Ontario's plan to remove bike lanes on three major roads in Toronto will cost more than $48 million and likely lead to only minimally faster commutes for drivers, city staff say in a new report. The Progressive Conservative government is fast-tracking legislation that would require municipalities to ask the province for permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a lane of vehicle traffic.

City of Toronto staff found that tearing out the three planned bike lanes in Toronto will cost $48 million, dramatically increase travel times during construction and will not deliver much time savings for commuters when the lanes are out. And the city will be out the $27 million it cost to install the lanes in the first place.