Vaughan cyclists seek lanes on proposed GTA West highway

Group develops ideas for how the Milton-Vaughan route could include cyclists and pedestrians.

Thestar.com
March 5, 2015
By Noor Javed

Cyclists on the highway?

That’s the hope of a group of cyclists in Vaughan, who want the province to make space along the proposed GTA West highway corridor for two-wheeled commuters.

The Vaughan Bicycle User Group, which has about 60 members, has come up with several cyclist- and pedestrian-friendly recommendations for the Ministry of Transportation to consider as plans are developed for the proposed four- to six-lane 400-series highway that will connect Vaughan to northern Halton Region.

“If there is any new infrastructure in our community, our goal is to see how the cyclists and pedestrian voices can be heard,” said Sahra Nalayeh, vice chair of Vaughan BUG. “So we thought this was an opportunity to give some input during the planning stage,” she said.

Group member Mark Inglis said he attended one meeting on the proposed highway, and was surprised at the absence of any cycling or pedestrian component. So he took to his blog, York Urbanist, to voice his thoughts and summarize the group’s recommendations.

“It seems a fait accompli that the highway will be built, but there must be a way to ensure that modes other than motorized vehicles are accommodated in what today is designated Greenbelt,” Inglis wrote. Proposed routes for the highway would cut through Greenbelt-designated land in Vaughan.

Among the groups suggestions:

• Build cycling route parallel to the highway, including connected and integrated cycle routes and paths at least three metres wide.
• Ensure cycling plans in the affected regions - Peel, York and Halton - that call for connected and circumferential trails are integrated into plans for the GTA West highway.
• Make pedestrian and cycle overpasses part of a permeable system of crossings. “Unlike recent MTO constructs, there should be generous and safe sidewalks for pedestrians. Crossings for cyclists should be on a separated lane for safety on all crossings of the future highway, as elevated overpasses can have greater wind velocities.”

Consider a landscape corridor. “The poorly vegetated 407 must not be replicated,” Inglis wrote on his blog.
The province, however, says safety is its top priority and “there are no plans to run a cycling facility parallel to the proposed freeway” or any other 400-series highway. The ministry says it has introduced a bill that will enhance cycling safety, including allowing cyclists to ride on the paved shoulders of all unrestricted highways and allowing contra-flow bicycle lanes on one-way highways.

While this discussion is new for Ontario, other countries are miles ahead. In England, a charity called Sustrans has worked to develop a national cycle network for cyclists and pedestrians that stretches 22,500 kilometres across the UK.

Inglis, who says he is the co-author of the trails master plans for York Region and the City of Vaughan, says he knows all about the perils of biking in his community - and that making his case to the province is an uphill battle.

“I’m going to a bike meeting, and I can’t even ride to it,” said Inglis, who lives in Kleinburg, six kilometres away. “I want to go to council, and I can’t ride to the meeting,” he said, due to lack of connectivity and cycling routes in Vaughan.

Vaughan BUG plans to submit a letter to Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca, and has already sent a letter to the City of Vaughan with their recommendations.

The City of Vaughan developed an extensive pedestrian and bicycle master plan in 2007, and since then has installed 68km of on-road signed bike routes and has recommended more routes going forward. But Nalayeh feels the plan needs people advocating for it to see it become reality.

She plans to go to council in April to ask the city to create a cycling and pedestrian advisory committee.

“There is definitely more that needs to be done,” she said. “We are trying to be that voice for cyclists in Vaughan.”