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:

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 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]

On June 23, 2008 the Canadian Urban Institute held this International Symposium on Transportation Innovation. See the Canadian Urban Institute for a list of presentors and a copy of their presentations on how cities around the world, including Toronto and Hamilton, are changing how they think about transportation.

The presentation emphasizes the bringing together of both the public sector and businesses to cooperate and create consensus. This demands effective governance and will result in a “win-win” mentality between the partnering groups.

Mississauga is right in the sweetspot of transportation development between Hamilton and Toronto. To their credit, cooperation is being developed between key transportation initiates such as Metrolinx and the Mississauga Cycling Master Plan. Mississauga has also made moves in re-thinking the old mall layouts and planning to convert them into “retail nodes” with street level access that is friendlier to walkers, cyclists, and public transportation. Building higher density residential accomodations around these nodes give them an attractive and warmer community feel. See here and here for news on Mississauga’s move to smarter urban development and their proposed “de-malling” strategy.

The Mississauga Cycling Advisory Committee is asking that these plans acknowledge cycling as a key factor in the multi-mode structures. This would involve some of the following considerations:

• Routes for bicycles to both the retail nodes and public transportation stops
• Main feeder routes for bicycles to public transportation
• Public transportation allowing facilities for bicycles at both the stations and on the buses or trains
• Safe places for bicycles to travel in areas with high pedestrian density

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.

In March 2008, Stephen Largy gave a presentation to the Mississauga Cycling Advisory Committee outlining ideas on ways to expedite connectivity between the existing bike trails in Mississauga. As always when laying out new bike lanes and trails, safety and visible route identification must be taken into consideration.

The Mississauga Multi-Use Recreational Trail system is an extensive combination of trails, bike routes, and road routes that comprises an almost 180 km network. Developed over almost twenty years, these trails provide an opportunity for the residents of Mississauga to get out into their city to walk, stroll, rollerblade, skateboard or cycle for relaxation, health, or just plain pleasure.

The trail system is almost completely built out in Mississauga’s parks and green spaces and now needs to be “safely connected” through street and roadway bike lanes and bike routes. Join the Mississauga Cycling Advisory Committee in encouraging City Council to commit to safely “connecting” and finishing our great cycling network now!