Toronto councillors voted 28-16 today in favour of a plan that will see Jarvis Street lose one lane of car traffic while gaining two bike lanes and a face lift.

Naming the Jarvis Street revitalization plan as one of his key matters, Mayor David Miller fired the first salvo in a debate that some councillors referred to as the continuation of Toronto’s “war on the car.”

“Transportation is not about moving cars,” Miller said. “It never has been, never should be. Transportation is about moving people.”

Miller pointed out that the city’s roads are an asset worth $10 billion.

“How do you ensure that that space is maximized to create the least problems for cars, for drivers and for gridlock? Well, you use it in a way that allows the most people to use it.”

The plan will see Jarvis Street, which has five lanes for much of its length, be re-striped with four lanes for car traffic and two lanes set aside for bikes. While the plan would cost the city about $5 million, the lane changes represent only a fraction of that cost. City staff said the bike lanes would cost in the neighbourhood of $50,000 to $100,000 to install. Most of the money in the plan is budgeted for beautification of the street.

Councillor Karen Stintz pointed out that the original plan did not call for bike lanes, but was simply a plan for the revitalization of Jarvis Street. She said the change in scope is enough to warrant further public consultations so all affected people can participate.

“We see development all along Mount Pleasant that was predicated … on Jarvis being available as a downtown route,” she said. “And the development along Mount Pleasant and Jarvis is not yet complete, although plans have been approved.”

Norm Mierns was one of several residents who came to city council hoping for a trial period to see if Jarvis Street could function well without all five lanes. Rather than spend money on bike lanes, he feels that better public transit in the area would take the largest step towards solving traffic problems.

“You wouldn’t have these hassles if you had decent transit,” Mierns said. “There are so many people who want to take the bus to work. They don’t want to pay $30 to park.”

Toronto Cyclists Union executive director, Yvonne Bambrick, said the inclusion of bike lanes is a positive move towards a bike-lane network that will create a safer, more bike-friendly city.

“The car has dominated our road space for a long time and we’re just starting to take seriously and make space for active transportation,” she said. “That includes pedestrians and that certainly includes cyclists.”

The date for the reconfiguration of Jarvis has not been set, but city staff said that with council’s decision today they can have the the lanes painted as early as this year.

At the outset of today’s meeting the mayor said he was “amazed” at the level of debate around the issue.

“We’re being asked to support the taking of one lane of Jarvis away from cars to share it by turning it into two lanes to allow cyclists to cycle safely on Jarvis,” he said. “And to allow for a plan…to bring back Jarvis to the kind of grand boulevard that it once was.”