Ron MacGillivray has one question about what will happen when the Ford government rips up bike lanes along a stretch of Bloor Street West starting this week: “Do people have to die to make a point?”
asserted
people → have → point
Sitting on a park bench at the corner of Royal York Road and Bloor Street West, a few steps away from his own bicycle, he explained his frustration about a fight that went all the way to the Court of Appeal.
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that → sit → Appeal
The Etobicoke removal is the first phase of the Ford government’s plan to eliminate approximately 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes across Toronto, a move that has been legally challenged by cycling advocates and remains deeply polarizing.
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that → eliminate → advocates
The first stage begins on Tuesday when the Ministry of Transportation begins work on a 1.2-kilometre stretch between Clissold Road and Royal York Road, around the neighbourhood where MacGillivray bikes daily.
“To me, it’s like one step forward, and a hundred steps backwards,” he told the Star on Monday.
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he → begin → Monday
The facts underpinning that debate have been hotly contested: how many cyclists use the lanes; whether the city’s consultation process was meaningful; how local businesses have been affected; and whether the lanes have worsened both traffic congestion and emergency response times.
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lanes → underpin → congestion
Two years ago, the conflict reached a boiling point as residents and business owners who publicly opposed the bike lanes faced harassment.
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who → reach → harassment
This week, light posts down this stretch of Bloor are plastered with signs that read: “If It Ain’t Broke...
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It → plaster → signs
Don’t Waste $48 Million to ‘Fix’ It, Mr. Ford,” and “Bike Lanes Don’t Cause Congestion, They’re Part of the Solution.”
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They → waste → Solution
On Facebook, Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists says they’re planning a Tuesday evening protest “to defend our bike lanes.”
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they → say → lanes
Little about the process has made sense to Dale Storey, the owner of nearby longevity gym Feeling Pretty Remarkable, which recently opened in the neighbourhood.
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which → make → neighbourhood
He suggested there’s enough blame to go around.
uncertain
He → suggest → ?
“They kind of screwed it up when they put it in, and they’re screwing it up equally as much when they’re taking it out,” he said.
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he → screw → it
“I don’t think anyone has taken the time to look at it in a more nuanced way.”
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anyone → think → way
Storey, who describes himself as an “avid cyclist,” said city planners should’ve taken “a more surgical approach” to the bike lanes from the start, building a route that leveraged the most appropriate streets.
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that → describe → streets
Bike lanes on some stretches of Bloor are “a really bad idea,” he said, while on other parts “the traffic can flow perfectly fine.”
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traffic → say → parts
He said many of his customers see things differently, since traffic jams are often an impediment to them getting to the gym.
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them → say → gym
He’s not convinced
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He → ’ → ?
removing the bike lanes will resolve the problem, however.
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removing → remove → problem
While the move might ease some congestion, it may also push cyclists into traffic lanes, which he said will continue to slow everything down.
uncertain
he → ease → everything
He wonders if the government even considered these effects before deciding to tear up the lanes.
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government → wonder → lanes
Maks Matuszewski, owner of Fit Cake Toronto, said he sees both sides of the debate, but hears one much louder from his customers.
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he → say → customers
His gluten-free dessert shop draws cyclists, but he hears more often about parking frustrations than praise for the lanes.
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he → draw → lanes
He hopes removing the bike lanes will ease customer frustration, and he’s willing to endure the short-term disruption of construction crews to make it happen.
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it → hop → crews
“It’s worth the investment,” he added.
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he → ’ → ?
Tamie Nguyen, manager of La Veranda Osteria, said the bike lanes have been a point of friction for many of the Italian eatery’s regular customers, and she worries it has kept other diners away entirely.
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it → say → diners
“If they come here, they complain,” she said.
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she → come → ?
“But if people don’t complain to us, it means they don’t come at all.”
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they → complain → us
Nguyen, who said she doesn’t own a car herself, found that once the bike lane removal was announced, the tone from locals changed: “It seems like everybody was happy.”
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everybody → say → locals
At the Bull Pub and Grill, a conversation about the bike lane removal led to a debate between the bartender and customer Luc Trottier, who said he was hit by a truck while cycling in the neighbourhood in 2021.
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he → lead → 2021
It took him 10 months to recover, but it didn’t change his mind about biking in Toronto.
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it → take → Toronto
He returned to the streets and regularly cycles to work downtown instead of riding public transit.
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He → return → transit
“I don’t think it’s fair for the people who don’t have vehicles and rely on bikes,” he said.
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he → think → bikes
“Every world-class city has bike lanes, and, put simply, we should be one of those cities.”
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we → have → cities
At a nearby cafe, longtime friends Michael Eben and Danny Perovic say they agree with that perspective.
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they → say → perspective
Both grew up in Europe, where cycling infrastructure is more established, and they support the idea of a stronger bike culture in Toronto.
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they → grow → Toronto
But from there, they disagree on some of the nuance.
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they → disagree → nuance
Perovic thinks the bike lanes that are being torn up are underused, partly because the demographic of the area skews older.
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demographic → think → area
Eben believes that without them, the wrong message is being sent.
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message → believe → them
“You have to start somewhere,” he argued.
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he → have → ?
“If you don’t have bike lanes, you’re not going to have people actually using (them).
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people → have → them
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
