Cyclists ask Canada’s top court to review Toronto bike lane removal plan

Cyclists are asking Canada’s Supreme Court to hear their challenge to Ontario’s plan to remove bike lanes on three major Toronto roads.

The plan would replace 19 kilometres of bike lanes with car lanes.

A lower court ruled that the plan posed an unconstitutional risk to cyclist safety.

Ontario’s Court of Appeal overturned that ruling in August, saying the trial judge had strayed into policy-making and political issues.

Ontario said it would begin removing more bike lanes along parts of Bloor Street West.

The cyclists will seek permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, which hears only a fraction of the cases brought before it.

The court typically considers cases involving a key constitutional question, conflicting lower court decisions or a new issue of law.