Ontario promises to pay for ripping out bike lanes that fail unannounced criteria.
Ontario promises to pay for ripping out bike lanes that fail unannounced criteria.
The Ford government is putting new bike lanes and any installed in the past half-decade on notice but has promised it will pay the costs if cities have to tear out routes.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21139836
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21139835
The Ford government is promising to pay the cost of removing bike lanes from major city streets that fail to meet its unannounced criteria as it ploughs ahead with a plan to limit biking infrastructure and rip out some routes.
“Not everybody can use a bike to get around — these are some of our major arterial roads, whether it is Bloor, University or Yonge Street — people need to get to and from work,” Sarkaria said.
This is some exasperatingly bad logic from the provincial Transport Minister. The idea that biking should be disqualified because the infrastructure cannot magically enable every single person to start biking is nonsense. By the same "logic", the provincial freeways should be closed down because not everyone can drive a car. And then there's some drivel about bike lanes contributing to gridlock, which is nonsense in the original meaning and disproven in the colloquial meaning.
It is beyond the pale that provincial policy will impose a ceiling on what a municipality can do with its locally-managed roads. At least here in America, a US State would impose only a floor and cities would build up from there. Such minimums include things like driving on the right and how speed limits are computed. But if a USA city or county aspires for greatness, there is no general rule against upgrading a road to an expressway, or closing a downtown street to become fully pedestrianized.
How can it be that Ontario policy will slide further backwards than that of US States?
Ontario isn't good at voting. Our voter turnout is abysmal. Add to that there is a contingent of people who think they are folksy when in reality they are ignorant, and voila: Shitty politicians flourish. Add to that our center party (Liberals) did whatever they wanted for years and our Left wing party (NDP) had... I don't even know how to properly describe her style other than "not helpful for a political career", and Ford gets to do whatever he wants.
How about the province takes that money and gives it to education and health care workers instead?