Costs mount for taxpayers and commuters as Premier Doug Ford begins removing Etobicoke, Ontario bike lanes

Whether you drive, ride or simply pay taxes in Ontario, it helps to know where the money goes and how to keep your own commuting costs in check.

What’s being removed on Bloor Street West, and when?

The work covers a 1.2-kilometre section of the road where crews are removing pavement markings and concrete curbs. That means temporary lane reductions, and the work isn’t expected to finish until some time in November.

It’s the first physical removal since the Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled in August that the province could proceed. The three-judge panel found the legislature is “as free to establish bicycle lanes as it is to remove them.” That ruling reversed an earlier July 2025 lower court decision that had blocked the plan.

The province claims restoring vehicle lanes will help fight gridlock. Balance on Bloor, a local business group, has argued the area’s bike lanes sit largely empty for part of the year and hurt shops along the strip.

How much will removing Toronto’s bike lanes cost taxpayers?

The full price tag for the bike lane removal isn’t public yet. In November 2024, City of Toronto staff estimated that removing lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue would cost at least $48 million, which covered all three streets combined. That figure failed to include the cost of new lanes elsewhere.

At the time, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the province would reimburse the city for removals. That shifts the cost from Toronto property taxpayers alone, to all Ontario taxpayers. It doesn’t erase it.

Current spending is also hard to nail down. The province’s September request for proposals (RFP) covers design work on 19 kilometres of lanes and isn’t public, so contract costs aren’t available.

Then there’s the money that’s already been spent. The Etobicoke lanes, installed starting in June 2023, were part of a $12-million bike lane expansion plan.

Will drivers actually save time, and what about cyclists?

Whether there will be any actual gridlock relief is the key question, and the evidence so far points both ways. The province is betting a restored car lane will speed up trips. But city staff concluded in 2024 that removal wouldn’t deliver substantial time savings and would actually bring months of construction congestion. The cyclists who challenged the law argued in court that the government’s own advisers agreed it wouldn’t reduce congestion.