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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-04-16Clartgton 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: April 16, 2026 Time: 7:00 pm Location: Microsoft Teams Members Present: Councillor Elhajjeh (from 7:45 p.m.), Jim Boate, Bart Hawkins- Kreps, Ron Hooper (left at 8:30 p.m.), Connor Houston, Hawa Mire (left at 7:40 p.m.), Lori Moore, Richard Oldfield, Rick Stockman, Debbie Doiron Staff Present: Rob Brezina, Catherine Verhoog Absent: Josh Gibson, Brad Whittle Indigenous Statement was read aloud. 1. AGENDA 1.1 Additions to Agenda Bike Lanes on King Street East in Bowmanville — Jim Boate 1.2 Acceptance of Agenda Motion to accept the agenda. Moved to approve by Jim Boate, seconded by Debbie Doiron. 0_1001411 2. MINUTES OF JANUARY 8, 2026 2.1 Corrections None. Page 118 2.2 Approval of Minutes Motion to accept the minutes of January 8, 2026. Moved to approve by Ron Hooper, seconded by Bart Hawkins-Kreps. CARRIED 3. PRESENTATIONS — None 4. DISCUSSION ITEMS 4.1 Follow Up Items from January 8, 2026, Meeting: 4.1.1 Safety Improvement Suggestions — West Beach Road — Permanent Speed Bumps and Camera Data — Connor/Lori Connor — Public Works completed a study between July 18 to 20, 2025. There were close calls between vehicles and non -motor road users at the flex signs as well as several undesirable behaviours. Staff's position is that they do not support the reinstatement of the flex signs. Lori — Would permanent speed bumps would be considered? Jim — It needs to be improved in the future with the widening of the road and bridge to provide paved sections on both sides of the road. Rob — The road and bridge structure are not in the current forecast for work as they are in decent shape so there isn't an imminent need for work to be completed. The traffic calming policy recently adopted by Council contains terms of evaluating what measures are appropriate. The installation of speed humps has been undertaken in other areas, and more are scheduled in the future. Josh to follow up with Traffic Services on next steps and if this area is being considered for 2027 installation. Bart — Something really needs to be done but the flex posts probably didn't do the trick and likely made things worse. The staff report seems to back that up, which leaves an unsatisfactory situation going on at least another year. The Clarington Waterfront Strategy has projections for bringing more people to this area and increasing the amount of exposure. Page 218 Lori — Connor, Rick and Lori will email Josh directly asking him to provide the results of his discussions with the Traffic Division to the Committee so that it can be followed up on for financial consideration at the next Committee meeting. Ron — Suggests that the Committee look at proposing a resolution relating to the Waterfront Strategy; that consideration be given to this specific area regarding the installation of traffic calming devices to be put in place in the future, as soon as possible. Rick — Item to be kept on agenda for future discussion. Jim — Suggests listing the agenda item as "Safe access by means other than a car to the Clarington Waterfront". 4.2 Durham Region Active Transportation Update - Connor Connor — Committee met March 12th and there were presentations from the Bike Shop in Peterborough, and the Ontario by Bike Program on cycle tourism opportunities in Durham Region. The one -metre safe cycling campaign has been renewed this year and is going to be a bit more aggressive. The imagery could be changing from a car to a pickup truck, and the wording could change to "Move Over One Metre, It's the Law". June was declared Bike Month by the Region, so the Committee should investigate having Clarington make the same proclamation. Jim — Lots of people who have no idea that you must give cyclists a one metre clearance from their mirror to the bike's handlebar. Jim has spoken to the Chair of the Durham Region Cycling Coalition about a noodle campaign where cyclists have a noodle attached to their bike to demonstrate the one metre distance, and he will keep the Committee updated on the program. Lori — Asked if the Region has any decals focusing on the one metre rule that could be given out by the Committee at events; Connor will look into it. She recently picked up three bags and a box of items from the Region for distributing at events, including bells and lights and brochures. 4.3 2026 Maplefest — Saturday May 2nd — Volunteers Needed - Lori Lori will do the morning shift but needs help bringing the supplies up. Jim volunteered as well as Bart, with Lori to determine their timing. Richard can be there from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Debbie can as well. Ron will be there early to help with the setup. Rick is available for the setup and maybe the morning. Lori will provide the two chairs. Page 318 4.4 Durham Regional Police Services (DRPS) — East Division Community Day 2026 - Rick Rick — An invitation has been extended to the Committee to attend the Community Safety Day in the fall. Last year their display was positioned at the back and not in the mainstream. The Committee discussed this and have decided that it is not an event that they wish to participate in due to the lack of interest in their display and it just wasn't the right fit for the ATSRC. 4.5 Waterfront Trail Safety Concern Update — Richard/Rick Rick — The request for service that was submitted for the sand on the end of the trail at the Service Road, on your way to Cobbledick Road, was never addressed and no one reached out to him. When you are on the waterfront trail and coming from Bennett Road down to the Service Road that takes you to Cobbledick, there is a lot of sand accumulating and causing a very hazardous situation for cyclists. Rick will follow up on his original request and will call Public Works if he does not hear back. Ron — During the Marigold Hospice Ride last year, one of the ladies wiped out there on her bike which is a perfect example of why it should be cleaned. Jim — Suggested that the members reach out to their own cycling groups to make sure to be cautious this spring with the extra sand on the roadways. There was an increased use of sand on the roadways due to the salt shortage. 