Mississauga’s Bloor Street project in limbo as City awaits details on PC bike lane legislation; $1.1M already spent

The City of Mississauga’s controversial Bloor Street bike lane project had been paused following the introduction of the PCs proposed legislation around municipal bike lanes, which Doug Ford claims are causing gridlock.

Mississauga staff say the Bloor project is now under review. 

In October Premier Ford and his PC government announced that if their legislation is passed, municipalities would have to get provincial approval before building any new designated bike corridors that would cut out lanes for vehicle traffic. The new legislation — dubbed the “Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act” (Bill 212) — gives the PCs, under the discretion of the Minister of Transportation, authority to establish a review process on existing bike lanes where a lane of traffic has been removed.

It is unclear what this will mean for the future of Mississauga’s Bloor Street project, which the City has already spent approximately $1,150,000 on since it was approved by council in June 2023. This includes the costs for the phases of planning, preliminary and detailed design, including public meetings, internal staff time and external consultants, a spokesperson recently explained. “The money spent to-date on the project was drawn from the City’s reserve funds and will not have an impact on future property tax bills.”

However, should the project be cancelled as a result of the PCs legislative hand, the over a million dollars that has already been spent, which has been sourced from residential taxes from previous budgets, would go to waste. 

Sam Rogers, the City’s commissioner of transportation and works, told council last week the City is currently in the procurement process and had been moving towards the construction phase. However, he warned that, “in light of Bill 212 currently being debated in the legislature the City will be seeking clarification from the Ministry of Transportation and the Minister about whether or not the Bloor Street Integrated Project can proceed.” 

“We’re planning to submit technical studies and background information on this project for MTO consideration and until that time we’re not planning on moving forward out of an abundance of caution given that the legislation’s early,” he said. “We have done a great deal of work on this project, we’re confident that our technical studies will be evaluated the right way with the Province but until the legislation is resolved, we’re not going to be spending any more money on this project because we don’t think it's a prudent use of taxpayers’ dollars at this stage.”

In June 2023, council approved Alternative 6, which would include two travel lanes (one in each direction), continuous two-way left turn lanes, widened sidewalks and in-boulevard cycle tracks going both ways along Mississauga’s Bloor Street corridor. The move came after City staff undertook a study in 2021 to examine opportunities for road improvements to the corridor from Central Parkway East to Etobicoke Creek which resulted in a complete redesign of the roadway. Construction was previously planned to begin in fall of 2024 and finish by December 2025, with restoration work to be completed in 2026. The estimated cost to implement the design approved by council was billed at approximately $27 million.

The design concept for Alternative 6, approved by council in June 2023.

(City of Mississauga)

At the time, although it was the preferred option recommended by staff, the design selected was cause for concern among some councillors, who disagreed with reducing Bloor Street from two lanes running in each direction down to one each way to accommodate the addition of bike lines on either side of the corridor. Staff maintained, however, that Alternative 6 was in keeping with Mississauga’s commitment to Vision Zero and was consistent with the City’s Cycling Master Plan, while also accommodating future travel demand.

The PC government has claimed it does not want bike lanes taking out lanes for cars, citing concerns over congestion, however, a study conducted by the City of Mississauga for the Bloor Street redesign found reducing the Bloor Street corridor down to two lanes of traffic to accommodate bike lanes would not result in further congestion or higher travel times.

The report commissioned by staff last June found that with Alternative 6, both Bloor Street and the adjacent transportation network would continue to “operate at an acceptable level of service.” A summary of the estimated travel times under existing conditions and 2041 travel demand scenarios during the evening peak hour in the westbound direction along Bloor Street—the busiest time of day and direction flow according to the report—indicated Bloor Street is expected to be less congested under Alternative 6. It found the existing travel time under the current layout is 10 minutes and 55 seconds, but with the redesign, the anticipated travel time is 9 minutes and 28 seconds. Both scenarios were found to predict some congestion under the City’s “level of service” methodology, which looks at the state of the roadway’s vehicle capacity. 

It remains unclear what threshold or criteria the PC government will be using to determine which bike lane projects that are currently underway get abandoned. 

“With the worst travel times in North America, gridlock in Ontario is at a tipping point, and we need to ensure that we keep our busiest roads moving. We support a common sense approach when it comes to bike lanes, which does not include removing a lane of traffic on some of our busiest roads,” Dakota Brasier, director of media relations for the Minister of Transportation’s office, told The Pointer. Brasier added the Province will be reviewing information from the municipalities regarding bike lanes that have been installed in the past five years.  

Asked for clarification on the framework that will be used to determine which projects will be reviewed, another spokesperson responded, “More details will be shared in the future.” 

This is the latest hurdle for the Bloor Street bike lanes following a fiery debate throughout the Mississauga mayoral campaign earlier this year with Councillor Dipika Damerla pushing for the $27 million project to be cancelled. Damerla did not support the plan when it was approved last year which she reaffirmed during a candidate debate in May, stating she voted against it because “it was poorly designed,” and that she would “work hard to stop it” if elected. Now, she tells The Pointer she is happy the project has been paused as the City awaits direction from the Province on whether the PC government will support the removal of car lanes to install bike lanes on Bloor Street.

“I am very pleased with this development,” she said in an email. “It is the right approach, given the Province is bringing in legislation to stop removal of car lanes to install bike lanes. It would be wrong for the City of Mississauga to continue with the removal of car lanes on Bloor Street at this juncture given recent developments.”

Councillor Dipika Damerla, who has maintained her opposition to the option selected for the Bloor Street redesign, says she is happy to see the project on hold.

(Alexis Wright/The Pointer Files) 

In contrast, Councillor Alvin Tedjo, who has supported the project since it was approved last year, is now concerned about the impact the Province’s proposed legislation will have on Bloor Street, as well as future proposals as the City moves toward creating more walkable communities centered around alternative modes of transportation such as cycling or walking.

“This is the tip of the spear, we’re trying to do this in other areas to create a more walkable, liveable community across the city. We also need to create a grid of safe separated bike lanes to give people real alternatives to get around the city so this jeopardizes all of that,” he told The Pointer. “I think that the proposed legislation is significant overreach from the Province into what should be a local planning issue. I think this has clearly proven municipal jurisdiction and we should be able to manage that.”

The Bloor Street redesign is just the first of many that would add to the city’s connectivity—infrastructure Tedjo says is “incredibly important” to add to Mississauga’s grid. He said he does not want the project to be reviewed and hopes that it will instead move forward. Referring to the City’s decision to pause operations, Tedjo said, “We don’t want to work on something that’s going to then be uprooted. Whether it's our taxpayers or the provincial taxpayers, at the end of the day it's one taxpayer and we don’t want to waste money doing that,” adding he still believes in the project and that “it should proceed as planned.”

“I still believe that it is a part of a much larger plan for us to get people moving in the City of Mississauga in other ways. We need to provide people with the network and the tools to get around the city in other ways other than just their car.”

Mayor Carolyn Parrish, who also did not vote in favour of the recommended option, has continued to stand by the will of council despite her opposition to the design that was selected. With the latest uncertainty around the future of the project, the Mayor has sent a letter to the Province providing the details of the redesign and asked if it will be able to proceed.  

“My letter lays out the public consultation process and the Council decision, includes the staff rationale for their recommendation and all the technical information needed to assist the Minister in making a decision,” she told The Pointer. “I added that the tendering process has been completed and paused, and requested that the Minister provide his decision as to whether our project will be allowed to continue or not.”

“As mayor, my opinion reflects the decision of council. We await his answer.”

Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @mcpaigepeacock

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