Mayoral candidate David Soknacki wants to remove roadblocks that delay building new bike lanes in the city.

Soknacki, the first prominent mayoral hopeful to roll out a bike plan, said environmental assessments take too long.

He vowed that if elected mayor Oct. 27, he will lobby the provincial government to okay faster assessments of bike lanes “where environmental benefits are obvious.”

Cycle Toronto, which has been advocating for speedier approvals, noted that the environmental assessment for bike lanes on Richmond and Adelaide Sts. will take up to four years.

“It’s just an unacceptable amount of time to build bike lanes,” said Jared Kolb, Cycle Toronto’s executive director. “We have to find a way to streamline the process by which we install bike lanes.”

One possibility might be to do a “mini” assessment followed up by a pilot project, Kolb said.

Soknacki, who visited 13 bike shops to tout his plan, said environmental assessments are done project by project, and it would make more sense to group projects together.

That way, he said, one environmental assessment could cover a number of projects. Once given the go-ahead, the city could then do the work through a single construction contract.

“Right now, an EA is done, the bike lane is built and then you go on to the next one. But by doing it in a sequential way, it just takes forever and it’ll never get done.”

Cycle Toronto supported Soknacki’s desire to improve cycling safety. The former city councillor and budget chief wants to spend $3 million a year to make dangerous areas safer.

“The city has to do a better job of creating safe intersections for cyclists and pedestrians,” Kolb said. “We need to direct improvements to the most dangerous intersections.”

Soknacki also wants to increase the number of bike lanes in the next term of council, with an emphasis on separated lanes and commuter routes.

He agrees with the need often expressed by cyclists for bike lanes that connect to form a grid, making it easier to commute by bicycle.

“Our purpose is to make cycling a viable commuting option,” he said.

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The city’s efforts over the past four years have been mixed, Kolb said. Separated bike lanes were installed on Sherbourne St. but removed from Jarvis St. as well as Pharmacy and Birchmount Aves. in Scarborough.

“What’s missing is knitting this together,” Kolb added. “We need to focus on building a grid that enables people to get from home to work.”