Premier Doug Ford’s government has already signalled that bike lanes on Yonge Street, University Avenue and Bloor Street could be ripped out.
Now, a new public opinion poll from a well-connected Progressive Conservative Party insider's polling company suggests more Toronto bike lanes are in Queen’s Park’s crosshairs.
Along with Yonge, University and Bloor, the latest poll asks respondents their “view” on bike lanes on three other Toronto streets: Richmond, Adelaide and Danforth.
In a series of questions, poll respondents are asked whether they believe those six sets of bike lanes cause too much traffic congestion, increase travel times for drivers and “should be removed immediately.”
They are also given the option to say the bike lanes should remain in place, or “don’t know/unsure.”
TorontoToday obtained a copy of the online survey circulated by Campaign Research, which is run by Nick Kouvalis, a long-time advisor and strategist to Premier Ford.
The firm does not disclose who pays for its individual polls. However, the PC Party’s caucus services’ bureau is a regular Campaign Research client and paid the pollster nearly $1 million last year, per the provincial public accounts.
Some issues tested in previous Campaign Research surveys have later been embedded in Ford government policy. The results of internal polls are not released publicly.
The survey offers some more detail on which sections of the bike lanes on Bloor and Yonge the provincial government could be considering ripping out. In its questions, the poll describes the Yonge lanes as “between Bloor Street and Davisville Avenue” and the Bloor lanes as “on the West side of Bloor.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is opposed to the Ford government’s intervention in municipal bike lane planning but has suggested she is open to rejigging the road infrastructure on Bloor Street West in Etobicoke where new bike lanes have angered some members of the local community.
A city staff report released last week determined the cost of removing the bike lanes on Bloor, Yonge and University would cost $48 million.
