How Toronto cyclists attempted to block the province's bike lane removals

It started as an early morning standoff between a group of construction workers brought in to remove bike lanes and a group of cyclists who want those bike lanes to stay right where they are. We're here to defend bike lanes, safe infrastructure in the city of Toronto that the citizens of Toronto have had input on and voted for. Protesters eventually blocked a truck being used by the workers, preventing them from removing infrastructure. That's when police showed up, dozens of them. They closed down Bloor Street in both directions just east of Islington and then began making orders to cyclists. I'm telling you right now what you're going to do, which is you're going to move off onto the sidewalk. At first, the protesters were defiant, standing their ground. The province is removing this against the city's wishes, against data reports and statistics that safe infrastructure keeps all road users more safe. The cyclists were eventually given an ultimatum by police. If you choose not to move, we will start making arrests for mischief. When officers began moving in, most of the cyclists willingly complied moving out of the bike lanes. One woman was arrested and charged with mischief and obstructing police. Everybody made their own decision. We left the road. You know, it's a pretty heavy-handed response, but kind of in line with what we've been expecting from Toronto Police. The workers were able to resume removing the bike lanes with police officers lining the street to protect them. It was a welcome sight to some in the area who are happy to see the bike lanes go. Nobody uses this. This was a bad mistake to put bike lanes here. You could put them downtown and screw up the downtown area, but please don't screw up Etobicoke. It's caused huge congestion and they say, oh, the fire trucks can't get through. Try that at rush hour. These cyclists tell us while this protest has ended, they say the fight over these bike lanes is far from over. But I'll be back, and I'll be back cycling along here, whether there's infrastructure or not. This man says he's in for the long haul, even if it means taking the fight to the ballot box in the next provincial election. I hope that the voting public will prevail and vote in a more progressive government than we've got right now. But, you know, there's no provincial election for some years yet, so it could take time. In the meantime, one Toronto cycling group says they plan to appeal this decision to remove the bike lanes all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Greg Ross, CBC News, Toronto.