The Bloor West bike lanes are coming out. Etobicoke, was it worth it?

The stretch of Bloor through Etobicoke, Runnymede to Resurrection, 5.7 kilometres through the Kingsway and past Islington and Royal York, got protected bike lanes after a 21-to-1 council vote in 2023. They are the piece of the city’s network the province went after first.

The sequence since: more than forty Etobicoke businesses sued the city over the lanes in February 2025; the province’s removal law was struck down in July 2025 and reinstated on appeal in August 2026; and on September 1 the province said work would begin almost immediately on the section from Islington to Royal York, with Yonge, University, Avenue Road and Queen’s Park to follow. The city has put the cost of removing what the province wants gone at about $48 million. A mayoral candidate who voted for the lanes in 2023 is now campaigning to remove them.

Set the jurisdiction aside; there is another question for that. This one is for the people who drive, cycle, park and run shops on this exact stretch: were the lanes good for Bloor West or not?

Sources: CP24, the province moves ahead on Bloor · CP24, a candidate vows to remove the Etobicoke lanes · The Trillium, the removal process begins · CBC, removal after the appeal ruling