What We’ve Achieved

In June 2023, after years of advocacy work, Toronto City Council overwhelmingly approved the Bloor Street West Complete Street extension by a vote of 21-1 (see decision history here). Unfortunately, in October 2024, despite the success of the Bloor West bike lane --- and related road safety improvements as part of the Complete Street project --- the provincial government under Doug Ford announced that the Bloor, University, and Yonge Street bike lanes would be removed. A legal challenge by Cycle Toronto against the bike lane removal provisions of Bill 212 is, however, working its way through the courts. Cycle Toronto was successful at the Superior Court level. The judge found that removing the bike lanes violated the right to life and security of the person. This deprivation of section 7 of the Charter --- especially in view of the lack of evidence presented by the government --- could not be justified under the principles of fundamental justice. Subsequently, the Ford government appealed the decision to the Ontario Court of Appeal, which is scheduled to hear the matter on January 28, 2026. In the meantime, an injunction against bike lane removal remains in place. Ironically, Ford's attack on bike lanes, including the Bloor West bike lane/Complete Street extension into Etobicoke came soon after a Town Hall by local councillor Amber Morley at which it was clear that the project had solid public support. In the installation phase, the 4.7km extension had been divided into segments, with loud opposition --- led by a small group of well-connected businessmen --- only along the 1.7km stretch in the area known as The Kingsway. In other segments, public support outweighed the opposition. (Interestingly, Ford's local MPP and incumbent Christine Hogarth, who was a leading opponent of the bike lane, lost to Liberal challenger Lee Fairclough in the February 2025 provincial elections.) Of course, road safety projects should not be treated as popularity contests, but it's also clear that the days of giving cars priority over other values are gone.

Initial installation of the Complete Street/bike lane extension from Runnymede Rd to Aberfoyle Cres was completed by the city at the end of 2023, while the further extension from Aberfoyle to Resurrection Road was installed by the summer of 2024. (A stranded bike lane was already in place from Resurrection Road to just west of Kipling Avenue.) The result was that Toronto finally had a bike lane that stretched across much of the city -- over 20 kilometres east-west from Scarborough deep into Etobicoke. Our bike count in Sept 2024 showed significant increases in ridership, consistent with findings of the city, and a significant drop in sidewalk cycling. (See our bike count report below).

Project progress can be monitored on the City of Toronto’s dedicated web page.  An interim report on project implementation and impact, dated June 2024, can be seen here.

Our campaign also supports plans that would see the Complete Street  concept extended along Bloor Street all the way west to the city boundary with Mississauga.