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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-06-19Clarftwn If this information is required in an alternate format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131 Active Transportation and Safe Roads Advisory Committee Minutes Date: June 19, 2025 Time: 7:00 pm Location: Microsoft Teams Members Present: Jim Boate, Debbie Doiron, Ron Hooper, Connor Houston, Lori Moore, Richard Oldfield, Rick Stockman, Brad Whittle Staff Present: Josh Gibson, Catherine Verhoog Absent: Councillor Elhajjeh, Bart Hawkins-Kreps, Ron Hooper, Hawa Mire 1. AGENDA 1.1 Additions to Agenda No additions. 1.2 Acceptance of Agenda Motion to accept the agenda. Moved to approve by Jim Boate, seconded by Lori Moore. CARRIED 2. MINUTES OF APRIL 3, 2025 2.1 Corrections No corrections. 2.2 Approval of Minutes Motion to accept the minutes of April 3, 2025. Moved to approve by Jim Boate, seconded by Connor Houston. CARRIED Page 116 3. DISCUSSION ITEMS 3.1 April V Meeting Follow Up Items: 3.1.1 Bike Repair Station Signage — West Beach Road Conservation Area (Rick) Council approved the motion at the meeting of May 26t" to investigate placing a sign along the Waterfront Trail that is visible to cyclists. Rick will circulate to the committee by email a mockup of a proposed sign that Jim has created, for the committee to provide comments. Once the committee has agreed on the design, the sign will be presented to Public Works for their consideration and approval and installation. 3.1.2 Safety Improvement Suggestions — West Beach Road (Bart) A meeting has been set up for Tuesday with Slav to discuss safety improvement suggestions. Lori, Connor and Rick will attend the meeting, but Bart is away and cannot be there. There were no additional comments provided from the committee members present. 3.1.3 Access to Waterfront Trail from Baseline Road (Lori/Rick) Council approved a motion at the May 261" meeting directing staff to report back on the considerations and costs to provide winter maintenance and snow clearing on the section of the Bowmanville Trail from Baseline Road to the Waterfront Trail, starting in the 2025/26 winter season. The original motion requested by the committee was changed to include requesting staff to report back on the considerations and costs. Jim — Wants to clarify that the section that they are requesting is just the eastern section of the trail, not the part that runs to the west. Lori — The westernmost part of the Waterfront Trail after you reach Bowmanville Avenue is not heavily travelled and does not need to be cleared. Page 216 3.2 Durham Region Active Transportation Update (Connor) The bike safety component has been reintroduced at Kid's Safety Village, and they have started introducing it to Grade 4's as it has become apparent that kids in Grades 2 and 3 are not yet riding bikes. The Village is booked solid all year, and they are looking at possibly doing a bike safety road show during the summer. Connor will follow up with Ron Lalonde about getting some swag for this committee. Kristyn Chambers is a rural tourism specialist with Durham Tourism, and she gave a presentation to the committee at the meeting. Durham Tourism is working on rural gravel riding routes in Durham, and they are working in conjunction with the Region's wayfinding and signage strategy. The Region's wayfinding strategy is completed and up on their website. Kristyn is more than happy to come to the next meeting to speak about the rural routes in Clarington so Connor and Rick will reach out to her. The Region is running a 1 m campaign and signage will be coming out soon on buses etc. They are piggybacking on what York Region did last year. Jim — Recommended a 1 m day with cyclists driving around with pool noodles strapped to their bikes to emphasize the 1 m rule. Connor — Will mention to Ron from the Durham Cycling Coalition to see if they want to do it in conjunction with the Clarington Cycling Club. 3.3 Events Update - Maplefest and Clarington Family Safety Day (Lori/Rick) Maplefest — Lori — Lori thanked everyone who contributed. The weather impacted the attendance, but it was still worthwhile. A different location for next year could help with increasing the foot traffic. Lori will email Ron Hooper to see if there is something that can be done for next year. Clarington Family Safety Day — Rick — Definitely off the beaten track which affected being noticed by the public. Went well in that the committee is now better organized when attending events. Affixing the banner to the tent has become a major problem though, the Velcro just does not work. Jim has bought some grommets and he and Rick will meet Lori at her place one day and try with a hammer and a torch and a center punch to install some and see how it works. Rick thanked Lori for allowing the committee to store the banner and all the display supplies at her home and for being so flexible in allowing committee members to pick it up and bring it back. The day was a very quiet affair, a hot location, and the bike bells and lights were popular and went quickly. The map that was created by municipal staff went over well. Swag Ideas — There is a budget available for the committee, and ideas are welcome, but they must be things that are going to be appreciated, and that Page 316 people are going to want to take and use. Committee members are invited to send emails to Rick with their ideas. Connor — Once the new active transportation network is completed, then an updated map can be requested from municipal staff, as well as the QR code. A discussion ensued about what events the committee should present at, and it was determined that Mpplefest, Applefest, and Clarington Safety Day should be the three core events that the Committee focuses on to take the best advantage of the committee's volunteer time and resources. Most of the committee members agree that Ribfest was not as successful as the members of the public are there for the ribs and focus on that. 3.4 Active Transportation Master Plan Update (ATMP) (Josh) The plan is still in its final stages with being reviewed by internal staff and it will hopefully be presented to Council in the second quarter of this year. Josh will follow up with Rob for a more detailed update to be emailed to the committee. Jim will also reach out to Councillor Elhajjeh, this committee's council representative, by email to request any information available regarding where they are with the Active Transportation Master Plan. He will copy Rick on the email response so that it can be forwarded to the remaining members of the committee. 