Comments

· The MTO spine route will align with the Voyageur Cycling Route

The routes proposed are a good start to allow cycling around the province. I would like to see destination loops such as the tour of lake Nippissing and lake Simcoe as examples.

Our community of Mississippi Mills has a rich cycling culture and history; Mississippi Mills Bicycle Month, Almonte Bicycle Club, annual competitive cycling events, and the birthplace of the Eastern Ontario Active Transportation Summit (now in its 4th year).

I would very much like to see the former rail bed running through Lanark County turned into a bicycle walking path.

A safe place for a multi-generational community to cycle free of pollution.

A Cycling Network throughout Ontario is a good move for so many reasons. 1. Tourism - Cycle Tourism is beginning to expand from just the large urban areas in Ontario. An interconnected network would allow these individual and groups to move from Community to Community in day or longer trips. 2.

As a Mississippi Mills resident, I urge you to align the MTO spine route with the Voyageur Cycling Route by using the abandoned rail trail from Arnprior to Ottawa via Pakenham, Almonte and Carleton Place.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the proposed network of #CycleON: Ontario’s Cycling Strategy. The Ministry of Education fully supports the Ministry of Transportation’s implementation of a province-wide cycling network.

I am writing to express my support for the inclusion of Mississippi Mills and Carleton Place in the proposed province-wide cycling route.

Please be advised that Township of Puslinch Council, at its meeting held on May 3, 2017, considered the Province-wide cycling network and subsequent to discussion, Council directed staff to submit the following comments:

Lanark County is in the process of acquiring and developing an abandoned rail bed. I strongly advocate that the section of the rail bed that runs from Beckwith Township/Carleton Place through Almonte and on to Pakenham be included in a cycling route.

Thank you for giving the public the opportunity to comment on the proposed Province-wide Cycling Network. First of all I would like to say that I wholeheartedly support the proposal to develop a network.

Notice that the route North of Goderich follows Highway 21 and that South of Goderich it deviates to parallel routes even though AADT( Traffic volume measure units provided by MTO) are similar.

Why does the route leave the highway South of Goderich

I have some concerns with the proposed route going west of Shabaqua, along Hwy 11 and Hwy 71. I can appreciate there is much less traffic on this route for potential cyclists to contend with, however there are also a lot of benefits of making Hwy 17 the primary route along this corridor.

Cycle Toronto supports the government’s objective of encouraging cycling among Ontario’s diverse population Ontario’s cycling policy, as expressed in its CycleON strategy, includes keeping cyclists safe and encouraging more people to ride bikes.

There should NEVER be an on-road bike route where the speed limit is above 50 kmh. Any such bike routes should be physically separated from traffic.

[Original Comment ID: 209341]

The purposed cycling routes north of gravenhurst are mostly suicidal. Have you ever driven on HWY 17 between North Bay to Pembroke? Super busy highway, no shoulder and services over 100km apart.

The route from Longbow Corners, down Hwy 71 and Hwy 11 to Shabaqua Corners in Northwestern Ontario will be a waste of millions of taxpayer dollars. Traffic volumes are low enough on Hwy 71/11 that paved shoulders are not required for cyclists.

May 16, 2017

Monica Russell Senior Policy Analyst Ministry of Transportation Policy and Planning Division Transportation Planning Branch Environmental Policy Office (Toronto) 777 Bay Street Suite 3000 Toronto, OntarioM7A 2J8

Dear Ms. Russell,

Please accept this submission on behalf of the Oxford County Cycling Advisory Committee. In addition to this submission, a letter was emailed directly to Monica Russell, Senior Policy Analyst.