FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TORONTO, ON – ABC Toronto is calling on the City of Toronto to immediately remove the bike lanes on University Avenue and restore full road capacity on Toronto’s most important hospital corridor.
University Avenue is not an ordinary street. It is a critical access route for patients, ambulances, hospital staff, caregivers, and emergency services. Within just a few blocks, it serves some of the country’s leading health-care institutions, including SickKids at 555 University Avenue, Toronto Rehab’s University Centre at 550 University Avenue, Mount Sinai Hospital at 600 University Avenue, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre at 610 University Avenue, and Toronto General Hospital, which has University Avenue entrances.
This corridor should be treated as a hospital corridor first. When seconds matter, road design must prioritize traffic flow for ambulances, emergency access, patient drop-offs, hospital operations, and the movement of health-care workers. The City should not be reducing road capacity or experimenting with traffic flow directly outside some of the most important hospitals in Canada.
Toronto’s Auditor General has warned that ambulance response times have been worsening. The Toronto Auditor General’s 2024 report found that average response times for life-threatening and highest-acuity calls were higher in 2023 than in 2019. That should concern every resident of this city.
University Avenue is not the place for political experiments. This is an essential hospital corridor. The priority must be moving ambulances, and ensuring patients can get to care quickly and safely. ABC Toronto is calling for the immediate removal of the University Avenue bike lanes and a full emergency-access review in consultation with Toronto Paramedic Services, hospitals, physicians, nurses, patients, caregivers, and hospital operations staff. Work must also be started on identifying alternative routes for these bike lanes, like McCaul and Bay Streets.
The City must put emergency access first. Bike lanes do not belong on University Avenue. Fast access to care must come before bike-lane politics.
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About ABC Toronto:
ABC Toronto is a not-for-profit organization of concerned citizens who believe Toronto must become a highly livable city that is the envy of the world.
The City of Toronto is Canada’s economic engine. Our success helps Canada succeed. ABC Toronto advocates for practical solutions to the issues that are holding our city back from its potential, such as congestion, community safety, affordability, and competitiveness.
By working together, we can make Toronto a place where you can afford to raise a family, with new infrastructure, excellent public services, and an honest and transparent government. Learn more: www.abctoronto.org