building an active transportation plan · building the request for proposal the rfp was structured...
TRANSCRIPT
Municipality of Mississippi Mills
Presentation Eastern Ontario Active Transportation Summit – May 13, 2016
BUILDING AN ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN
About Mississippi Mills…
Diverse community covering over 500 km2 Consists largely of rural areas, four villages
(Appleton, Blakeney, Clayton and Pakenham) and the urban area of Almonte
Created in 1998 through the amalgamation of Township of Ramsay, Township of Pakenham and Town of Almonte
Population of approx 13,000 (5,500 located in urban area of Almonte, 7,500 in rural/villages)
About Mississippi Mills…
366km of roadways, 148 acres of parkland Many locations of cultural and heritage significance Strong tradition of celebrating cycling in the
community (MM Bicycle Month)
Why Initiate an AT Plan…?
New wastewater treatment facility in 2010-2012 Municipality was completing Master Plans in
preparation for new growth (solid waste, water and sewer, parks and cultural plan);
Access new revenue potential through Development Charges Bylaw updates;
Transportation Master Plan (TMP) was the last of a series of master plan documents needed for infrastructure planning;
A TMP had never been done for the amalgamated municipality;
Why Initiate an AT Plan…?
The municipality wanted a transportation system that balanced the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles. The 2006 Official Plan needed further details to expedite this vision;
Encourage use of more active modes for recreation, commuting, running errands and tourism;
Influence decisions and behaviours that affect ability to travel, daily physical activity and health and wellbeing;
The AT Plan was included as a specified module in the Terms of Reference of the TMP
Initiating the Study
Challenges were encountered when establishing the Terms of Reference
How do we handle the CPR Corridor? How do we handle County Roads? Do we include roads, parks, trails, waterways, and
unopened road allowances? How do we achieve our objectives while managing
costs? The appetite to study was large and the budget had
limitations.
Building the Request for Proposal
The RFP was structured around the planning framework of Transport Canada’s guide “Active Transportation in Canada 2011”;
Scope focused toward existing open road corridors (Stay within Schedule A – Municipal Class EA);
Steps included: Stakeholder identification, Situational assessment, Vision and Objectives, Option identification / Option evaluation, Implementation Plan and Monitoring and Evaluation;
Background Material for RFP
Municipality offered availability of Official Plan & Zoning Bylaw; Parks & Recreation Master Plan; Development Charges Bylaw and Background Study; County of Lanark Transportation Master Plan; Traffic Count Data (2012 to present); Bridge and Road Asset Inventories; OPP Collision Records (2012 to present); and Mapping (properties, roads, parks and sidewalks)
Conclusion – Doing your homework saves $$$
Consultant Engagement
RFP was released March 2014 and closed after a five week period;
Procurement was a two envelope system – awarded on a balance of merit and scoring;
A total of 8 firms bid the project – Dillon Consulting was successful firm;
Bid proposal was $129,500 taxes included ($16,500 of this cost was Active Transportation);
Council awarded contract in June of 2014;
Initial Outreach – E Survey
E-survey in November 2014 (2 weeks) Launched through Web and Facebook Survey Monkey - 26 questions What active modes do you use? Why and how
often do you use them? What changes should be made to increase use of AT in Mississippi Mills?
