MCAC received an update on Hurontario corridor project and were very dismayed to read that our cycling lanes have been shuttled to the side roads and back alleys of this thriving commercial corridor. This perception that cars must have priority has taken the heart out of our city.

Our goal should be to provide a living, green healthy and vibrant community in which to live. A more appropriate direction to take would be to provide vehicle bypasses to the east and west of this corridor for vehicles using this route as a north south connector and to develop the residential and commercial sections of Hurontario into places where people can shop, dine and travel free from the noise, pollution and congestion of commuter vehicle traffic.

We hope you will reconsider your position and enhance access to our commercial activity centers for pedestrians and cyclists in an environment that looks to the future and not to the past.

Sincerely,
Jeff Wachman Chair of MCAC

Where are the cycling lanes?

This letter represents a true love for the City of Mississauga. It’s not radical. It simply represents a belief that Mississauga can be all that it can possibly be. Being bike-friendly improves life for everyone in the area – and not just to those that ride bikes.

March 2010 is when Mississauga is releasing the draft of their Official Plan. This is the strategic document of all documents that all city planning studies should refer to. The Hurontario study should not be the great exception to this rule. Here are some excerpts from the Mississauga Official Plan (draft) that should be held up when inspecting the Hurontario Corridor study:

“Mississauga is at a decisive moment in its history – most of its greenfield lands have been developed and much of its infrastructure is in place. New growth will take place primarily through infilling and redevelopment in appropriate areas, which can benefit from growth and change, such as the Hurontario Street corridor.” (draft MOP, section 1.1)

“While arterial roads will continue to move large volumes of traffic, the design of these thoroughfares must be sensitive to surrounding land uses. Arterial roads in employment areas will continue to prioritize goods movement to support the vital role the transportation system plays in the economic health of the city. This will contrast with transportation priorities in Intensification Areas, where the needs of transit, pedestrians and cyclists will be in the forefront. In Intensification Areas, transportation decisions will support the creation of a fine grain street pattern, low traffic speeds, a mix of travel modes and attention to the design of the public realm.” (draft MOP, section 7.1)

"Corridors connect the city and link communities. They are where people experience the city on a day - to - day basis and over time will accommodate multi-modal transportation facilities. Dundas Street and Hurontario Street have been identified as Intensification Corridors where growth will be directed." (draft MOP, Figure 4-14)

It’s  easier for planners and leaders to find the courage to integrate cycling into the core of the city when they know there is public support. Please  send a note to the project leader of of the Hurontario Corridor study. As a convenience we have put a form below that will send it directly through email to them. Let them know that cycling facilities in the area will be used. Please state this in your own words. A message expressed uniquely from your personal passions is much better than any form letter.

For more information see the city’s listing of the Hurontario study and also the Hurontario-Main Street Study web site.

Fill out the form to express your desire for tighter integration of cycling into the Hurontario Corridor study. Click on ‘Send’ and it will immediately be mailed to the Hurontario Study’s Project Lead:

.

.

You may already be familiar with Gil Penalosa of Walk and Bike for Life that was stationed in Port Credit. Just a few months ago, the organization has been re-branded as 8-80 Cities.  If you have ever had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Penalosa speak, you would recognize that new name as the 8/80 Rule that encapsulates his philosophy of street design: Would you send an 8 year old that you love along with an 80 year old you love on a walk, or a bike ride on the existing infrastructure? If you would, then it is safe enough, if you would not, then it is not safe enough. A growing number of world renowned cities have taken this to heart.

There are signs of interest from Toronto and Hamilton for the Car-free Sundays concept. Despite its decades of car-dependent thinking, Mississauga is opening its arms to “complete” streets. Mississauga is being renewed. This isn’t just a theory. Take a look at the construction in downtown Mississauga led by the Downtown21 Master Plan. Close to the hearts of the current and future cyclists in Mississauga is the upcoming launch of the Mississauga Cycling Master Plan.

Except from the Toronto Star article: “This concept, which involves closing certain streets to make the paved space available for walking and cycling, has been slower to thrive here than in some places. In New York and Guadalajara, Mexico, the idea of Sunday ciclovias, a tradition in Bogota since the 1970s, has been embraced and modified to fit the landscape and residents. With the support of the Ontario minister of health promotion, Margarett Best, 8-80 Cities is pushing for more car-free Sundays in the Toronto region. And there are small signs of interest.”

