Abstract Manager

The Town of Carleton Place is a small municipality in Eastern Ontario, with over 12,000 residents as of 2021. The Town’s population is expected to nearly double by 2038 that will place incredible stress on the transportation network without a comprehensive and sustainable long-term plan. This prompted the Town to initiate their first Transportation Master Plan to help guide long-term investments in transportation infrastructure and ensure growth is managed to support a healthy, inclusive, and vibrant community.

The TMP provided the unique opportunity for proactive thinking, anticipating community needs, and preparing for emerging trends in transportation solutions, such as promoting a complete streets approach, which became a foundational element of the TMP that focused on balancing the needs of all street users. Parsons developed a cycling priority route system supported by contemporary complete streets cross-sections (highlighted with multi-use pathways), strengthening AT design and maintenance requirements, and developing new policies to help encourage AT adoption.

The Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail (a nearly 300km multi-use trail) follows a converted rail corridor and connects several notable municipalities. The OVRT bisects the Town north-south, and the TMP leveraged this powerful recreational and active user asset as the "back-bone" of the long-term AT network and cycling priority system. Particular attention was given to contemporary pedestrian and cycling crossing treatments of this important trail route, which features both paved and unpaved sections to accommodate ATVs and snowmobiles in addition to traditional active users.

A unique feature of the complete streets cross-sections was providing "context-oriented" options that provided flexibility in adapting AT facilities on existing streets that may have conflicting priorities (e.g., protecting driveway space vs parking vs AT segregation). A key aspect of the TMP was being progressive, but flexible and nimble.

Other highlights of the TMP included greater considerations for safety in road design. Adopting a complete streets strategy requires appropriate checks and responses to public safety concerns as active users inevitably intersect/conflict with vehicles. Adhering to contemporary accessibility requirements was paramount to promote inclusivity for users of a wide range of physical abilities. Traffic calming best practices and policies were adopted, and several potential traffic calming projects were identified for the Town's consideration.

Since Council approval in 2022, new multi-use pathways, sidewalks, OVRT connections and pedestrian crossovers have been implemented, and additional sidewalks and multi-use pathways have been approved for 2024. This presentation will provide highlights of this process, successes and challenges.