The impacts of the provincial government's potential bike lane restrictions are starting to come into focus.
When Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria indicated that legislation was going to be brought forward to limit any bike lanes that interfere with a lane of traffic, it was said to be a move in an effort to help ease congestion.
The legislation would require municipalities to seek approval for such lanes and all projects within the last five years would have to be submitted for review.
Cycling advocates have already weighed in on the potential impacts.
But now a climate advocate is sounding the alarm on how the idea could alter the Region of Waterloo's greenhouse gas emission goals going forward.
During a presentation to Cambridge city council back in July, members of Sustainable Waterloo Region, Climate Action Waterloo Region, Waterloo Region Community Energy and Reep Green Solutions updated councillors on the status of local emissions.
It was stated at the time the collective community goal, backed by the region and reported to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Partners for Climate Protection program, was to reduce greenhouse gases by 50 per cent from 2010 to 2030.
Emissions in 2022 totalled 3,961,008 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, a 12 per cent reduction from the 2010 baseline. Of the total, 47.2 per cent of emissions came from transportation.
Tova Davidson, executive director of Sustainable Waterloo Region, believes it's a percentage that needs to be addressed and giving people easy alternative options of how to get around is critical in doing so.
"We know we need to reduce the amount of emissions from transportation," Davidson said.
"The very best way to do that is with active transportation and a robust active transportation network that's supported by a really strong transit network to allow for better mobility within the community that isn't dependent on cars."
With the growth of the region and the city, Davidson doesn't believe it's feasible to remain as reliant on cars going forward.
While motor vehicles will always be a part of how people travel, cutting down on use for shorter trips in particular is key.
As each city and town across the province has unique climate goal challenges, leaving decisions in the hands of local government is logical, she said.
"The people who know the community best aren't able to make the decision of what's right for their community," Davidson said.
"What you would do in Cambridge wouldn't be what someone might do in Vaughan. The province is probably going to, in order to make this work, set up some cookie cutter criteria but that means responding to the needs of the community is taken out of the hands of elected officials."
Another issue Davidson sees is the speed of uptake and additional red tape that would be required to get bike lanes built if eventually approved.
If passed, the trickle down effect could be significant. How cities and regions plan for roads and land may become more complicated, she said.
The city has previously confirmed there are no current projects that require the interruption of traffic lanes for bike lanes, while the region is waiting for further communication from the province on the legislation.
"Regional transportation staff are currently awaiting official communication from the province regarding any changes to the implementation of cycling infrastructure," Lynsey Slupeiks, manager of corporate communications for the region, said in an email.
"Regional staff will continue to advance projects that support our 'Growing with Care' strategic plan, which aims to meet community needs. The region relies on every element of our road, cycling, transit and trail network to keep the region moving. If a change to legislation is made, we will support the province in it’s implementation, but are unable to make any adjustments in approach at this time."
Davidson emphasizes it's important to consider the totality of the impact bike lanes have on how a community functions.
"I would think it's going to hamper our reaching of climate goals," she said
"We need to be thinking about the intersection of equity, space, land use, climate and having communities where we're connected and belong. All those things are environmental work."
