The Alberta government is praising an Ontario court’s decision that is throwing the future of the eastern province’s municipal bike lanes back into limbo. A lower Ontario court last year stopped the provincial government from replacing protected bike lanes with car lanes along 19 kilometres of three major Toronto thoroughfares, saying ripping out that infrastructure posed an unconstitutional risk to cyclist safety. A court ruling that landed Friday from the Ontario Court of Appeal found that judgment had effectively created a right to bike lanes where none existed. The decision said the lower court judge had not only misapplied the law, but veered into policy-making and political considerations. A Saturday statement from Alberta Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen called the court’s decision a “win for common sense and for elected governments’ ability to make decisions in the public interest.” “The appeal court made clear that governments have the authority to make and change transportation policy and that there is no constitutional right to a bike lane,” Dreeshen wrote. Alberta bike lane law expected this fall The future of bike lanes is a growing concern for Alberta’s cities as the province prepares to table legislation that could give it oversight over where cities can build the infrastructure. The proposed law, which is expected to come down during the fall legislative session, would require cities to study traffic impacts and estimate how many people use bike lanes before new ones could be built. It could also lead to existing bike lanes getting torn out. Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas decried the legislation in May after Dreeshen cancelled a scheduled meeting to discuss bike lane usage data. Cycling groups have also spoken out against the incoming laws as a mode of “provincial overreach.” — With files from The Canadian Press
