Overcoming challenges: active transportation beyond the greenbelt

NRU
April 5, 2017
By Andrew Cohrs

In spite of funding, jurisdictional and design challenges, considerable cycling infrastructure has been built in Greater Golden Horseshoe outer ring municipalities, according to new research.

Released yesterday, the Toronto Centre for Active Transportation’s new book - Active Transportation Planning Beyond the Greenbelt: The Outer Ring of the Greater Golden Horseshoe Region - profiles 13 municipal projects to improve or create cycling and walking opportunities with new infrastructure investments.

Project descriptions include urban, suburban and rural examples, provide before and after images, and identify challenges.

Toronto Centre for Active Transportation director and the book’s co-author Nancy Smith Lea told NRU that before this study was initiated relatively little was known about cycling infrastructure on the periphery of the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

“We weren’t entirely sure what was happening or how much we would find [in the outer ring of the Golden Horseshoe]...We were really just trying to find out what was happening with planning and how people were addressing challenges.”’

Working with Ryerson University assistant professor Dr. Raktim Mitra and University of Toronto associate professor Dr. Paul Hess, Smith Lea surveyed 19 municipalities outside of the Greenbelt to find out the types of active transportation projects that have been implemented in the last five years. Analyzing the results, the team identified a suite of challenges - lack of funding, design issues, physical environmental limitations, negative public perceptions, potential legal liabilities and jurisdictional authority to approve projects.

Smith Lea said that securing funding to pay for both staff time and the construction of cycling infrastructure is the most widely reported challenge. She noted that the Ontario Municipal Cycling Infrastructure Program has had a major impact by funding at least six of the projects profiled.

While all of the municipalities featured in the book faced many similar barriers, the researchers found that particular challenges affect rural, suburban and urban areas. For example, in rural areas, jurisdiction over roadways is a significant issue.

“The rural areas typically have a provincial highway running right through the middle of town and that is challenging both in terms of the amount and speed of motor vehicle traffic and the impacts that has on the people who are walking and cycling. But it is also difficult in terms of just jurisdictionally planning for that. So, it’s the province who decides what that highway looks like and what kind of uses are allowed on it and so that’s definitely a major challenge for smaller municipalities,” explained Smith Lea.

In suburban areas, existing networks of roadways, overpasses, on-street parking and speed limits present design challenges for incorporating walking and cycling into car-dominated streets.

In urban areas, removal of on-street parking presents both design and public support challenges.

However, Smith Lea said that most municipalities are able to contend with public opposition by improving consultation, as well as using data to show the benefits of the proposed infrastructure. For municipalities struggling to move forward with active transportation projects in their communities, Smith Lea points to the importance of putting policies in place. In the outer ring 12 of 19 surveyed municipalities have adopted active transportation plans. She says this is the best first step to take. Additionally, sharing existing resources, such as the centre’s new book, with municipal councillors and staff can help start conversations about what is possible.

Lea Smith will be presenting the study results at the Ontario Bike Summit on April 12 in Toronto.