The Bloor Street integrated project is a $27 Million project that:

• Removes two car lanes from Bloor Street
• Adds two bike lanes
• Removes up to 5 bus stops
• Resurfaces the road

Let me be very clear – I am not ideological about bike lanes. Bike lanes make sense in some places and don’t make sense in others.

Removing car lanes on this stretch of Bloor Street will create chaos and congestion.

• Removing 2 car lanes on a busy street like Bloor Street without providing people real alternatives makes no sense and will result in unnecessary congestion.
• With the removal of 2 car lanes there is no space for bus bays at many stops. This means that at those stops the MiWay bus will stop mid-traffic to pick up and drop of riders – with cars piled up behind the bus.
• The project removes up to 5 bus stops to accommodate the removal of car lanes, making taking transit even harder.
• Finally, there is concern from emergency responders about the speed of access to the neighbourhood.

If the Bloor Street project goes ahead, there is a plan to remove car lanes from other arterial roads in Mississauga adding to even more congestion. Removing car lanes without providing residents realistic alternatives is wrong and unfair.

There is a way to put bike lanes on Bloor Street without removing car lanes. The bike lanes can go on the existing boulevard. Many avid cyclists have told me that they prefer the bike lanes be put on the existing boulevard. I am happy to support bike lanes without removing car lanes.

Very badly.

A similar removal of car lanes on Bloor Street in Toronto has resulted in complete chaos and gridlock. There are now calls to reverse it. I do not want to repeat this mistake and that is why I would reverse the decision.

You can read Toronto MP Yvan Baker’s email explaining his opposition to the removal of car lanes on Bloor Street in Toronto here.

He points out that the removal of the two car lane has had a predictably devastating impact on traffic flow with limited benefit.

“According to the City of Toronto, before the Bloor bike lanes were installed there were ~25,500 daily trips by car (88%), ~3,500 by pedestrians (12%) and ~87 by bike (0.3%).

Eliminating half of the lanes used by the ~25,500 cars/day has had a predictably negative impact on traffic flow and isn’t justified in my view given the very limited demand from cyclists (~87/day).”

Absolutely yes. 

There is a lot of misinformation suggesting the project cannot be stopped.  The project was approved in June of 2023.  I originally voted against it and sought a compromise option that would allow bike lanes without removal of car lanes. Although Council approved the removal of car lanes, no Requests for Proposals have been issued, no contracts have been awarded, and there is no capital funding attached to this project.

The procedural rules allow council to reverse this decision at any time. As Mayor, I commit to working to stop this project.

There is some misinformation that only a councillor who voted in favour of the project can revisit this decision. This is not true. One year after the date of council’s approval – which will be June 28, 2024 – any councillor can move to re-open the file.

I am the only candidate who has consistently opposed the removal of the two lanes.

There are at least two candidates who want to continue to remove two car lanes.

There is at least one candidate who not only wants to remove the two car lanes but at the same time wants to build high rises and mid rises all along Bloor Street including where there are single family homes.

There is a right way and a wrong way to reduce congestion. The wrong way is to remove car lanes without giving residents realistic alternatives to the car.

The right way to reduce congestion is to ensure we build more transit as we build more homes. I have the most comprehensive transit plan to ensure that even as Mississauga grows, we manage the growth responsibly and minimize congestion and chaos.