Cyclists can expect to have a lot more pedal power around the streets of Kingston this year, according to a new report.
The latest update to the City’s Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) spells out how city staff plan to implement a series of short-term expansion and safety measures in the city’s growing network of bicycle lanes and pedestrian pathways.
“The ATMP has developed a series of active transportation corridors across the City that are intended to add or upgrade cycling facilities that allow users to travel between neighbourhoods and major destinations,” according to the staff information report.
The plan charts a course for cycling and pedestrian infrastructure work that can be done in the next five years. Some of the tax-funded “walk and roll” work planned for this summer is based on citizen feedback and council priorities.
Staff say these improvements are “very important to develop a culture of active rather than vehicle-based trips” to get to work, school or shopping.
Funding for the cycling and pedestrian work has already been included in the 2019 municipal capital and operating budgets.
Some 2019 highlights include:
- installing flexible post bollards along Johnson and Brock streets to better delineate the cycling lanes from vehicle lanes, plus traffic calming “slow” bollards installed along the center line of both Johnson Street and Brock Street, between Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard and Division Street
- a new pedestrian-activated crosswalk signal at Johnson and Macdonnell streets which will link to a new 1.6-kilometre pedestrian and cycling pathway through the Kingscourt neighbourhood, from Third Avenue to Macdonnell Street, to connect to the new Kingston high school that is under construction
- adding a new pedestrian-activated crosswalk sign on Front Road at Lakeview Avenue to create a safer, more accessible crossing for students and residents of the Reddendale and Henderson neighbourhoods
- adding buffered cycling lanes with bollards along Taylor-Kidd Boulevard, from Gardiners Road to Princess Street, which will connect to cycling lanes currently under construction on John Counter Boulevard
- adding new cycling lanes to sections of Montreal Street, from Queen Street to Rideau Street, to complete a dedicated cycling route between the downtown and Highway 401
- adding curb extensions and a cycling lane on Concession Street at Leroy Grant Drive to decrease vehicle speeds at the crossing area and reduce the width of the roadway that pedestrians need to cross
- installing audible pedestrian signals for visually-impaired pedestrians at six locations: Sir John A. Macdonald at Elmwood, King Street West at Country Club, Bath at Gardiners, Bath at Queen Mary, Bath at Armstrong, and at 1225 Princess St. (at the Food Basics grocery store)
Staff say the installation of bollards along the one-way Brock and Johnson streets is not just for cycling safety.
“These measures are expected to contribute to a vehicle speed reduction in the area and may be augmented by additional signage/bollards as needed in the future.”
The city is also planning to construct new sidewalks this year in areas where there are gaps, such as on Birchwood Drive between Cataraqui Woods Drive and Peachwood Street, Taylor Kidd Boulevard, between Waterloo Drive and Princess Street, and along Bath Road near Coverdale Avenue.
The planned improvements follow a public input survey last fall that heard from 130 people. The survey found residents want more separation between cycling lanes and motor vehicles, greater focus on having cycling lanes along main arterial routes and better wayfinding maps that show cycling routes.
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