Not a 'war on cars' — Hundreds Windsor-bound for Ontario Bike Summit

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Published Mar 04, 2025  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

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A young cyclist gestures to motor vehicle traffic as he crosses Lauzon Parkway at Tecumseh Road East in Windsor on Aug. 9, 2023. Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star

Having the province swoop down on Toronto and rid the traffic-congested city of bike lanes along busy routes was perhaps the low point for Ontario’s cyclists in 2024.

But for avid pedallers, it was but a brief setback in what they see as part of the inexorable forward march of history — namely, that more bicycles belong on more city streets if there’s to be a healthy, vibrant future for urban cores and their residents.

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To help spread that message and highlight examples and stories of inspiration, the City of Windsor and Share the Road are hosting the Ontario Bike Summit this spring.

“It’s the biggest conference of its kind in Canada — we expect about 300 delegates,” said Eleanor McMahon, founder and board chair of Share the Road, an urban transportation policy and advocacy group, of the three-day gathering, May 27-30.

She said the issue needs to stop being politicized in terms of a “war on cars. It’s not you-versus-me — it’s us.”

“Toronto? That’s an absolute setback,” McMahon acknowledged.

The Ford government’s Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, passed in November, gave the province new powers to remove bike lanes in Toronto and other cities, as well as require any municipality seeking to create bike lanes by removing traffic lanes to first seek provincial approval.

“We just want to get traffic moving … that’s what it comes down to, making sure you aren’t putting bike lanes in the middle of some of the busiest streets in the country,” Ford told reporters in Toronto before the bill was passed. “Put them on secondary roads.”

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The Association of Municipalities of Ontario joined the opposition, describing the “micromanaging of bike lanes” as a “significant overreach” into municipal jurisdiction.

“I’ve never seen a study, nor has Ontario ever produced one, that shows bikes are causing congestion,” McMahon told the Star. Quite the opposite, she insists: “Cycling is the most convenient, cost-effective — read: ‘cheap’ — and fastest way to get around a city.

“Everybody wants a safe, easy, fast way to get home,” she said. Cycling advocates argue more commuters on bikes results in less commuters adding to traffic jams.

It’s not you-versus-me — it’s us

Regardless of the occasional setback, McMahon remains super-confident: “I have connections around the world — cycling is growing in popularity. Any challenges Windsor is having, you can be darn sure they’re shared by others.”

Simply agreeing to host such a major cycling and active transportation conference, she said, “shows Windsor is making progress.”

Born and raised in Windsor, McMahon was once press secretary to then-prime minister Jean Chretien, and is a former Liberal MPP for Burlington and Ontario cabinet minister. Also a former president and CEO of Trans Canada Trail, McMahon founded the Share the Road Cycling Coalition after her husband was killed while cycling in 2006 by a motorist with a suspended licence.

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Eleanor McMahon, then-head of Trans Canada Trail, Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens and Heather Grondin of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, are shown Feb. 9, 2024, at Windsor city hall during an announcement that the Gordie Howe International Bridge will join the Trans Canada Trail and become the first international bridge border crossing within the 28,000-km trail network. Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star

Politicians, planners and engineers, some from international transportation infrastructure firms, will be among the delegates coming to Windsor. Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island is another host of this year’s summit whose theme is ‘Bridging Communities, Building Connections.’

Special sessions will tackle such subjects as “the tremendous opportunity for cycling tourism” said McMahon, adding the Gordie Howe International Bridge, scheduled to open in the fall and include a separated pathway for cyclists and pedestrians, is hosting a “mobile workshop” and tour of the international crossing.

“The multi-use path on the Gordie — people want to see how it works,” she said. The summit’s focus, she added, is “looking at progress and what’s happening everywhere, and sharing plans.”

One of the summit days will see delegates visit the City of Detroit, which has been making major investments in cycling infrastructure. Asked about such a cross-border visit at a time of heightened trade and political tension between the two countries, McMahon, who grew up in Windsor, said the two city neighbours are “like family.”

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The annual Share the Road summits also honour those making a difference. At last year’s gathering in Waterloo, University of Windsor law professor Chris Waters received a ‘Wheels of Change community champion’ award for curating the ‘Windsor: Cycling City’ exhibit in 2023 at the Chimczuk Museum, used to “raise the profile of cycling in Windsor and to advocate for safer streets.”

During the Ontario election, environmental group Greenpeace launched an advertising campaign and online petition calling on the province to “stop the removal of Ontario’s bike lanes.”

dschmidt@postmedia.com

twitter.com/schmidtcity

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