On May 16, 2012 the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee Adopted the Bikeway Trails Implementation Plan prepared by City Staff. This preliminary planning document will form the basis for moving forward with new trail development over the next 10 years. Consultation regarding specific projects with local are councillors, and local area residents, will be part of the process to develop individual trail designs.
City of Toronto Bikeway Trails - New Connections
Trail alignments are approximate and still subject to feasibility studies.
Background
The Mayor and Council have directed staff to develop and implement a new Trails Plan to expand the network of multi-use trails across the City.
During the summer of 2011, Transportation Services Staff did audits of Toronto's existing major multi-use trail network to assess the viability of new trail connections. The viability of new trail connections was based on existing conditions and a re-evaluation of the proposed trail network as detailed in the 2001 Toronto Bike Plan.
Transportation Staff have consulted with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation, Hydro One, Toronto Water and a number of other stakeholders to the study of the feasibility of building new multi-use trails to expand and enhance Toronto's bikeway network.
The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee will receive the Trails Plan developed by Transportation Services - Cycling Infrastructure on Wednesday May 16, 2012.
Design Considerations
Considerations which have helped City staff to prioritize trail implementation recommendations include:
- Approvals - Land ownership
- Cost (would the trail require bridges or tunnels for example)
- Technical requirements / design challenges (steep grade for example)
- Network Connectivity
Public Consultation History
In the November 2011 Issue of Cyclometer City Staff solicited suggestions for Trail improvements from the 5,000+ cyclists who subscribe to this publication. City Staff considered the input received and evaluated it against findings from the 2011 Trail audit.
Between November and December 2011 Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation invited parks users on a neighbourhood basis to comment on the development of a Parks Plan at a number of public and stakeholder meetings and through online surveys. Meetings were a venue for local area residents to consider a number of issues in the associated parks, including multi-use trails.
A public meeting was held
Date: Monday February 6th, 2012
Time: 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Location: Northern District Public Library 40 Orchard View Blvd. (one block north of Eglinton Ave. one half block west of Yonge St.)
The cycling community and members of the general public were invited to review the work that has been done by Cycling Infrastructure and Programs staff to develop recommendations prior to the submission of recommendations to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on May 16, 2012. Materials provided for public review are posted below.
Please note that these are the materials that were used for discussion purposes at the Public meeting. Please refer to the map and table at the top of this page for the project list which will be reported on to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.
Attendees were invited to submit their thoughts using the comment forms provided:
The deadline to submit input was Friday February 24, 2012.
Public Consultation Outcomes
Scope of Work
The new trail connections which have been evaluated are in addition to, and will expand upon the RInC multi-use Trail projects which began construction in 2010.
While auditing the existing Trail Network for new connections, Transportation Staff also collected information to inform State of Good Repair work, necessary to improve existing trails.
Contact
Transportation Services
Cycling Infrastructure & Programs
100 Queen St W, City Hall,
22nd Floor East Tower
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
E-mail: bikeplan@toronto.ca
Fax: 416-392-4808
If you use facebook, you can also comment on the meeting's facebook event wall to share your thoughts.
