University Avenue bike lanes face new scrutiny over logic
A transit advocacy group's criticism of cycle tracks near major hospitals is drawing pushback from analysts who say the claims don't hold up under closer examination.
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A new critique of Toronto's University Avenue bike lanes has sparked debate over whether cycle infrastructure actually interferes with emergency response in one of the city's most critical healthcare corridors.
ABC Toronto, a not-for-profit organization focused on livability and community safety, released a video questioning why bike lanes were installed on University Avenue—home to Mount Sinai Hospital, SickKids, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto General Hospital, and Toronto Rehab. The group framed the corridor as "the most important hospital corridor in Toronto" and suggested cycling infrastructure might hamper ambulance response times.
But transit writers examining the group's argument point out that the corridor was redesigned during the pandemic specifically to support multi-modal access for essential workers travelling to hospitals and workplaces. According to the City of Toronto, the cycle tracks were part of ActiveTO and intended to provide "multi-modal capacity along the Line 1 subway and as a connection" for healthcare workers.
Once the emotional framing around ambulances and hospitals is set aside, closer analysis of the corridor's design history and publicly available emergency response data suggests the criticism relies more on appeals to anxiety than evidence about actual traffic impacts.
The University Avenue redesign remains a flashpoint in Toronto's ongoing transportation debates.