The following comments are…

The following comments are on behalf of Waterfront Regeneration Trust and Discovery Routes Trails Organization. Comments were also submitted on the Southwestern Ontario’s Transportation Plan in in 2019 and we commend the Province for its continued investments in cycling infrastructure on provincial and municipal highways across the province and supporting active transportation through legislation. We have reviewed the first draft of Connecting the North: a draft Transportation Plan for Northern Ontario released in December and are respectfully providing comments in support of our common goals of a safe and sustainable transportation network supporting economic growth in the North.

In 2015, Waterfront Regeneration Trust, a charity leading the work with 155 communities, to create the 3600 km Great Lakes Waterfront Trail expanded into Northern Ontario along the Lake Huron North Channel. As part of this expansion, MTO North East improved 60 km of paved shoulders on HWY 17 to achieve a continuous Great Lakes Waterfront Trail from Prince Township to Sudbury. In August 2019, the Hon. Ross Romano joined 150 enthusiastic cyclists for the inauguration of this northern expansion. Participants, 75% of whom had never cycled in Ontario’s North, loved this part of the Trail and rated MTO’s highway infrastructure highly. This month, in partnership with Trans Canada Trail, Destination Northern Ontario, FedNor and Superior Country, we are conducting the first phase of the expansion of the Trail along Lake Superior. Discussions with MTO North West and North East offices have been initiated.

Discovery Routes based in North Bay acts as the coordinating agency for the 645 km Voyageur Cycling Route and works at the community level to develop and promote regional and local cycling routes across the Nipissing and Parry Sound Districts. Discovery Routes has worked with MTO’s North East regional office on sections of the provincial highways network in Northern Ontario and is pleased that the Province is including fully paved shoulders on HWY 64, and HWY 17 west of North Bay along sections of Voyageur Cycling Route as well as other regional cycling routes in the area.

As was our request through consultations on the southwestern regional transportation plan, we want to ensure that active transportation including cycling remain an integral part of Ontario’s transportation policy and investments in Northern Ontario. Specifically we ask that the Northern Ontario Transportation Plan recognize the province-wide cycling network and set goals for its continued implementation at the local and provincial levels. Specifically, the action of “advance highway widening projects” should include improvements that implement the province-wide cycling network and help communities achieve active transportation goals.

To borrow words from Minister Lisa MacLeod, COVID-19 has emerged as an existential threat to the industries overseen by MHSTC. We deeply respect Minister MacLeod’s conviction and energy that continues to be put towards the recovery of the industry. Implementation of the province-wide cycling network will help establish Ontario as an international cycling destination as La Route Verte did for Quebec and support Minister MacLeod’s Reconnecting Ontario aspiration to emerge post-pandemic as a global destination of choice. The province-wide cycling network builds on investments completed and underway on the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail and Voyageur Cycling Route in Northern Ontario as well as hundreds of kilometers of regional cycling routes connecting communities in all other parts of the province. Together with our partners, of which we are happy to count the Province, we have established, signed and mapped over 5000 km of the 9800 km province–wide cycling network.

The following section references the first draft of Northern Ontario’s Transportation Plan and provides our suggestions for improving cycling in Ontario.

Getting People Moving and Connecting Communities
- Acknowledge the province-wide cycling network as part of the investment in highways to get people where they want to go and support economic growth
- Review and update the province-wide cycling network to reflect current and future cycling route expansions and active transportation needs of communities in Northern Ontario
- Abandoned rail corridors present a tremendous opportunity for the province-wide cycling network. They have the potential in many communities and rural areas to separate cyclists from highway traffic. The purchase and conversion of such facilities is usually beyond the means of the local municipalities.
- Incorporate bicycle transport services into rail and bus service in the North. Doing so will allow cyclists to travel the linear province-wide cycling network, using rail or busses to return to start positions, or as alternative should weather or other circumstances necessitate.

Enabling Economic Opportunity
Action 19: COVID-19 Recovery Actions to advance eight highway rehabilitation projects in Northern Ontario
- Recognize the province-wide cycling network in rehabilitation projects and acknowledge infrastructure as the coordinated implementation of a connected cycling network, specifically sections of HWY 17 West of North Bay and HWY 64
- Implement cycling route signage and cycling specific safety signage on rehabilitation projects that have been identified as part of the province-wide cycling network specifically the Voyageur Cycling Route and Great Lakes Waterfront Trail

Action 23: Ensure needs of tourism industry are addressed
The draft transportation plan does not go far enough to emphasize the importance of tourism to the northern economy and the transportation network’s role in tourism. Destination Northern Ontario estimates that pre-COVID tourism receipts were $1.6 billion in RTO 13 welcoming 8.5 million visitors and generating $500 million in tax revenues for three levels of government. This accounted for approximately 22,500 full-time jobs in Northern Ontario. In Quebec, cycling contributes $1.2B to the economy. Quebec’s 5000 km cycling network, La Route Verte, was achieved with a public investment of $250M and generates $134M annually—it took less than 2 years for a complete return on investment. Over 10 years this has translated into a 500 percent ROI.
- Continue to invest at the municipal and provincial level in safe cycling infrastructure as part of a coordinated implementation of a connected province-wide cycling network
- Improve cycling route signage and cycling specific safety signage
- Improve rest areas with cycle tourists in mind

Keeping People Safe and Providing Reliable Transportation Options
Action 32: Improve Rest Areas
- We welcome the government’s plan to build 10 new rest areas and repair or expand 11 rest areas along highways in Northern Ontario over the next five years, and ask that these rest stops incorporate amenities for cyclists including water bottle refilling station, bike repair facilities, bike racks, charging dock, free WiFi, trailhead signage that shows a map detailing route conditions, connections and area attractions, covered pavilion/shelter where people may rest from the weather. These modest measures could be incorporated into new rest stops the Province is planning.

Action 35: Review passing lanes needs
- The province could also consider cyclist safety as part of the review

Action 39: Improve transportation safety, security and access for vulnerable and disadvantaged people
- Consider that rural areas outside Northern Ontario’s urban centres are often connected by provincial highway and that transportation options are limited. Paved shoulders can open northern and rural communities to the benefits of cycling tourism and active transportation.

- MTO signage guidelines should include provisions to add signs to the highway to alert motorists of that cyclists may be crossing the highway. This situation occurs in several places on the Lake Huron North Channel section of the provincial highway. We also recommend that on particularly long crossings 4 – 6 lanes, road markings to indicate the crossing be added to the highway.

Maintaining a Sustainable Transportation System
Action 52: Continue to support a world-class system of diversified trails
- Approximately 136.4 km of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail between Simcoe and Sudbury uses provincial roadways, a significant portion of which is implementation ready, requiring only signage. There is a 56 km stretch between Estaire and HWY 522, under MTO’s jurisdiction that has been impacted by the 4-laning of HWY 69/400. Here, the four-laning work uses the existing HWY 69 creating a dangerous gap. We have received assurances from the Regional office that a continuous cycling corridor through this area will be established, for which we are very appreciative. We look forward to seeing the preliminary design concepts when available. We encourage the Ministry to include its work on the cycling network, for example through this corridor, in the Transportation Plan.

Together our organizations urge the Province to use the regional plans as way to signal its on-going commitment to a transportation vision that integrates active transportation and the province-wide cycling network meaningfully as a way to: connect people and places, provide healthy and affordable commuter and recreational travel choices, help achieve Ontario’s emission targets, and establish a prosperous cycle tourism sector.