ATAC and Cycle Stratford…

ATAC and Cycle Stratford submission to the Environmental Bill of Rights

Registry regarding the Cycle Ontario Action Plan and the Development of an integrated province-wide network – May 10, 2017

It is an exciting time for the cycling community in Ontario. The City of Stratford’s Active Transportation Advisory Committee (ATAC) and Cycle Stratford would like to congratulate the Province of Ontario on two recent commitments:

i) the allocation $50 million in the province’s 2017 budget (as part of a $225 million over the next 5 years) towards the province’s commuter cycling infrastructure; and

ii) the development of the first Ontario cycling tourism plan. Stratford is one of the major tourism destinations in Ontario, and arguably in Canada, bringing in more than a half a million visitors to our city each year. While the Festival Theatre is a huge contributor to local tourism, others such as culinary experiences, agricultural events, local festivals, and sports tournaments have all impacted the city’s economy in recent years. Tourism opportunities are on the rise in Stratford and – in collaboration with the Stratford Tourism Alliance and our Regional Tourism Organization (RTO4) - we are also welcoming cycling visitors to our area.

Stratford city council oversaw the development and subsequently approved a comprehensive and progressive 20 year Active Transportation Master Plan for our city. Over the past 3 years, we have been working to implement the plan with the support of council, city staff, ATAC and Cycle Stratford. Stratford is also

in close proximity to the Guelph to Goderich (G2G) Rail Trail, with hopes of making a direct link to our city in the future.

For these reasons, and the timeliness of your investment into enhancing cycling throughout the province, we are interested in working with you to ensure that Stratford and neighbouring municipalities are part of the plan to connect cycling routes and places of interest in our region and to help promote commuter,

recreational and tourist cycling across Ontario.

We would like to be actively involved in future discussions and planning with regard to the Southwest - Ontario region and encourage future communication and engagement with our vibrant, supportive, and growing cycling community.

We strongly believe that Stratford – as one of Ontario’s tourism leaders - should be an important participant in the development of an integrated, province-wide network of trails and be considered as a destination for local, regional and tourism cyclists.

Submitted by Sarah Merkel on behalf of:

Kerry McManus Chair, Active Transportation Advisory Committee

Geoff Love President, Cycle Stratford

[Original Comment ID: 209369]