Kingston's Bike Ped Master Plan
Urgent call to action!
Kingston has released the draft of their Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan. This is a rare opportunity to comment on a plan that will be informing street designs for years to come!
COMMENTS ARE DUE THIS FRIDAY - that is two days away from now as of press time. The master plan is linked in the text above.
First of all, I’m really proud of Kingston for caring about safety and accessibility for vulnerable road users, and I thank all who worked on the master plan.
I have a bunch of thoughts on the draft; here are some of them.
Safety and accessibility for vulnerable road users are paramount. Safety and accessibility are more important than avoiding congestion or enabling traffic to move efficiently through the city. This should become a mantra for safe street advocates. (And it might be a good thing to mention in those comments you are drafting…)
I would love to see some specific goals added. For example, Kingston’s Climate Action Plan from 2010 recommended goals such as: by 2020, a 20% reduction of single occupancy vehicle use and vehicle miles traveled, a 20% increase in use of transit, and a 20% reduction in single occupancy vehicle commuting by City employees. (As far as I know, these goals were never officially adopted by the city.)
At Washington and Marius near George Washington Elementary (see page 73), there are several good suggestions in the draft, however I would further like to suggest that stop signs be added.
On Washington by Picnic Pizza, near the head of the O&W Rail Trail (see page 84), where John Lynch was killed nearly two years ago while crossing, the draft plan recommends a study to determine potential for a road diet to slow down traffic. Since this area serves as the gateway to the city of Kingston, and it is a residential/mixed use area, it is a great opportunity to set a good example and prioritize people outside of cars. Care should be taken to make this a safe and accessible place for people of all ages and abilities.
I hope you take a moment to look through the draft plan and write a comment. It is certainly not a given that our community will become a safe and accessible place for all; we need to push for it.
Thanks for reading! I have a few interesting articles on the docket in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
This plan is over 100 pages long. I don't know when it was released to the public, but I only first received an email notification (from 'Sweeten the Streets') about it the night before last.
In the middle of a work week. It's unrealistic to expect that most people can read, understand and comment on a plan of this size in under 48 hours.
This leads me to believe that the players involved don't have much interest in public input.
It's a really thorough plan. Details like the different slopes for cycling are important and often overlooked.