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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-07-08Clarington Meeting: Active Transportation and Safe Roads Advisory Committee Date: July 8, 2021 Time: 7:00 pm Location: Microsoft Teams Meeting Minutes Draft minutes not yet approved by Committee Present: Rick Stockman, Jim Boate, Bart Hawkins Kreps, Phil Haylock, Connor Houston, Connie Kobelka, Belva Lukacsovics, Arnold Mostert, Richard Oldfield, Jeanne Winters, Kim Maxwell, Councillor Joe Neal Councillor Janice Jones Regrets: Robert Brezina, Kristin Bullied Staff Present: Lisa Backus, Monika Bradshaw, Steven Chorkawy, Andrew Johnson, Slav Potrykus, Carlos Salazar, 1. Agenda Moved by Jim Boate seconded by Bart Hawkins Carried 2. Minutes of April 7, 2021 Moved by Bart Hawkins seconded by Connor Houston Carried 3. Delegation 3.1. Courtice Trails, Rail Underpass and 401 crossing - Councillor Joe Neal presented to the committee his views on the need for north -south trail linkage(s) in Courtice to the Waterfront Trail. It was noted that there is no suitable trail crossing at highway 401 or the CP rail corridor locations to connect Bloor St. to the Waterfront Trail. Counsellor Neal suggested Prestonvale Road west side as a location for a dedicated multi -use -trail (MUT). Discussions ensued amongst the committee with suggestions on various connection locations and methods, ie. Bridges vs tunnels and Prestonvale Road vs Trulls Road. It was noted that the only link to the WFT is via Courtice Road which does not accommodate for a MUT at the recently constructed Highway 401 crossing. Counsellor Neal suggested that the Courtice active transportation network be treated as a special study area. Carlos Salazar informed the committee that the municipality is working with the development group to incorporate the transportation master plan as part of the secondary plan process. Lisa Backus is coordinating this exercise and will have a draft of the plan by the end of the summer for review by the committee. 4. Discussion Items 4.1. Document sharing and collaboration in MS Teams The IT Department suggested to use Sharepoint where all documents can be stored and retrieved if needed. It is a clean solution, and everyone can log in at their convenience. IT Department is to come up with a tutorial and circulate it to all the members on how this program works. 4.2. Meeting Duration Suggestions were made in the past to end the meetings by 9pm. It has been agreed by the committee that all future meeting will be held to 2 hours in duration and if any items on the agenda have not been covered, they will get passed on to the next meeting, requiring agenda items to be prioritized. 4.3. Clarington Staff Update Rhonda Park trail has been re-routed away from the play area and staff will monitor pedestrian traffic in the intersection to inform any future need for traffic controls later on. The Bowmanville Valley Trail work is substantially complete with the installation of debris nets by CN and flashing beacon with solar panels yet to be installed. It is anticipated that these works will be completed within the next 3-4 weeks. No official opening and no dates have been scheduled as of yet. 4.4. Bowmanville Creek Trail Extension - Opening Celebration Committee members are in support of an opening celebration to be held during Bike Month in 2022. Jeanne Winters volunteered to chair a sub- committee with, Jim Boate, Bart Hawkins and Kim Maxwell who is the treasurer of Valleys 2000, volunteering to be on the sub -committee. Rick Stockman will also volunteer to assist as his schedule permits. It was also suggested to reach out to clubs to participate in the events. 4.5. Priority Setting Suggested that safety of the roads leading from our homes to the trails within Clarington should also be included in the committees' priorities. Planning staff informed the committee that the municipality is developing a trail plan that will be completed in late summer and perhaps a special meeting is warranted for staff to present the plan. Suggested that for heavily used trails there should be a list kept of safety issues which will require attention, and this list could be kept on the central SharePoint site. 4.6. Bike Friendly Community Application Jim Boate informed the committee that he assisted the Town of Whitby on their audit for the Share the Road (STR) Program and suggested that the Whitby contact be invited to assist with a pre -audit to determine the feasibility of Clarington's application, and also will reach out to Bruce McDonald in Whitby to attend the next ATSR committee meeting to inform the committee on Whitby's experience. Connor Houston informed the committee that there is a Bike Friendly Community (BFC) meeting being held on July 15t" and will forward on the link to the meeting to committee members. He also presented a graphic of the `Buckets' used by BFC to organize background information into 4 categories of Engineering, Education, Encouragement and Evaluation & Planning, and will share this information with the committee. Connor also noted that many other groups participate in the process including schools, police etc. 4.7. Signage — Sub Committee Report Jim boat and Bart Hawkins presented their report on Signage noting that welcome cyclist signs have been installed several years ago and some are now in need of replacement and updates with current and new information such as: trail etiquette, safety information, and reinforcement on how to use trails safely. Peterborough and Oshawa trail signs were identified as good examples of the types of signs to be created. Safety concerns were discussed with comments regarding sight lines and vegetation overgrowth and clearing. Public Works staff noted that the municipality does what they can to maintain trails but do not have the equipment or resources available for full time trail works. The municipality relies on the cycling community to inform on safety issues that require attention by staff. Previous municipal staff member, Peter Windolf, was contacted in the past with any maintenance concerns and that a trail audit performed twice annually would be beneficial in the ongoing maintenance requirements. Other safety measures discussed were the incorporation of flashing lights, and cautionary pavement markings, as well as incorporating signage showing where you are located and how to get from where you are to other locations. Signage commonalities were also suggested throughout Clarington. They are in Durham, but currently not in all areas of Clarington. It was noted that the WFT signs were recently replaced and are now consistent for its entirety. Suggested that staff analyze signage in other municipalities to help develop a cohesive sign program and municipal funds be used to supply the signs. Committee member inquired as to what budget is available for signage and next steps for the signage report. Next steps will be discussed at the next meeting. 4.8. Durham Region Active Transportation Update Connie Cobelka provided an update on the region's Cycling Plan, noting it is now online for everyone to access. The E-mobility bylaw is ongoing and will address the use of E-bikes. A link for the plan will be forwarded for everyone for viewing. 4.9. West Beach Road Deferred until the next meeting as there is a lot of information to review and discuss. 5. Other Business 5.1. Connor Houston introduced an app called Strava which is used by active transportation users for information on trail system traffic, demographics etc. Data is collected by the app which can be used to illustrate usage etc over specific timeframes i.e. monthly or annually. 5.2. The Committee Chair recognized Melissa Claxton-Oldfield, who has left the committee, with a big thank you for her efforts on the committee. 6. Next Meeting 6.1. The next regular meeting is to be determined . 7. Adjournment 7.1. Moved by Jim Boate seconded by Richard Oldfield. That the meeting adjourned at 9:01 PM Carried