Pump up your bike tires, because Collingwood is poised to become “active-transportation-focused” over the next 10 years, says the mayor.
The Corporate and Community Services Standing committee got a first glimpse at the Collingwood Cycling Plan on Monday night. The 130-page document outlines a long-term plan to develop, strengthen and support a cycling culture in Collingwood, and could come with a price tag of more than $10 million.
“This is one of a number of moving parts we’re trying to push forward through our community-based strategic plan,” said Mayor Brian Saunderson. “We’re trying to make our community active-transportation-focused and safe.”
The plan outlines specific upgrades being recommended, their costs and a rough suggested timeline of whether they should be implemented within the short term (less than five years), or long term (more than five years). The total investment to implement the Cycling Plan recommendations will be approximately $803,000 for the short-term suggestions, and $9.5 million for the long-term suggestions.
Suggested improvements include better connections, more supporting facilities and cycling infrastructure (for example, wayfinding signs, bike parking, washrooms and drinking fountains), and improved user and motorist education.
The report identifies a series of continuous east-west and north-south corridors through town. East-west corridors include Harbourview Trail/East Circle Route, Third/Ontario Street, Sixth Street and Cameron/Collins Street. North-south corridors include Balsam/High Streets, Maple/Pine Streets, Ste. Marie Street and Raglan Street.
The town conducted three community engagement initiatives as part of the study: a workshop with the Trail Advisory Committee to obtain their feedback on cycling in the town, a public online survey on the town’s website and a presentation was given to the Accessibility Advisory Committee.
“We’re comfortable with the corridors in the plan. We had a fair amount of input into it,” said Jack Marley, one of the co-chairs of the Trails Advisory Committee.
“I would like it to be more aggressive. I have a little bit of a concern there, I guess. When you look at the money that’s identified, the first five years is only $800,000 but the next five is $9.5 million. I’d like to see some of that sucked back into the first five years,” said Marley, with a laugh.
“I think it’s important for the town to make a statement, to some degree. If we’re serious about having a cycling community... I think we have to invest some money into it and hopefully we’ll be able to do that,” he added.
The report recommends the town reassess the proposed phasing and funding of the improvements on an annual basis, revisiting potential funding sources and investigating other opportunities to implement the network. It also recommends the town implement a regular, ongoing monitoring program to track progress.
According to the online survey results, the most frequently mentioned locations to improve cycling in Collingwood included connections to Blue Mountain Road and better facilities along Mountain Road, more connections to downtown and Wasaga Beach and better facilities on Beachwood Road, High Street/Highway 26, Popular Sideroad and Hurontario Street.
The most frequently mentioned challenges to improving the network included political interest (convincing council that cyclist infrastructure is important), tension between motorists and cyclists, lack of respect for each other and lack of education/disregard for the rules, lack of town budget for cycling infrastructure, the amount of traffic, a lack of safe bike connections within and outside of Collingwood, poor design of existing facilities and a lack of consideration for proper cycling facilities.
Collingwood already has an extensive network of over 60 kilometres of trails and bike lanes. According to the report, cycling only accounts for a small portion of local trips currently, suggesting opportunities exist to increase the overall percentage of residents choosing to cycle.
Committee voted to recommend receiving the report and direct staff to implement the recommendations through funding requests during budget deliberations. The decision will still have to be ratified at the next meeting of regular council.
To read the Collingwood Cycling Plan in full, click here.
