Protesters vow continued defiance as removal of Etobicoke bike lanes delayed

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In an effort to slash congestion and save millions of dollars, the province of Ontario is scheduled to remove several sections of bike lanes in Toronto.

Although that did not start as planned on Tuesday as cyclists rallied near Bloor St. W. and Islington Ave. in Etobicoke in an effort to stop the removal — at least for one night.

“The people of Ontario gave our government a clear mandate to tackle the traffic that is costing our economy over $56 billion a year by removing the bike lanes on some of Toronto’s busiest streets,” Dakota Brasier, the director of media relations for Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, told the Toronto Sun in a written statement. “That work begins Tuesday.”

Mayoral candidate Brad Bradford echoed the province’s sentiments in a written statement on Tuesday morning.

“The people who live and work on (Bloor) asked city hall for three years to fix a design that wasn’t working,” Bradford said. “On Aug. 8, I committed that as mayor, those lanes come out, the traffic lanes go back in and the work starts in my first year. That commitment stands.”

Court reversed decision to block removal

A lower court initially blocked the province from removing bikes lanes in July 2025, but the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the decision in August.

But many cycling enthusiasts are not happy with the bike lanes being removed.

Several hundred cyclists gathered in the parking lot at Tom Riley Park late Tuesday afternoon to protest the removal of the bike lanes near Bloor and Islington in Etobicoke.

“Once these lanes are removed, our safety is at risk,” lawyer and cyclist advocate David Shellnut told the media. “I take my kid to daycare in the Bloor bike lanes. When that lane is removed, I will take her in my SUV. (The congestion problem) is not solved. And that’s really why people are angry, that’s why people are angry about their safety being jeopardized, but they’re mostly angry about the lack of honesty on whether or not this is a solution to congestion.”

After fulfilling his media obligations, Shellnut biked to the head of the cycling procession on the north side of Bloor. The group then headed west before stopping at the intersection of Green Lanes and Bloor. From there, the protest split up and proceeded to occupy the bikes lanes on both sides of the street.

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Protesters ‘going to do it every single night’

From there, some of the procession headed east toward Royal York Station. Others stayed and occupied the bike lanes on the north side of Bloor and Islington, while some crossed at the intersection to the south side of Bloor before cycling back toward Royal York Station in a continual looping pattern.

“We’re going to head up to the start of where we anticipate lane removals … And we’re going to do that tonight and we’re going to do it tomorrow night and we’re going to do it every single night,” Shellnut said. “So let it be known that the people on bikes will not let the premier bully us and take away safe infrastructure.”

The province’s plan on Tuesday was to start removing a 1.2-km section of lanes on Bloor between Royal York and Clissold Rds. Clissold is a short walk east of Green Lanes.

The removal of bike lanes was tentatively scheduled to begin around 8 p.m. As of 9 p.m., construction had not yet started with construction crews leaving the area at the time.

“You know, hope we get the lanes left in,” protester John Shouldice told the Toronto Sun.

ganderson@postmedia.com

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