Ford vows to four-lane final stretch of Hwy. 69
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CTV News
23 minutes ago
- CTV News
Highway 69 reopens after crash
An undated photo of an Ontario Provincial Police cruiser with its lights flashing. (File image/Supplied/Bobb Barratt/Ontario Provincial Police) Ontario Provincial Police had closed Highway 69 in both directions late Friday night following a 'collision' between Pointe au Baril and Magnetawan First Nation. Authorities announced the closure on social media shortly after 10:15 p.m. on Aug. 1 and advised emergency crews were on scene. Ontario 511's Traveller Information Service also noted the closure shortly after 10 p.m. The roadway reopened shortly before 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Police advised motorists that a detour was available via Highway 529 during the closure. 'Serious injuries' reported In its update early Saturday, OPP reported the collision resulted in 'serious but non-life-threatening injuries'. Authorities have not released any details on the cause of the crash, the number of vehicles involved or if any charges are pending. Authorities advise motorists to check Ontario 511 for up-to-date road conditions. Check back to for updates on this developing story.
CBC
24 minutes ago
- CBC
Man, 59, dead after dump truck collides with motorcycle on Highway 401 in Toronto
A man is dead after a collision on Highway 401 in Toronto on Saturday morning, police say. Officers responded to the crash around 8 a.m. in the westbound express lanes at Allen Road, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. A dump truck lost its driveshaft and then collided with a motorcycle, police said. The motorcyclist, a 59-year-old man from Newmarket, was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No other injuries were reported, OPP said. Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact police. The westbound express lanes of Highway 401 are closed at Avenue Road and all traffic is being diverted into the collectors, police said.
National Post
4 hours ago
- National Post
Everything you need to know about Ontario's bike-lane ruling
Article content With that, individual cyclists and an organization that advocates for cyclists in Toronto filed a lawsuit in January 2025, claiming that this amendment is a violation of Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it would infringe the right to life and security of the person by putting cyclists at greater risk of injury and death. They also argued that restoring the lanes for motor vehicles will not alleviate traffic congestion, which was the provincial government's stated purpose with its legislative changes. Article content The government said that if the applicant's position was found correct, it would make all traffic decisions subject to Charter scrutiny. The Ontario government also argued that if bike lanes were removed, it would help solve traffic issues in Toronto. Article content In April 2025, Schabas granted an injunction, which prevented the government from removing the bike lanes until a decision had been reached. Article content In June 2025, the amendments announced in November 2024 were changed by the government. Now, instead of requiring that the bike lanes be removed, the amendment stated that it would 'restore a lane for motor vehicle traffic … by reconfiguring the bicycle lanes.' With that, the provincial government said the lawsuit was no longer relevant, as the amendment was differently worded. Article content Article content (The court only found out a month after the changes were enacted.) Article content However, according to Schabas, the new changes made no meaningful change to the law or the dispute between the parties. Article content After reviewing the evidence from both parties, Schabas said that evidence shows that restoring lanes for cars will not result in less congestion, as it will induce more people to use cars and any reduction in congestion would only be over a short distance and, eventually, will lead to more congestion. The evidence provided by cyclists also showed that bike lanes can actually help alleviate traffic congestion, as it offers another safe option of transportation in the city. Article content 'The evidence presented by the (Ontario government) consists of weak anecdotal evidence and expert opinion which is unsupported,' said Schabas in his decision. Article content According to Schabas, the government has the right to make decisions about roads and traffic infrastructure, but if it puts people at risk, its actions can be restricted by the Charter. Article content Article content That has been one of the main criticisms of the ruling. However, Bruce Ryder, a professor emeritus of law at Osgoode Hall Law School, says that's not quite accurate. Article content 'We don't have a right to bike lanes … but we do have a right to not have governments taking actions, including the removal of bike lanes, that put lives and safety at risk,' said Ryder. Article content Ryder said that if there was evidence showing that removing bike lanes actually helped improve traffic flow, there would be no issue with having them removed. But because that is not the case, the government cannot prove that the decision achieves its goals. Article content 'If they (the government) did have evidence that removing the bike lanes would improve traffic flow, and if they did take steps to ensure that there were alternative routes that would protect people's safety, there would be no problem. There would be no constitutional issue,' said Ryder. Article content Schabas also said that the cyclists are not asking for the whole bill to be changed or for more bike lanes to be built, but just that these specific bike lanes are kept in the way they are. Article content When did Toronto build these bike lanes? Article content Since 2016, the city of Toronto has been expanding bike lanes in the city. In a 2024 report, the city outlined the investment for bike lanes and bike share, and said that by having that, Toronto would be a more successful city by giving people more choices to get around. Article content Since the bike lanes project started, there has been a decrease in traffic accidents involving cyclists, and an increase in the number of people using bikes to get around, according to the evidence presented in court. Article content The bike lane on Bloor Street. was completed in late 2016. The bike lanes on both University Avenue and Yonge Street. were first installed through ActiveTO, a project created by the city during the COVID-19 pandemic. About $27 million was spent to install these target bike lanes in three of the main roads of Toronto. Article content What were the reactions to the plan to remove the bike lanes in Toronto? Article content In statements, comments and open letters, Ontario Traffic Control, Ontario Professional Planners Institute, 120 physicians and researchers from the University of Toronto, Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and Toronto Parking Authority were all concerned about the bike lanes removal, claiming it would actually make traffic worse and give less transportation options to citizens. Article content The City of Toronto released reports showing why bike lanes are important and how there was nowhere to put them in the city without redesigning the road system. Mayor Olivia Chow also asked the provincial government to respect the local government's decision making around cycling infrastructure. Article content At the request of the provincial government, CIMA, an engineering company, provided a report on the matter. In the report, they said that while restoring a lane of motor vehicle traffic may seem to reduce traffic over a short distance, over a longer distance the benefits of it could not even be noticed due to other factors that influence traffic, like on-street parking, transit stops, bridges, and delays at intersections. Article content Schabas noted that just like internal advice before Bill 212 was passed, the CIMA report was only produced by the government when required in this court application and not before the bill was passed. Article content At the same time, the provincial government provided evidence explaining how the restoration of a lane for motor vehicles would help fix traffic in Toronto. However, Schabas said in his decision that the statements of Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, the minister of transportation, and Premier Doug Ford are not supported by any data or internal analysis or advice. Article content Article content The government also claimed that only 1.2 per cent of trips are made by bicycle, which is inconsistent with the data the government had at the time. Just in June 2024, there were more than 760,000 trips made with bike share in the city. Article content The counsel for the provincial government argued that the experts consulted by the cyclists in this case are cycling advocates and that would make them biased. However, all the claims made by the experts in the case were made based on research, Schabas concluded. Article content What it might mean for other provinces/cities with similar plans Article content Following in Ontario's footsteps, the Alberta government is looking into making some changes in bike lanes in both Calgary and Edmonton. Article content Despite the recent developments in Ontario, Devin Dreeshen, Alberta's transportation minister, said that it's not ruling out the removal of bike lanes. The minister had a meeting with Calgary's mayor, Jyoti Gondek, to discuss the future of bike lanes in the city. Differently from Ontario, the two seemed to keep the conversation open to finding a solution for it.