3.5 Project Update (Josh) There is no update on the funding applications that the Municipality submitted in February for Active Transportation. The South Bowmanville Recreation Centre expansion is well underway. Josh is currently involved with the design of a Multi -Use Path (MUP) to be installed on the south side of Baseline Road from Green Road to Bowmanville Avenue (Regional Road 57). A discussion ensued about the location of the new trails, and Connor suggested that the committee would like to see a connection from Baseline Road south to the Waterfront Trail along Regional Road 57. The Region is going to tender shortly for the reconstruction of Bowmanville Avenue (Regional Road 57), from Baseline Rd to the CP Railway bridge (Highway 2) which includes a MUP and other pedestrian infrastructure. Work should begin this year. The Region is also getting ready to send to tender their Liberty Street North reconstruction project. The work is to take place between Longworth Avenue and Concession Road 3 and includes an MUP and other sidewalk extensions. The intersection of Longworth Avenue and Concession Road 3 will be built Page 416 out as a roundabout, and the work should begin in the third quarter of this year. They are just waiting for some utilities to be relocated. The road diet on King Street East in Bowmanville has been completed and the final line paintings are in place and the bike lanes are operational. A discussion took place about the Alonna Street underpass that runs under Bowmanville Avenue and whether it is included in the scope of work. Josh will follow up and respond back to the committee. Concerns were expressed with the age of the tunnel and whether it will be replaced, as well as the lack of proper lighting causing safety concerns. Another Region project is Liberty Street South from Baseline Road north to Highway 2, which also includes a MUP and some other sidewalk extensions that's expected to commence in 2027 or 2028. There is a municipal project on Hetherington Drive which consists of some storm sewer outlet improvements. Work could commence this year and might spill into 2026. The outfall goes into the Bowmanville Valley Creek Trail so the contractor will be in there completing some restoration works and some ditching in the actual trail just outside the outfall. There is a small section of the Bowmanville Creek Trail that will be closed to the public during the construction. Details of the project such as the possibility of a detour, the dates of the closure, public notice, construction notices on site, etc. were discussed. Josh will speak with the Project Managers and respond back to the committee. The work has not yet been awarded, so there will need to be discussions with the contractor before some of these questions are able to be answered. 4. OTHER BUSINESS 4.1 In Person Meetings — Rick Two or three committee members have mentioned in the last month or so have asked about having in -person meetings. The members were polled as to what they would like: Jim, Debbie and Connor — Once a year. Lori — Okay with online. Richard — Would like hybrid options. Maybe one a year in -person. Brad — Prefers online but might be able to attend one in -person. Thursday meetings sometimes conflict with other municipal meetings that he attends. Bart — (Provided by Jim in Bart's absence) — is good with one or two. Page 516 Rick — Agrees with one in -person meeting per year, but it should be held during the time of year when the weather cooperates. This will be put onto the next meeting agenda for further discussion and a vote to take place. 4.2 More Presentations — Rick A couple of committee members have expressed an interest in having more presentations at meetings. Richard — Presentations relevant to this committee are always welcome, but the length of the presentation needs to be a fixed amount of time. Brad — Definitely open to presentations. Debbie — Interested in hearing pertinent presentations. Jim and Connor — Okay. Lori — Interested in what active transportation committees in other regions are doing. Rick — We need to be conscious of the time frame and be disciplined about ending meetings at 9.00 p.m. Presentations should be kept to fifteen minutes to keep to the timeline. Members should bring some ideas to the next meeting about what they would like to hear about or who they want to hear from. 4.3 Other Business — Jim — In July Terry Fox's brother and a group from Vancouver are cycling across Canada in honour of the 45t" anniversary of the Terry Fox Run and they will be coming through Clarington. Jim will find out some more information and send it to Rick to share with the committee. Lori — Applefest is on Saturday October 18t" from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and she is away for that month so volunteers will be needed. She will send the email out to coordinate coverage for the day. 5. NEXT MEETING Thursday September 18, 2025 6. ADJOURNMENT Motion that the meeting be adjourned at 8:21 p.m. Moved by Debbie Doiron, seconded by Lori Moore. CARRIED Page 616