The Ontario government is introducing legislation that will require municipalities to receive approval from the province before installing new bike lanes that would result in the removal of lanes for traffic. Municipalities would be required to demonstrate that the proposed bike lanes won't have a negative impact on vehicle traffic.
"Cities in Ontario have seen an explosion of bike lanes, including many that were installed during the pandemic when fewer vehicles were on the road and their impacts on traffic were unclear," said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation, in a news release.
"Too many drivers are now stuck in gridlock as a result, which is why our government is bringing informed decision-making and oversight to bike lanes as well as taking steps to increase speed limits safely and clean up potholes."
The proposed changes are slated to start the fall sitting of the Ontario legislature on Oct. 21.
Ontario is also moving forward with plans to increase the speed limit to 110 km/h on all 400-series highways.
"This builds on the safe and successful increase of speed limits on more than one-third of provincial 400-series highways to date. The government is also developing a design standard to allow vehicles to travel safely at speeds higher than 120 km/h on new highways.
In addition, the government has potholes in its sights. It's consulting with municipalities to develop a potholes prevention and repair fund to open in the 2025 construction season. The program would support smaller municipalities with road maintenance and set standards to help improve road conditions and promote high-quality roadwork across the province.
In July, the province raised the speed limit to 110 km/h on several stretches of Highway 401, Highway 403, Highway 416, and Highway 69.
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