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Brampton Infrastructure Ontario Politics Roads Walking

Safer streets need more than just speed cameras

Speed enforcement cameras are a very helpful tool that are proven to reduce speeds in residential areas. But they are just one tool.

The province needs to let municipalities lead the way, rather than just serve entitled motorists. One Brampton street shows why.

Categories
Cycling Infrastructure Ontario Roads

Crossride of death: how an Ajax girl was killed riding her bike

On Thursday, November 7, a 13-year-old girl was struck and killed by the driver of a Hyundai Santa Fe (a midsized crossover SUV) at Rossland Road and Stevensgate Drive. She was riding on a multiuse path, crossing the street properly in a crossride.

Multiuse paths are a popular form of cycling infrastructure, especially in the suburbs. Poor design and bad driver behaviour have made them dangerous at intersections, and should be fixed.

Categories
Infrastructure Ontario Politics Roads Toronto Transit

Deadcatting: Doug Ford’s big dig

On Wednesday, September 25, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, along with transportation minister Pradmeet Sarkaria, announced that the provincial government would fund a feasibility study on building a new highway tunnel under Highway 401 from Peel Region to Durham Region, along with an unspecified new transit facility. Earlier this week, Doug Ford exclaimed that those living […]

Categories
Cycling Infrastructure Politics Roads Urban Planning Walking

Bloor Street blues

The Bloor Street redesign is the right thing to do for a safer and more inclusive city. Mississauga is growing up. Some of its politicians should too.

Categories
Cycling Infrastructure Roads Toronto Walking

A tale of two streets: Winona Drive and Shaughnessy Boulevard

Earlier this month, as part of Toronto’s long-overdue response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the city introduced ActiveTO. ActiveTO includes several measures addressing the need for safe active transportation and recreation routes as summer approaches and businesses slowly reopen. Current ActiveTO initiatives include weekend traffic closures of sections of Lake Shore Boulevard and Bayview Avenue […]

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Brampton Cycling Infrastructure Ontario Roads Walking

Room to share: How cities can make physical distancing work

For my latest TVO article, I spoke with Councillor Shawn Menard in Ottawa, Councillor Rowena Santos in Brampton, and Ryerson University epidemiologist Anne Harris about how cities in Ontario are reallocating road space for pedestrians and cyclists during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, or why they may be hesitant to do so. In Brampton, five kilometres […]

Categories
Cycling Travels

Biking off to Buffalo

Tonawanda Rail Trail Back on Victoria Day weekend, I biked down to Toronto’s Union Station, loaded by wheels onto a GO train, and headed for Niagara. I have biked through Niagara before, and it is a very pleasant place for cycling, with many paved paths, quiet roads, and paved shoulders and bike lanes along many […]

Categories
Cycling History Ontario Roads

Punkeydoodle’s Corners and the world’s highest numbered address

Last weekend, I went for a ride in Waterloo Region, particularly in Wilmot Township, to the west of Kitchener-Waterloo. Despite some deceptively difficult hills and a strong headwind going back east, it was a very pleasant ride. Outside of Toronto, motorists seem to be quite courteous towards cyclists, with most giving me plenty of room. […]

Categories
Cycling Ontario Travels Urban Planning

Brantford’s downtown was the “worst in Canada” – but has it bounced back?

It’s complicated.

Categories
Brampton Cycling Parks Walking

Brampton’s multi-use path problems

Recreational Trail: no loitering Brampton, my hometown, has a great network of parks, many of which are connected by multi use paths that follow local waterways like the West Humber River and Etobicoke Creek. In suburban neighbourhoods where curvilinear street networks and cul-de-sacs predominate, these paths are necessary as shortcuts for pedestrians and cyclists, and […]