By Pepper Parr
December 19th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
In the world of politics – timing is everything – where more can happen in a week than takes a year in most sectors of endeavour.
The Gazette received a media release from the Region earlier today announcing that they will receive more than $1.8 million in funding for new bike lanes, multi-use trails and other cycling infrastructure improvements from the provincial government’s Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling (OMCC) fund. The City of Burlington, the Town of Halton Hills and the Town of Oakville were also among 120 municipalities that received the funding.
Hopefully not as much as a dime of this new cycling funding will get spent on New Street. The Region were the people that dug the road up to put in new water-mains.
Whew, said the editorial team at the Gazette – imagine if that funding announcement had arrives two weeks ago – the New Street Road Diet might have survived.
The Region will use this funding to expand the Region’s cycling infrastructure. These investments will help improve cyclist safety and make cycle commuting a more appealing option for Halton residents. Accessible cycling infrastructure will also help reduce the reliance on motor vehicles and contribute to cleaner air across Ontario.
There are still a lot of cars on the roads but cyclists are claiming some of that space – and the push is on to make more room for those who want to use their bikes in a safe environment.
“Through Halton’s Active Transportation Master Plan, we have already built approximately 190 kilometers of on-road exclusive bike lanes and paved shoulders along Regional roads for residents to safely bike on,” said Halton Regional Chair, Gary Carr. “With this funding from the OMCC, we will be able to build on our successes and continue to offer cyclists a safe, convenient way to get around Halton Region.”
Given that it is the Region that got the funding – there isn’t much hope of their passing any of it along to the municipalities. Hopefully the Region will decide to spend some of the money on widening the shoulders of Walkers Line so that cyclists can use the road and not be in any danger from those driving vehicles.
Guelph Line just north of the Lowville Bistro – can this part of the road be widened for cyclists?
Spending some of those dollars on Guelph Line – at least up to Collard Road where the trucks turn west to get to the quarry – it is really tough to share the road with an 18 wheeler,
Walkers Line where it intersects with the 1st side Road. There are no shoulders on this road for cyclists
This investment from the province is part of Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan and is funded by the province’s cap on pollution and carbon market. Translated that is the increased prices at the gas pumps.
The Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program builds on Ontario’s Cycling Tourism Plan: Tour by Bike and the Ontario Municipal Cycling Infrastructure Program.
Why when the staff report came out reporting the number of cyclists on New Street using the bike lanes in the pilot project there was no mention of the number of cyclists using the multipath Centennial path. I asked for these numbers after I delegated since at the meeting I heard there were cameras on these paths. The number of cyclists on the Appleby at Centennial path were 385 in Aug 2016 and 310 Sept 2016. Cyclists on New Street 80 for these two months in 2017, apparently, but I believe many of these were crossing to use the bike paths. Also interesting there is only data for 2 months for the New Street pilot project. Another fact that was omitted in the report. My point is, let’s encourage cycling but we have paths that are being used extensively already. Going forward I hope there is more accurate and full disclosure in reporting. The numbers on the Martha multiuse path are more significant 600 cyclists July 2016.
Have you ever taken the time to notice what happens when cars are driving past cyclists on our roads? The drivers have to move out of their lane to pass the cyclist as the cycle lanes are to narrow. This makes it unsafe for both cyclist and drivers.
This is why I am forever grateful that I can legally use the sidewalks. It is unsafe here to ride on the roads. I have tried to use the cycle lanes but gave up. It is not safe to do so.
The trials are so much safer. Squeezing a cycle lane onto a roadway does not make it a safe cycle lane.
The numbers may be small now, which is why the province is investing in providing more opportunities for people to commute to work, school or errands by bicycle.
The payoff is enormous. Reducing car use and traffic on the roads. Reducing pollution and carbon emissions. Lower health care costs due to a more active populace. Reduced collisions and road deaths.
This is one of the best investments in our future that it is possible to make, and I wholeheartedly support my tax dollars being used to create more choice in how we get around our city.
Your confusing “cost” with “payoff”. The cost is enormous, the payoff is tiny and unpredictable.
No, BurlingtonLocal (AKA the Cars Only lobby)…I’m not confusing anything. The benefits are proven and extensive.
Here is just one study that illustrates the positive feedback of investments like the one announced by the Ontario gov’t.
https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1307250/
There are no Burlington bicycle commuters. Why is the commuter fund sending money here? The statistics show the number of bicycle commuters is zero. Statistically insignificant or zero. This isn’t $1.8M from a fund, its $1.8M of the tax dollars you pay. What a ridiculous waste.
According to Stats Canada, 3,435 people in Burlington have a main mode of commuting to work which is active transportation (either walking or cycling). Given that nearly half of commuters travel outside of Burlington for work, that is not an insignificant number.
Furthermore, that number only counts work trips – it doesn’t include people going to school, travelling for other reasons, or people like myself who use multiple modes of transport (bike + public transit)
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?TABID=2&LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=110716&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=125&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=
First of all your link doesn’t work. Secondly, after looking into it, 3160 said they walked, not biked. Overall bicycle commuters in the city are significantly less that 1% of all commuters, and most don’t do it everyday, it’s highly seasonal. Intellectually dishonest facts coming from the bicycle lobby, what a shock! But yeah Chris, spending $6000 per cyclist commuter seems like a good idea! (MASSIVE SARCASM INTENDED).
Firstly, I checked your # from StatsCan in the Census Profile for Burlington, and the number of people who cited the bicycle as their main mode of commuting was 690, not 285. Walking was 2,890, not 3,160.
Secondly, you would recognize that the $1.8 million combines both Burlington’s share (640K) and Halton Region’s share, which would apply to more than just people who commute in Burlington.
Thirdly, as I’ve stated quite often, investing in cycling doesn’t only benefit the people who are cycling today. It benefits those who are not cycling today because they don’t feel safe on roads that are built for high speed and volume of motor vehicles. That group is a much more significant proportion of the population. Plus there are benefits which accrue to those who never cycle – taxpayers who benefit from lower health care costs, drivers who benefit from less traffic on the roads There are neighbourhoods in Toronto which have gotten to over 30% cycling mode share through very modest increases in the safety and comfort of the cycling network. Toronto is no cycling paradise but they have made significant strides in the urban core. Burlington residents deserve similar opportunities. One can certainly cycle all year round if the routes are protected from cars and routes are maintained to similar standards as we do for automobile and pedestrian travel.
Bad link above…try this.
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?TABID=2&LANG=E&A=R&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=3524002&GL=-1&GID=1259744&GK=3&GRP=1&O=D&PID=110716&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=125&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=&D1=0&D2=0&D3=0&D4=0&D5=0&D6=0
While it may be difficult for some to “Share” the road with an 18 wheeler, one sure and fast way to get those monsters off the road is for people to simply ‘Quit buying stuff.” Problem solved.
Let’s ignore the fact that those 18 wheelers are at work, not pleasure cruising. Further, when they put on a turn signal on it is never an invitation to race them for the lane, turn or a challenge to other drivers to try and pass them.
Cutting in front of one on a ramp or turn is only advisable if you are keenly interested to miss your next and all subsequent Birthdays.