‘It’s a win-win’: How Toronto is planning 20km of new bike lanes without defying Ford

Narrow is the road that leads to new bike lanes in Toronto.

It appears the City has found a way to pedal around provincial legislation surrounding the contentious issue of bike lanes.

Rather than contravening the Ontario government by removing vehicle lanes, the City of Toronto is instead planning to narrow them to accommodate bikes.

With the passing of Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, Doug Ford’s government essentially banned any new bike lanes that “reduce or permit a reduction in the number of marked lanes available for travel by motor vehicles …”

But in its recent Cycling Network Plan update, the City of Toronto outlined how it can appease the province while simultaneously adding more than 20 new kilometres of bike lanes.

In its report, the City said “vehicle lan