Have your say on Newmarket's Mulock Drive multi-use path

Joseph Quigley
Newmarkettoday.ca
June 14, 2021

The Town of Newmarket wants your feedback on a proposed new multi-use path (MUP) on Mulock Drive.

The municipality held an online public information centre on the 6.3-kilometre trail June 10, and consultant firm WSP is seeking comments as part of a feasibility study until at least June 27.

WSP senior planner Dave McLaughlin said the feedback would help them refine their recommendation and final report to council. He said he appreciated the questions from residents at the information session.

“Questions that make us revisit the designs and think about how we make them better,” McLaughlin said. “We encourage you to be engaged as you can be over the course of the study.”

The session highlighted WSP's currently recommended route for the path. The path is designed for pedestrians and cyclists alike, running principally along the south side of Mulock. It would feature three crossrides that would allow cyclists to get across roads without getting off their bikes.

The route starts on Bathurst Street, crossing on the north side at Columbus Way, connecting to the Newmarket municipal offices before crossing back to the south side at Fernbank Road. It would cross back to the north side at Leslie Street before ending at Harry Walker Parkway South.

However, WSP has designed three possible routes that could be presented to council for consideration.

During the online session, Jill Tomczak-Redman asked if the path would infringe on neighbouring properties, with McLaughlin confirming it will not, as the path will be on the municipal right of way only.

One attendee questioned if work previously done on the Mulock and Leslie Street corridor would be wasted. Director of engineering services Rachel Prudhomme said York Region resurfaced Mulock several years ago, but the multi-use path will not impact the road surface.

“We tried to get a bike lane on Mulock at that time. It wasn’t the right time to do it,” she said. “Now, we’re looking at an off-road trail that is much better.”

An anonymous resident questioned if the path would work better than a bike lane for travel speed.

“The (multi-use path) is great for a leisurely bike ride with the family, but with all the switches between the north and south sides of Mulock and crowding from other path users, I will still be riding on the road to run my errands and get places,” the commentator said.

You can submit comments online for different parts of the proposed path. WSP is asking residents to consider all three possible alignments, including one that predominantly uses the north side of the drive, and to state which choice they think is best.

More information is available at www.newmarket.ca/mup.