The Ford government says it is immediately starting to remove bike lanes along a stretch of Bloor Street West and is moving forward with plans to strip lanes from two other major Toronto arteries.
“Following the recent ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal, the provincial government has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to begin the process of restoring motor vehicle lanes that were previously removed for bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, University Avenue, Queen’s Park, Queen’s Park Crescent and Avenue Road in Toronto,” a news release from the provincial government read.
“The province is also immediately beginning to restore motor vehicle lanes on Bloor Street West, starting east of a 600-metre section at Clissold Road where vehicle lanes were restored in December 2025.”
According to the province, the RFP will be to study and provide design options for removing bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, University Avenue, Queen’s Park, Queen’s Park Crescent and Avenue Road.
“The RFP will also identify options to retain or reconfigure bike lanes, where they make sense and do not make gridlock worse,” the news release read.
“To get drivers moving quickly, the vehicle lane restoration process will immediately begin on the west section of Bloor Street West starting at Clissold Road, where minimal design work is required.”
Last month, the Court of Appeal for Ontario reversed a lower court ruling, confirming that the removal of bike lanes along the three major arteries is not a violation of Charter rights and can proceed.
The Ford government previously passed legislation in 2024 that would allow the government to rip out the bike lanes along Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue.
But Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Schabas later ruled that the province’s plan violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it would “put people at increased risk of harm and death which engages the right to life and security of the person.”
On Aug. 14, the Court of Appeal found that “the Ontario legislature is as free to establish bicycle lanes as it is to remove them or authorize their removal.”
“Our government was given a clear and direct mandate by the people of Ontario to fight gridlock, including by restoring motor vehicle lanes that are needed to keep drivers moving,” Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said in a written statement released Tuesday.
“We’re keeping our promise. Under Premier Ford’s leadership, we’re getting people and goods moving again and giving commuters back more of their time.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has repeatedly spoken out against the province’s decision to scrap bike lanes, telling Ford as recently as last week to keep his attention where it matters most.
“I think the premier, his first job is to fight Trump, right?” she said. “Be ‘Captain Canada’ as part of team Canada and work with the prime minister closely and I believe that will be his first priority,” she told reporters at an unrelated news conference on Aug. 24.
“Bike lanes are very local. Leave it to the local community to decide. That is what I believe in.”
In a statement released Tuesday, Chow reiterated her previous comments about focusing on helping Ontarians during the trade war.
“The Province of Ontario and the Minister of Transportation should be laser focused on dealing with Trump and helping workers and families through these uncertain times, not picking endless political fights with the City of Toronto,” Chow said.
“I believe strongly in Toronto’s autonomy and right to govern itself.”
She added that pitting road users against each other makes “everyone less safe.”
“Pedestrians, cyclists and drivers all deserve safety on our roads,” she wrote.
“I will keep working to get traffic moving through actions like speeding up construction, hiring more traffic agents and investing in transit, while ensuring all road users are safe, whether they are walking, biking or driving.”
Toronto mayoral candidate Chris Alexander blamed a “failure of governance” for the ongoing battle over bike lanes between the city and province.
“The province’s legislation and actions could have been prevented by sound decision-making at City Hall. That tells you everything about Toronto’s governance failure over the last years,” Alexander said in a written statement.
“A competent city works with the province and designs solutions that have neighbourhood support. Toronto needs to get things right the first time, instead of getting stuck in costly court battles for years.”
Alexander has said if elected, he would have protected bike lanes “designed together with neighbourhoods rather than imposed on them, and never at the cost of the car commute, and especially not allowing emergency vehicles to get through.”
During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, mayoral candidate Brad Bradford criticized Chow and the provincial government, saying “these are local decisions that ought to be made by local communities.”
“What I don’t support is the province running roughshod over local decision-making. That stuff ought to rest with the local council, with city hall administration, and I just think it’s unfortunate that we have had such ineffective leadership in Mayor Chow at City Hall that she hasn’t been able to stand up for Toronto and to work these things out directly with the province, and it’s had to be left to the courts.”
Bradford said he supports bike lanes on several major downtown streets, referring to the ones along Richmond, Adelaide and Sherbourne streets.
Bradford then pointed to an announcement he made earlier this month outlining his plan to remove bike lanes along a stretch of Bloor Street West in Etobicoke.
In 2023, Bradford voted in favour of installing the bike lanes. He went on to say that Chow’s failure to listen to the community at the time ultimately led to the Ford government’s decision to intervene.
“Mayor Chow wasn’t working with the community, and the premier was listening, and so again, I can’t say it any other way other than it’s regrettable when the province has to come and take local decision-making into its own hands,” Bradford said.
“That was actually the genesis of all of this. Was a mayor who ignored, time and time again, the concerns of the community.”
With files from CP24 and CTV News Managing Digital Producer Chris Fox