Even just two years ago the resistance to such an idea of closing a stretch of street to cars for a day would have been too great in Mississauga. Now we are witnessing an awakening that can make this a reality. Thanks to the persistent work of 8-80 Cities (Walk and Bike For Life), passionate citizens who take the time to get involved, the Mississauga Cycling Advisory Committee,  and the city and regional staff members who work diligently to improve the quality of life of the residents.

Cyclists on a trail bridge

As the city puts the finishing touches on its Cycling Master Plan, cyclists are holding their collective breath in anticipation. Through public consultations held over the past year, the citizens of Mississauga have consistently identified one cycling priority above all others: connectivity. Basically, people want to be able to ride their bike to and from various destinations, in a way that is both safe and easy to navigate.

Various cities around the world are taking tremendous strides in accommodating cyclists, and have reaped substantial benefits for doing so. Riding a bicycle instead of driving a car reduces traffic congestion, emits no pollution, and it is in the health interests of the riders themselves.

Montreal appears to not only provide a well-connected cycling route system, but also have reserved some road spots for bicycle parking at popular destinations. Photo courtesy www.streetsblog.org

In Chicago, Toronto, Montreal and New York, bikes are given dedicated lanes on major roads – often protected by concrete barriers – which extend directly through their most dense and built-up areas. Where available space is scarce already, these cities are handing it over to cyclists and pedestrians. Why?

Once cyclists have a safe and direct route from one part of a city to another, the result is an immediate increase in the number of people cycling instead of driving. Rather than waiting for large numbers of people to start cycling before building the necessary infrastructure, the opposite appears to work far more effectively. To paraphrase Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will ride.”

However, there is much debate over how to integrate safe and direct cycling routes into a city which until now has been designed with automobiles primarily in mind.

Many voices in the city, notably VIVA Port Credit and Smart Commute, advocate for marked and/or dedicated cycling routes on nearly every major road, arguing that people will cycle on roads at any rate, and cyclist safety must be given priority. Several cyclists have been killed or injured by cars in Mississauga in the past few years, so this is a valid point.

City planners counter that major roadways are the last place cyclists should be under any circumstances. Until recently, the overwhelming bulk of Mississauga’s cycling trails have been built off-road, usually in parkland and along waterways. This may have been done originally to protect cyclists from traffic hazards, but the result is a fragmented and unconnected system of pathways. Cyclists can be seen with their bikes on their cars, driving to a park instead of riding to it, simply because there is no way to get safely from one trail system to another.

If the Master Plan aims to prioritize safety and connectivity, it will have to find a way to accommodate cyclists on the city’s streets, or some other way for bikes to get around.

One possible alternative is to use old rail and hydro transmission corridors for direct cycling routes, as the city of Mississauga is hesitantly doing by building two pathways through the hydro transmission corridors parallel to The Queensway and Speakman Drive. This is actually the same corridor, but is being planned as two projects because no effort is being made to bridge the Credit River. Thus, although these routes will safely remove cyclists from traffic, it is questionable whether they will provide the level of direct connectivity that is required to convince people to trade their car for a bike.

If bike routes are isolated and tucked away from major areas, and do not provide convenient access to a variety of destinations, they will simply not succeed in attracting large numbers of cyclists. The evidence from other cities speaks for itself. A bold cycling vision can pay off by drawing people out of their cars, which in turn creates a more human and livable city.

Andrew Hamilton-Smith has lived in Mississauga for 25 years and is a member of the Mississauga Cycling Advisory Committee. The opinions expressed in this article are his own.

photo courtesy of looknyc.org

When we purchase a bicycle for a child we watch their joy expressed through their enthusiastic response.  We watch and encourage their persistence to ride this two wheeled machine searching for balance and continuing to strengthen their skill as they ride close to home.  They find their first breathe of freedom.  A chance to feel speed as the wind rushes past them while they ride.  We remind them to be alert to the dangers of their surroundings.  Some parents are so worried for the safety of their child in traffic that they insist that they only ride on the sidewalk.  This cycling practice is continued by some into adulthood.

