
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The government indicated at the time that it would appeal against the injunction.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Transportation confirmed the appeal against the injunction had been initiated.
“As we’ve always said, we need to keep our busiest roads moving and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” a spokesperson said in a brief statement.
Cyclists who brought the challenge argued that removing bike lanes would put their lives at risk and increase deaths on Toronto’s roads.
The group argued that the decision to remove the bike-specific bike lanes was made arbitrarily and wouldn’t help reduce congestion.
The government said during the court process that removing bike lanes would not violate the constitution and would improve gridlock in downtown Toronto.
The legal challenge stems from a law the Ford government passed last year, which made cities prove that new bike lanes that reduce the number of vehicle lanes on a road would not increase congestion.
The law required cities and towns to get provincial approval before removing a traffic lane to add a new bike lane. To receive approval, they had to show that the change would not make congestion worse.
The legislation also allowed the government to remove bike lanes from Bloor, Yonge and University in Toronto and put in place reviews of all new lanes added in the past five years.
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