Province to remove Bloor West bike lanes Tuesday, Chow and Bradford respond
The Ford government said work on Bloor Street West in Etobicoke will begin October 13. The two Toronto mayoral candidates disagree sharply on the move.
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Ontario's transportation ministry told CityNews Toronto on October 8 that work to remove the protected bike lanes on Bloor Street West in Etobicoke will begin Tuesday, October 13. The announcement drew sharp reactions from both Toronto mayoral candidates.
Mayor Olivia Chow called the move outrageous. She said she found out about the construction start date on Thursday afternoon, after a debate with Brad Bradford. "I just learned that Premier Doug Ford is taking out our bike lanes, it is outrageous, he's overstepping," Chow told CityNews.
Chow said she had been preparing drawings for a plan that would have kept both bike lanes and car lanes on that stretch of Bloor West. She said Bradford's repeated public support for the removal ended that possibility. "We had Coun. Bradford inviting (Ford) in to say 'come and take it away,'" she said. "That is trampling on local democracy, the right of Torontonians through their municipal government to have a say over the municipal affairs of the city."
Bradford said he supports removing that specific Etobicoke segment and cited traffic numbers from the debate. "Part of Bloor from Resurrection Road to South Kingsway, where you have 38,490 cars per day, and 197 bikes," he said. He added that he does not oppose bike lanes on other streets. "There's a lot of bike lanes that have a lot more usage, Richmond, Adelaide, University even, Danforth out in the east end."
Bradford acknowledged he had previously voted the wrong way. He was one of 21 city councillors who voted in 2023 to add the lanes on that stretch. In August 2026, he said local business owners had suffered and were suing the city over the lanes, and called the vote a mistake.
The province announced in September 2026 that it planned to restore motor-vehicle lanes on several Toronto corridors, starting with Bloor Street West. Yonge Street, University Avenue, Queen's Park and related streets are also listed, though Ontario has given no start dates for those sites.
Voting day for the Toronto municipal election is October 26, 2026. Advance voting is open from October 6 to 11. To see what both mayoral candidates have said on transit and other issues, visit the candidate pages at /on/toronto-2026/candidates#mayor.
Questions this story answers
When will the Bloor Street West bike lanes be removed?
Ontario's transportation ministry told CityNews Toronto that work will begin on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. The removal covers a stretch of Bloor Street West in Etobicoke. The province had earlier announced the plan in September 2026, saying it would also eventually remove bike lanes on Yonge Street, University Avenue, Queen's Park, Queen's Park Crescent and Avenue Road, though no dates have been given for those corridors.
What did Olivia Chow say about the bike lane removal?
Mayor Olivia Chow called the provincial move outrageous, saying she learned about the construction start date on Thursday, October 8, after a debate with Brad Bradford. She told CityNews: 'I just learned that Premier Doug Ford is taking out our bike lanes, it is outrageous, he's overstepping.' She also said she had been working on a plan that would keep both bike lanes and car lanes on that stretch.
What did Brad Bradford say about the removal?
Bradford said he supports removing that specific Etobicoke stretch, citing usage numbers he stated in the debate: 38,490 cars per day and 197 bikes. He acknowledged in August 2026 he had previously voted for the lanes, saying he 'got this one wrong.' At the same time he said he does not support removing other Toronto bike lanes, mentioning Richmond, Adelaide, University and Danforth as examples of well-used routes.
Did Bradford ever vote for the Bloor West bike lanes?
Yes. Bradford was one of 21 city councillors who voted in 2023 to add the bike lanes on that stretch of Bloor Street West. He later changed his position. In August 2026, he said the local business owners have suffered because of the lanes and are suing the city, and he said he was wrong to support them. He repeated that position at the debate on October 8.
What was Chow's plan for the bike lanes?
Chow told CityNews that she had been working on drawings for a solution that would keep bike lanes while also restoring car lanes on the Bloor West stretch. She said Bradford's public support for removal made that impossible. She criticised Bradford for, in her words, inviting the province in to take the lanes away, saying it trampled on Toronto's right to control its own municipal affairs.
What other streets will have bike lanes removed by the province?
Ontario's September 2026 announcement listed Bloor Street West as the first site. It also said it would restore motor-vehicle lanes on Yonge Street, University Avenue, Queen's Park, Queen's Park Crescent and Avenue Road. CityNews Toronto reported no start dates have been given for those corridors as of October 8.
How does this issue affect how I vote on October 26?
Transit and cycling infrastructure is one of the clearest policy differences between the two leading mayoral candidates. Chow opposes the removal and says she would protect bike lanes. Bradford supports removing lanes where he says cycling usage does not justify them. Voters in Etobicoke and across Toronto who use or care about cycling infrastructure can see distinct positions from both candidates. Toronto municipal election voting day is October 26, 2026. Advance voting runs October 6 to 11.
Where can I find out more about the Toronto mayoral candidates' positions?
Candidate pages on this site list sourced positions for each mayoral candidate. Visit the Toronto 2026 candidates page at /on/toronto-2026/candidates#mayor for the full list of people running for mayor, including Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford.
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