[Editor's Note:  Mississauga traffic by-law 555-00 section 43 states no bicycles with wheel sizes greater than 50cm (19.6") shall ride on sidewalks. This provides an allowance for young cyclists to use sidewalks while learning to ride and to keep adult cyclists on the roads and bike trails for the safety of pedestrians.]

A cyclist’s greatest fear is to be hit by a vehicle.  A parent’s greatest fear is losing a child.  My heart is filled with sorrow for both the parents and child for whom this accident has occurred.  I know that accidents happen, but we should take every step possible to greatly reduce the chances of this happening.  Our society needs to develop a better awareness of their surroundings and not be as concerned about time restrictions.  We rush without thinking about the consequences of our hurried behaviour.  I can not imagine the pain the driver must feel after hitting a young child.  It is a horrifying accident and a driver’s worst nightmare.  The pedestrian is supposed to be safe on our isolated sidewalks.  This is not always the case.

A simple remedy

One simple way to greatly reduce these types of accidents is to reverse a car into parking spaces or driveways.  Being able to drive forward from a parked position provides much better visibility and is more efficient for the vehicle.  A cold engine takes a few minutes to reach an efficient operating temperature.  The start and stop action of backing out of a parking spot with a cold engine uses more fuel and causes more wear to the engine.  By appealing to young drivers when they are first learning to drive and emphasizing the benefits to older drivers we should be able to change their behaviour.  Our society has developed this notion that we need to complete every task as quickly as possible; so we multitask while driving. For safety’s sake, we need to simplify and make wiser choices.

Unsuspected danger

Photo courtesy www.rodolfoclix.com.br

Hurried behaviour and complex distractions have made us forget about the dangers that linger when we drive our vehicles.  We are safe within our encased moving package of steel, but those unprotected souls that surround us can become victims of this lethal machine:

• A vehicle approaches a stop sign and cyclist exits the curb of the sidewalk and the two intersect at the pedestrian cross walk.
• A vehicle exits a driveway not being able to see pedestrians because the visibility is reduced by the hedge along their lot.
• A vehicle exits the parking lot of a plaza and checks for the oncoming traffic, but crosses the sidewalk without stopping and checking for those slower occupants who have right of way, and another tragic collision occurs.
• A driver is watching for a break in traffic so that the left or right hand turn can be made safely through the intersection, the cyclist rides through the intersection by right of way and they collide.

We know that these instantaneous accidents can occur.  It is a privilege to own a car.  It is our responsibility as drivers to always take extreme caution in our decision making.

Pedestrian and cyclists always, always, always have right of way.  We study the driver’s handbook so that we can be granted the privilege to experience the next greatest freedom of mobility that the child victims of these accidents might never get.

 More and more people are waking up to the fact that bicycles are a favoured and most efficient form of human transportation. These same people are adopting cycling as an alternate form of transportation, particularly for commuting to and from work – RUSH HOUR. Now is the time for serious thought not only on how to keep cyclists safe on our busy streets, but also how to keep everyone safe on multi-use trails and shared paths. As more and more people climb aboard bicycles, it is also time to consider how to avoid accidents and injury on our sidewalks and multi-use trails.

Bicycles are classified as vehicles and subject to the same rules of the road as motorists. In addition, Mississauga by-laws, for example 555-00 43(4), state other bicycle-specific regulations. There have been plenty of cyclists who have been injured, sometimes fatally, as a result of contact with moving automobiles. Subsequently, cyclists are well aware of the importance of riding safely and for the most part ride cautiously. Not because a by-law tells them to, but because they understand the danger should a car make contact – helmet or no helmet. As for pedestrians, they too have a right to safe movement. Subsequently, the city has given them their own safe havens: The sidewalk. There are “shared trails” for both pedestrians and cyclists, however, the sidewalk is currently defined as being for the use of pedestrians.

So the motorists don’t want cyclists on “their” streets and pedestrians don’t want cyclists on their sidewalks…Where do we go from here? 

