In mid-December 2025, the City of Guelph updated its cycling and walking page and reinstated winter maintenance for on‑road bike lanes after Mayor Cam Guthrie used Strong Mayor powers to amend the city’s 2026 budget.
The reversal follows a 7–6 City Council vote on Nov. 26, 2025, that had removed winter plowing for most on‑street, separated and protected bike lanes (a move described in reports as closing lanes from mid‑November to mid‑April) as a way to save roughly $650,000. After a large protest ride on Dec. 15, 2025 and a Dec. 9, 2025 legal warning from The Biking Lawyer about municipal duties under the Municipal Act and Minimum Maintenance Standards, Guthrie issued a mayoral order in mid‑December to restore the service. “I am sorry. I can understand the reasons this should be funded,” Guthrie said as he announced the change (GuelphToday/CBC).
Local advocates, including Guelph GOTBike and the Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation (GCAT), welcomed the decision as a safety win for daily commuters and parents who do school runs by bike. “Winter cycling is only ‘unsafe’ when the city chooses not to maintain safe conditions. Not maintaining infrastructure and then blaming the people who use it is the opposite of Vision Zero,” Andrea Bidgood, Guelph’s Bicycle Mayor, said in coverage and social posts.
City officials say the reinstated funding will put on‑street, separated and protected bike lanes back on the city’s standard clearing schedule, prioritizing major commuter routes and school‑zone cycling infrastructure consistent with the city’s winter maintenance program. Legal counsel and advocacy groups had warned that leaving built bike lanes unplowed could expose the municipality to liability under the Municipal Act and Minimum Maintenance Standards; a letter from lawyer Dave Shellnutt of The Biking Lawyer (Dec. 9, 2025) set out those concerns.
Reporting and municipal updates: CBC News, GuelphToday, the City of Guelph cycling and walking page, and The Biking Lawyer.