4.6 Sharrows and Bike Symbols — Concession Street and Trulls Road - Jim Jim — On Trulls Road the section from Bloor Street south to Baseline Road was closed for two years and is part of the north -south cycling network in Courtice. When Trulls Road was redone, he was under the understanding that there would be a bike lane included or urbanized shoulder with a white line. It was re -paved last year and that was not done. There are a couple of deep ditches on either side so it would really benefit from sharrows. Why were bike lanes not included? Jim — Traffic calming was completed on Concession Street many years ago, and that slows the traffic down so many cyclists like to take it. Traffic calming bottlenecks and squeezes together cyclists and motorists and quite often vehicles try and squeeze the cyclists out. If sharrows were put in place on Concession Street it would help move motorists out into the center of the road. Rob — The Developer at the northeast corner of Courtice Road and Bloor Street was required to install watermain and sanitary sewers on Courtice Road and they fully closed the road, so the Municipality forced them to rehabilitate Trulls Road to handle the detour traffic. Once it is ultimately Page 418 designed, Trulls Road will be urbanized and widened with curbs and sidewalks and potentially a Multi -Use Path (MUP) and bike lanes. The work is tied to development as it proceeds along the frontage, which indicates a possible design in 2028 and construction in 2030. The work will be completed in segments as the developments are completed. There was a budget for design approved in 2025 for at least the first 400m that coincides with the development being built out right now, but unfortunately that's tied to development pressure and with the current market conditions, they weren't advancing so the project didn't move forward. Rob — In the interim, Josh will follow up with Traffic Services about applying sharrows on this section of Trulls. Rob - There is another closure of Courtice Road planned in the future for the Metrolinx project. In the next two to three years this will be a primary north - south detour route with thousands of vehicles and another route for cyclists should be investigated to provide a safer route. Trulls Road should be avoided as there will be too much competition and too much traffic to be safe for cyclists to travel. Alternate routes will be investigated, but it is difficult with the unknown timing of the different construction projects within the area. Prestonvale Road will be closed for track upgrades in 2027, and it also has regional servicing to be installed in 2027/2028. Access will be significantly impacted after 2026. Rob — A follow-up agenda item for a future meeting could be a discussion on the timing of these projects once they are better known, to try and evaluate how to get cyclists down south by not using the primary detour routes. Trulls Road should probably be avoided if there is any sort of cycle tourism or event route planning as there is too much competition for re-routing. He is currently promoting conversations with Metrolinx, the Region and developers of how to coordinate all these rolling closures and who takes priority and when work is overlapping, so that there aren't disruptions to not only vehicular traffic, but cyclists as well. Jim — Does not want to miss an opportunity to implement a safe route. Rob — Concession Street has been identified in our Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) as a primary spine route. There is not much that could be implemented in terms of separated infrastructure given the narrow road and how developed it is, but your idea of sharrows would suit the ATMP narrative. Jim — We need to keep pushing on safe access to our waterfront and keep the pressure on the planners to provide active transportation routes to the waterfront. Richard — We need a north -south route, simple as that. If Prestonvale is closed, then another route needs to be provided. Page 518 Jim — There is an MUP being built on Regional Road 57, and there needs to be something put in place to get from Baseline Road down to the waterfront trail. There needs to be some concept of how we bridge over Highway 401, possibly adding a cycling lane on that bridge, something somehow to get over to meet the bike lane on Energy Drive where it meets Regional Road 57. Rob — The MUP on the west side of Regional Road 57 will be completed by the end of 2027, but unfortunately the Bowmanville Avenue (Regional Road 57) bridge over Highway 401 does not have the sufficient width required for a bike lane. There is more feasibility of extending the cycling facilities or MUP along Baseline Road to the waterfront trail. As part of the Development Charge Study, the plan is for an MUP to be built in phases along Baseline Road, essentially from Green Road to Bennett Road. It will be built in phases as development proceeds as that is the most efficient and cost-effective process. Richard — The request for sharrows on Concession Street has not been addressed. There is resistance from Municipality to put them in. Rob —The ATMP, which is going to Council for final approval on May 11t" identifies Concession Street as a spine route, and once approved there will be some funds available for these types of smaller projects. (To be kept on agenda.) Lori — The Bowmanville Creek Trail from Baseline Road south has been flooded and