On many multi-use paths, pedestrians have now been assigned the weaker-than status along with their dogs and strollers. Some cyclists on those trails have now adopted a fast-moving king-of-the-road status. Most have seen the “Cyclists Yield to Pedestrians” signs yet choose to ignore them. They think that it hardly seems fair that a cyclist on a trail white-knuckles their handlebars, clinging as closely to the edge as they can to avoid pedestrians, yet that is exactly what cyclists have to do when they ride on road amid the onslaught of fast moving vehicles. Bike lanes and sharrows are an oasis in that arid desert, but Mississauga cyclists still find those hard to come by. There are solutions. Courtesy and consideration are the most obvious ones, however, proactive and insightful options do exist and there are evidence of them everywhere.

Bike freeway in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland

So the motorists don’t want cyclists on “their” streets, pedestrians don’t want cyclists on their sidewalks, and some people don’t want to share park trails with cyclists. If truth be known, cyclists don’t want to be on the sidewalks either. Families with children naturally choose sidewalks in consideration of “safety”. Cyclists would prefer to ride on well marked, well signed, “shared” roadways, however, even for experienced cyclists the “safe” route on the sidewalk is the common sense choice. So, where do we go from here?  

As one MCAC member recalls, “Once on a bike trail I ran over a dog’s paw because the dog moved the wrong way, and another time nearly hit a little kid who darted out in front of me — had I hit them head-on I might have killed them and I was very shaken up. I try to go slow on the trails when there are people, but always feel the risk — my bell gets a lot of use”.

No doubt the trail systems are a good place for leisure and novice cyclists to get around. However, regular cyclists who have a destination in mind will need to be given lane priority on the streets just as pedestrians must be yielded to on the multi-use trails. The most straighforward, and logical, place to begin was communicated to Council and city staff by hundreds of citizens in February 2008. Put sharrows on the streets to start and then build up the cycling infrastructure on the streets according to schedule. Sharrows aren’t a final answer, but they are a constant reminder to motorists that bicycles are vehicles that have equal right to the road. There are plenty of over-built roads in Mississauga that would be much better off having two of their lanes reserved for bicycles and transit stops. Our honourable Mayor McCallion set a precident on Car Free Day 2008 when she stated, “every time we reconstruct a road we put a bicycle path along it.” We can trust that also applies to any new roads. The Confederation Bridge and Mclaughlin Road project is an exciting example of this prededent where the roads and newly constructed bridges will sport bike lanes.

Commuter cyclists travel across the city on the streets, not poking along the park trails slaloming among walkers and strollers. Now is the time to designate the streets of Mississauga for cyclists as well as cars. Keep it simple with signs and sharrows and then aggressively make the major infrastrucure changes over time. The existing pavement needs to be equitably allocated to accomodate cycling – the near-zero-emissions mode of transportation that is actually sustainable for the long-term with immediate gains such as healthy lifestyle and environmental benefits.

The impetus for this article was triggered by a YouTube video called “My Peaceful Bike Ride” by a guy named Keith (ksmackvolleyball) in Mississauga. Keith’s main mode of transportation around the whole city is by bicycle. He admits that the video is all in fun, but he added, “I do find it frustrating to bike through the parks on weekends as they are always full of people who tend to walk out in front of you. People do not realize they sometimes (present an obstacle on) the paths when a biker may be coming up fast behind them.”

Enjoy the video embedded below and please share your comments. The Mississauga Cycling Advisory Committee values the opinions of Mississauga citizens in order to best represent the cycling needs of the city.

[youtube KXE0bp5bN68]

The typical reaction of people is, “that sounds great – just not in my neighborhood!” What fear causes a knee-jerk resitance to a beautiful and peaceful blossoming of their community? I can say as a Mississaugan that the #1 concern is that I would need to get rid of one of my 2 vehicles and park it further away from my residence. Don’t worry, bike boulevards still allow cars. You just may have a slower speed limit. In addition, car drivers using it as a shortcut to shave a minute off their commute would be diverted to the roads designed for a safer high speed commute. Oh, and did I mention your property value is likely to go up? Come to think of it, who wouldn’t want their street turned into a bicycle boulevard?

Watch this 3 minute video about bicycle boulevards in Portland and consider the possibilities. We want to hear your opinions. Vote in the poll. Use the form to send us your opinions of the bicycle boulevard concept. Where in Mississauga do you think would be the ideal candidate for a bicycle boulevard?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.