The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has denied an injunction by a group of cyclists that sought to stop the province from removing bike lanes in Toronto until a court challenge is heard in April.
Ontario will not begin removing bike lanes until March 20 at the earliest, according to a spokesperson for the transportation ministry. A group of cyclists sought the injunction to stop any biking infrastructure from being removed between that date and the hearing on April 16.
The group, led by Cycle Toronto, launched a legal challenge in December against Bill 212, the province’s law that would remove bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue.
In his decision Friday, obtained by CBC Toronto, Justice Stephen Firestone referred to past cases that establish courts must assume government legislation aims to serve the public interest.
It was therefore up to the group to convince the court the injunction will do more for the public interest by protecting rights, he wrote.
But Firestone wrote the applicants did not meet the “heavy burden of establishing that an injunction… will do more for the public interest when considering the legislation’s stated purpose.”
Small share of cyclists use targeted lanes, justice says
The group had argued cyclists will face increased risk of injury and death if the injunction was not granted, according to the decision. They argued hundreds of thousands of residents will continue cycling even if the lanes are removed.
But Firestone cited evidence that 3 to 4 per cent of all trips made within Toronto are cycling trips, and “an even smaller share” regularly use the bike lanes targeted by Bill 212.
“The evidence also suggests that if the lanes are removed, the volume of cyclists using these roads will decrease significantly, such that the raw total of cyclist collisions will be largely unaffected,” he wrote.
New internal documents reveal that Ford’s government is aware of many of the risks associated with removing bike lanes in Toronto. As CBC’s Lane Harrison explains, the report shows the move may not have an impact on congestion and could increase collisions for everyone who uses roads.
Earlier this week, internal documents, reports and emails were released that showed the Ontario government is aware the bill may not have a meaningful impact on congestion and could increase collisions for all road users. These documents were made public during a hearing for the injunction on Tuesday.
The documents include a report the engineering and urban planning firm CIMA+ made for the Ministry of Transportation Ontario. It found collisions for all road users could increase by upwards of 54 per cent when bike lanes are removed, based on prior research.
At the time, the province’s lawyer said Ontario will provide documents and evidence to argue its rationale when the court challenge is heard in full in April.