207 responses received, almost half of the respondents provided written comments on what they believed to be key routes or missing links
AT Stakeholder Workshop
AT Stakeholder Workshop
Stakeholder Workshop held in Dec 2014 Group included sub-committee representatives,
business community, leaders from the health community, environmental groups, cycling community, accessibility advocates, policing, schools and parent councils, youth etc…
Good representation – geographically; Initial presentation on Active Transportation,
preliminary E-survey results; Format – Breakout groups, maps and note takers
AT Stakeholder Workshop
What we wanted – Flush out high level objectives from community to seed further study work;
What actually happened – Many participants did not want to be contained by study scope / individual agendas came to surface;
AT Stakeholder Workshop Findings
Need safe crossings (arteries); More public spaces for rest and relaxation; Accessibility barriers need to be removed; Improve connections to schools and community
facilities; Bicycle network connections between villages,
neighbouring municipalities and tourist destinations;
Improve winter maintenance practices; Bicycle parking facilities and improved lighting
Open House # 1 – Feb 2015
Provided outline of what AT Infrastructure included; Outlined health, financial and environmental
benefits; Looked at barriers that prevent users from
choosing AT as a mode of travel; Summarized results of E-Survey and AT Workshop Presented a preliminary spine network for
pedestrians and cyclists; Presentation materials posted to web and
comments opened for a two week period;
Open House # 2 – June 2015
Presented strategic direction for study, problems investigated and transportation strategy;
Summarized three primary networks in plan; Complete streets concept (multi modal); Pedestrian facilities (sidewalks, multi use
pathways, paved shoulders, etc..) Cycling facilities (shared lanes, paved shoulders,
dedicated bike lanes etc...) Proposed pedestrian and cycling networks
presented (rural and villages); Preliminary costing for AT established
AT Plan – Final Report
Section 1 - Introduction
Define Active Transportation for reader (not everyone is an active user);
Outline types – leisure, utilitarian travel or tourism purposes
Outline the objectives of study – “built by the community” through consultation, develop priorities, and create a more accessible and safe environment for users.
AT Plan – Final Report
Section 2 – Why is AT Important
Educate on the health benefits (60% of Canadian adults and 26% of youth are considered obese);
Low physical activity costs us an estimated $5.3 billion per year in direct and indirect health care costs (Transport Canada, 2011)
Benefits – economic, health, environment Alignment with Official Plan, Parks and Recreation
Master Plan, Accessibility Plan
AT Plan – Final Report
Section 3 – AT in Mississippi Mills Summary of existing conditions; Strong culture yet limited formal networks; What makes people want to walk / less likely to
walk? What makes people want to bicycle / less likely to bicycle?
Traffic, paved shoulders, separated pathways, cargo/passengers, lighting, distances etc..
Neighbouring AT infrastructure – County of Lanark, Ottawa, Town of Arnprior, Carleton Place
List of Issues, Opportunities and Barriers
AT Plan – Final Report
Section 4 – Vision and Goals Vision integrated and diverse transportation system foster the culture and infrastructure to support AT
Goals make it easy for people to use AT in favour of their
automobiles improve AT connections between communities and facilities develop an AT friendly culture through education and
communication (municipality, police, schools and other partners)
AT Plan – Final Report
Section 5 – AT Needs Analysis
Identify barriers and potential solutions; Identify gaps in overall network; Identify pedestrian and cycling facility alternatives
and where applications are best applied; Screen options for connecting routes and
recommend preferred solutions
AT Plan – Recommendations
Pedestrian networks were presented for villages and urban areas;
Cycling networks were also presented showing spine routes and secondary routes for rural areas and villages;
Priorities were recommended (ranking projects as high, medium and low);
AT Plan – Implementation Plan
Establish an AT Advisory Committee (10 members);
Update Policies – Official Plan, Accessibility, Winter Maintenance, and Streetlighting
Operational Improvements – sidewalk warrant program, hard surface road shoulders, begin screening routes against OTM Book 18
Enhance AT - pedestrian crossings, sidewalks, catch basins, enforcement
AT Plan – Implementation Plan
Work with the County of Lanark to enhance network;
Education and Promotion – “work on informing and developing culture change”
Explore Funding Opportunities – Federal Gas Tax, Ontario CycleON Strategy, OMCIP, Etc…
AT Plan – Approval & Next Steps
Plan was presented to Committee of the Whole on December 17, 2015;
Received by Council in January 2016 AT Committee Appointed February 2016
Challenges Encountered
Ownership of CPR Railway (the perfect spine route locally)
Maintaining focus on a backbone network amidst pressures to expand scope;
Public engagement can be challenging for rural areas;
Smaller municipalities do not have same AT goals and objectives of major urban centers (ie. commuter cyclist);
Challenges Encountered
Looking at the “infrastructure cost” of a new AT Plan can be a hard sell politically in a mixed rural/urban community;
Resources to maintain a plan need to be considered on a go forward basis;
END OF PRESENTATION
Questions or Comments?