muddy, particularly under the railway bridge, for almost this entire month and has been impassable for days. Is there any way of raising the path under the railway bridge? Rob — It is not viable to raise the path as it would only increase the local floodplain. Most of the damming is caused by ice so once the ice breaks then the spring thaw happens it leads to that condition. Unfortunately, this was designed incorrectly long ago, and this is now the situation that we have without committing a substantial amount of capital to change it. Jim — We were told when the underpass was put in that it would flood when we had high rains. They did build into it kind of a slip so that the water could flow off the deck once the water started to recede. That happens on the section that goes underneath the 401, but the area under the railway track is so full of leftover sand that never gets plowed out that weeds and everything grow there and water stays in there for months. Maintenance is needed to clean the sand out. They have these catch basins along that trail which need to be cleaned out too. Jim will reach out to Public Works to request that the maintenance be performed. Page 618 4.7 Bike Promotion Roadway Signs - Richard Richard — Kind of a fun idea to put some stencils on our trails, like "smile, you're on a bicycle". Could the Municipality make a stencil and install it in half a dozen locations to see if people like it? A discussion followed, and most members were in support of having these signs. Rick — Suggested that the Committee create a plan of where they would like the signs, what they would like to see, how much it would cost etc. and present that to the Municipality. The Committee would like to investigate this further and will request comments from municipal staff, specifically the Traffic Division, on whether the placing of these signs is feasible and something that would be permitted. Richard will investigate and bring the information back to the next meeting. Councillor Elhajjeh — Easiest way would be to investigate costs, liability, number and locations. The paramount concern is going to be safety, even if the location is on the trail itself or at the side on the grass or something adjacent to the trail. The maintenance costs may not be something that the Municipality would be willing to take on for the future as current installations, like the Remembrance Day sign downtown, are eroding and even though this sign is under warranty, there are others that are supposed to be permanent paint and it's being washed off which then come with a maintenance cost. 4.8 Clarington Waterfront Strategy — Safe Access to Courtice Segment - Jim Dealt with earlier in the meeting under Item 4.6. 4.9 Pedestrian Bridge Linking Port of Newcastle to Bond Head — Jim Jim — A Councillor for that area reached out to Jim and asked if the Committee has ever investigated having a bridge over the area. The consensus about 10 or 12 years ago, when the Committee was called Bike Friendly and Peter Windolf was the liaison, was that there were too many sailboats coming in and out of there and the area was still being developed. If you went up the creek where you could cross over, it was also privately owned by individual residents. Jim provided this information to the Councillor but has not yet received a response. Jim — Another Councillor asked Jim to approach the Committee about recommending the removal of the recently installed bike lanes on King Street, from Liberty Street to Mearns Avenue, in Bowmanville. The Councillor suggested relocating the bike lanes to Baseline Road. The Councillor indicated that they had been approached by individuals with safety concerns regarding the bike lanes, stopping busses, traffic etc. Page 718 Rob — The bike lanes were implemented there because the Municipality was completing a road rehabilitation. There were problematic issues with the secondary lane being used by vehicles to speed and pass slower vehicles, so with the introduction of the bike lane, the lane was removed. There was no cycling facility through the downtown core to provide active transportation access and the ATMP identifies King Street as a central spine. Some speed data suggests that there has been a slight reduction in travel speed for vehicles since the work has been completed. Some drivers are utilizing the cycle lane as a turn lane, and controls are currently being investigated that can be implemented to prevent vehicles turning right from utilizing the bike lanes to improve safety. There are prominent connections that will be made when Liberty Street is reconstructed by the Region and the MUP on Liberty is installed. The Committee discussed this request to relocate the bike lanes and agreed that existing bike lanes should not be eliminated, that more are needed, not less. 4.10 Project Updates — See attachment from Josh A document with project updates was provided by Josh prior to the meeting. There were no questions from the Committee regarding the update. Rick — Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) Update — The Committee would like the opportunity to review the document prior to approval. Rob — The report will be presented on May 11111 at the Planning and Development Committee meeting. The report will be available for the Committee, as well as all members of the public, to view through the Municipality's website once Clerks has posted the agenda for the meeting. The Committee can attend the meeting for the presentation by the consultant, and if Committee members wish to speak at the meeting, they can register as a delegation online with the Clerks Department prior to the meeting. 5. OTHER BUSINESS None 6. NEXT MEETING Thursday September 3, 2026 — via Zoom 7. ADJOURNMENT Motion that the meeting be adjourned at 9:01 p.m. Moved by Jim Boate, seconded by Bart Hawkins-Kreps. CARRIED Page 818