Excerpt from “Cycling” section of the Hurontario-Main Street Study Status Update Report, Feb 4, 2010:

In addition to the Study recommendation for implementing LRT technology, a key issue has been the extent of cycling amenities and integration proposed for this corridor. It is recognized that access to the rapid transit system and our Urban Growth Centre primary roadway should accommodate cyclists and that developing connections between the Hurontario corridor and the adjacent cycling network is a priority. An issue has been the extent and nature of continuous cycling lanes within the corridor itself, especially in areas with limited right-of-way, costly structure expansion requirements, potential conflicts with trafñc, on-street parking and high pedestrian transit volumes. For these reasons, and given plans for the development of key parallel cycling facilities, the study is not recommending the provision of a continuous cycling corridor on the entire Hurontarìo corridor, but supports the development of significant segments. Where on-road facilities are planned, special attention should be paid to balancing safety and mobility. Consideration should be given to curb separated facilities if feasible.

MCAC has not received any preliminary notices on the cycling details. We may need to wait until the end of March 2010 as everyone else.  Here are some topics to consider:  

• I have cycled on portions of Hurontario not because it is safe, but merely because it was a direct path to where I needed to be. Cyclists may not need a bicycle freeway running start to finish, but there are key areas such as crossing the QEW and getting to downtown that should be built up strong for cycling.
• The Study wants to bring life to business and retail in sections of Hurontario. Since success of these businesses depend on people spontaneously “popping in”, these areas should ensure cycling lanes and bike parking are available.
• If people may not cycle all the way up or down the corridor, the transit system (LRT) should make allowances for bikes on-board the LRT and have safe bike parking facilities a key stops. I would love to cycle across town to Hurontario and then take an LRT to the GO Station when I must travel to Toronto.
• For sections that cannot hold dedicated cycling lanes, at least make sure a parallel route is within a block of the corridor. Experienced cyclists don’t go hundreds of metres out of their way just because a bike lane ends. Planners may find both safety and mobility are at risk as a cyclist “takes the lane” as the designated bike lane ends.

Public Information Centres

The first Public Information Centre (PIC) was held in June 2008, and provided background information on the study. The second PIC was held in June 2009, and provided an assessment of potential rapid transit alignment options and station stops as well as planning policies and standards.

The third PIC will be held in both Brampton and Mississauga at the end of March, 2010 and will present study findings and recommendations.  Please join us at one of the following locations:

Brampton
Tuesday, March 30
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
City Hall Atrium
2 Wellington Street West

Mississauga
Wednesday, March 31
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Mississauga Civic Centre, Great Hall
200 City Centre Drive

Check them out on the web at www.hurontario-main.ca or on their “Hurontario / Main Street Study” Page on Facebook, where you can view photos, join a discussion board and post comments. They also welcome e-mail inquiries, which can be sent to: inquiries@hurontario-main.ca.

MIRANET also gives a good overview of the Hurontario-Main study’s progress.

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.

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.