Abstract Manager

The City of Vaughan’s 2020 Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan recommended that the City prioritize the development of localized mini-networks within existing communities. This was recommended to facilitate bike trips within Vaughan’s neighbourhoods in the pursuit of creating a culture of people that use active transportation to move around for short trips. Following this recommendation, the City embarked on implementing their first neighbourhood mini-network. Although the build out has been relatively successful, it led the City to rethink and improve its approach to delivering active transportation projects. Moving away from looking at a single corridor at a time, to studying, designing and constructing multiple corridors at once in the pursuit of implementing connected mini-networks or regional connections within a timely manner. The presentation will briefly walk through three project examples:

·       Thornhill Neighbourhood Network – the City’s first effort at building out a neighbourhood mini-network where pedestrian improvements and cycling facilities along four corridors were delivered through three separate assignments (Clark Ave 4.5km, New Westminster Dr – 2km and Atkinson Ave/Centre St – 1.7km). 

·       Ward 4 Neighbourhood Network – a single project that looked at eight corridors totaling nearly 9 kilometres. The project expands on existing and planned transportation improvements in the area to create a cohesive transportation network. Furthermore, the project integrates recommendations from the City of Vaughan’s Safer School Zone Plan, City-wide Neighbourhood Traffic Calming Plan and Pilot, local Corridor Safety Reviews, York Region’s Transit Service Plans and Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan.  

·       Weston Road and Rutherford Road Regional Connection – a single project that examined two intersecting regional corridors each 6 kilometres long, totaling 12 kilometres of new cycle tracks that build on and connect to recent investments by the upper City’s tier municipality to provide first and last mile connectivity to transit services.  

In the context of these three project examples, the presentation will discuss:

1.      The differences between the two project delivery approaches (one corridor at a time versus multiple corridors at once) 

2.      the benefits and drawbacks of expanding projects beyond one corridor towards multi-corridor projects in the pursuit of building a connected network in a timely manner (including procurement efficiencies, consultation effectiveness, facility design consistency and quicker network build out as well as coordination requirements and the downsides of impacting the delivery of multiple corridors when you run into project challenges, etc.),

3. the benefits and drawbacks of coordinated program management when integrating different transportation priorities into one amalgamated project (including procurement efficiencies, mitigating disruption to local residents by amalgamating projects, consultation efficiencies, working through design options to ensure all priorities are being met, etc.)

4. the lessons learned for studying and delivering future “neighbourhood network” projects, and

5. transferability to other Canadian municipalities (how can other municipalities adopt the approach of studying, designing and constructing multiple corridors at once).