Bill 60
Last year the Province passed Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, which sought to remove 19 kilometres of Toronto’s protected bike lanes. Cycle Toronto and several co-applicants challenged those removals in court and won. Relying on key evidence from the government’s own experts, the ruling stopped the Province from tearing out the bike lanes we already have.
But the courts did not stop the Province from blocking new bike lanes. And now it is trying to do exactly that with Bill 60, Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act. Bill 60 would take power away from people and their communities and give it to cars.
Bill 212 at least pretended it would set criteria for new bike lanes. Bill 60 drops the pretense. It lets the Province ban any reduction of motor vehicle lanes, and the wording is so broad that it will not just impact bike lanes but also affect bus priority lanes, patios, school streets, and other street improvements that rely on reallocating space. This isn’t just about settling grudges against Toronto. The consequences will be felt across Ontario.
What do you think? Have your say and submit your comment on the Environmental Registry of Ontario. It is a formal provincial consultation and every submission becomes part of the public record. The comment period ends November 22.
Elmira Arthur Street Public Meeting
Thursday, November 25 at 7 PM
Gale Presbyterian Church
10 Barnswallow Drive, Elmira
The Region of Waterloo plans to reconstruct Arthur Street from Kenning Place to South Street East in Elmira. This section of Arthur Street includes the downtown core of Elmira and approximately 940 meters north of Church Street, including the Canagagigue Creek bridge. The Regional plans include “adding improvements to make it easier and safer for everyone to walk, roll, and bike through the area”.
The Region’s proposed options are not online yet. However, the meeting will include an opportunity to discuss the Region’s proposals in small groups after the presentation. Can you make time to attend this meeting? The more voices we have supporting cycling, the more likely we are to end with substantial cycling improvements.
Connected Kitchener
Connected Kitchener is the City of Kitchener’s study to create a new Transportation and Mobility Plan. They want to hear from us about:
- How we travel around Kitchener for short and long trips
- What works well and what needs improvement in our travel experience
- Our thoughts on the draft transportation vision and goals
- What would encourage us to use transit, cycle, or walk more often
- Our priorities for improving transportation in the city
- Key issues the Transportation and Mobility Plan should address
- Our feedback on the draft recommendations, once they are available.
There will be many ways to input over the course of the project. Right now there is a survey (open until November 22) and a map where you can “pin” specific comments or ideas. Click here to go to the EngageWR page for this project.