Not so fast nixing Jarvis bike lanes, city told
A cycling advocacy group is demanding the city hold off on removing the much-debated Jarvis Street bike lanes until after an environmental assessment. The Toronto Cyclists Union obtained a legal opinion from the firm Iler Campbell that an assessment, whic
1 What is the case for an environmental assessment?
The bike union and its lawyer argue that removing the lanes will likely have an adverse environmental impact, which must be properly assessed. Laura Bowman, a lawyer with Iler Campbell, says that while installing a bike lane is exempt from an environmental assessment, the removal of a bike lane isn’t. Councillor Denzil Minnan-wong, chairman of the public works and infrastructure committee, says that based on informal discussions with city staff, he doesn’t believe an EA is necessary. “My understanding is that when we put lanes in we don’t ask for an EA, when we take them out we shouldn’t ask for an EA either.”
2 How much is all of this costing?
It cost the city $86,000 in 2010 to remove the overhead wiring and signal hardware, and re-mark the street to include bike lanes in both directions. Removing the lanes and turning Jarvis back into a five-lane road will cost about $272,000. Conducting an environmental assessment on whether the lane should be removed will also cost the city money, although lawyers and cycling proponents could not say how much that might be. As for the legal opinion, Iler Campbell says it has done the work pro-bono.
3 What do the bike lane proponents say?
“We’re not asking for a new bike lane, we’re just saying don’t spend a quarter-million to rip out a bike lane that is already working for everyone,” said Dave Meslin, a cyclist and founder of the Toronto Cyclists Union.
4 Who speaks for removing the Jarvis lane?
“Definitely there are individuals who have political axes to grind and are looking to turn back the clock. I would like to move forward with building a separated bike lane, and putting in place council’s decision to remove the Jarvis street bike lanes,” said Mr. Minnan-wong.
5 Why is this coming up now, nine months after council’s decision?
Bike union representatives say they haven’t had the time to raise it before, although they acknowledge that, with Mayor Rob Ford’s recent transit defeats, the timing may work in their favour. “I think we’d be … foolish not to admit that there has been a shift at city council that could benefit us in the long term,” said Andrea Garcia, executive director of the Cyclists Union.