The Regional Municipality of York to hold final discussions on Transportation Master Plan
Public invited to participate in consultations across York Region this month
NEWMARKET – The Regional Municipality of York will conduct a final series of public consultations beginning next week as part of the process to update the Region’s Transportation Master Plan. To be held this month across York Region, the public meetings will allow residents to learn more about the draft recommendations and provide further input.
The update to the Transportation Master Plan is necessary to incorporate significant increases in the Province’s forecasts of York Region’s population, employment and the number of households in addition to changes in land use planning and environmental policies.
“York Region remains one of the fastest growing communities in Canada and our communities are expected to continue to experience extensive growth over the coming decades,” said York Region Chairman and CEO Bill Fisch. “In order to meet our growing travel demands in an economically and environmentally-sustainable manner, York Region must further develop our regional transportation infrastructure.”
The recommendations integrate our sustainability objective to preserve and enhance our natural environment, economic vitality and healthy communities while providing safe, affordable and efficient transportation for people and goods.
“We need to obtain input from our residents on a draft transportation network and a set of policy recommendations that will benefit everyone,” said Town of Markham Regional Councillor Tony Wong, Chair of York Region’s Planning and Economic Development Committee. “Our goal is to ensure our communities sustain the high quality of life we already enjoy across York Region.”
York Region’s work in transportation infrastructure planning has been underway for a number of years. The 2002 master plan provided a strong foundation for the York Region projects included in Metrolinx’s Big Move initiative. The current update will enhance and complement the 2002 plan and continue moving forward in developing new phases of York Region’s transportation network.
Throughout the current study, York Region residents and stakeholders have provided valuable input to the study team and have used the input to prepare draft policies, programs and transportation networks for recommended implementation over the next 30 years. Information highlighted includes requests for the Transportation Master Plan to be sustainable, bold and innovative in addressing traffic congestion and the continuing rapid growth in York Region.
Initiatives to encourage carpooling, the use of public transit and alternative modes of travel such as walking and cycling to work are regarded as necessary to take cars off our roads, reduce car emissions, improve air quality and encourage active and healthy lifestyles.
The agenda for these public meetings are structured with an open house, followed by a formal presentation and a facilitated discussion with all participants.
The third and final round is scheduled this month as follows:
Meeting Date & Municipality Location
Wednesday, November 12th
Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville Latcham Hall
8 Park Drive South
Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville
Tuesday, November 18th
City of Vaughan Vaughan Civic Centre
Council Chambers
2141 Major Mackenzie Drive, City of Vaughan
Thursday, November 20th
Town of Markham Town of Markham Anthony Roman Centre
Council Chambers
101 Town Centre Boulevard, Town of Markham
Tuesday, November 25th
Town of Newmarket Newmarket Municipal Office
Council Chambers
395 Mulock Drive, Town of Newmarket
Thursday, November 27th
Town of Richmond Hill York Region South Services Centre
Rooms ABC, 1st Floor
50 High Tech Road, Town of Richmond Hill
Time and format for these events
6:00 to 7:00 p.m. - Open house
7:00 to 7:30 p.m. - Presentation
7:30 to 9:00 p.m. - Facilitated Discussion
To obtain more information about the public meetings, please call York Region’s Planning and Development Services Department staff at 905 830-4444, Ext. 1578, or toll-free at 1-877-464-9675, or send your request via email to masterplan@york.ca
For more information on The Regional Municipality of York, please visit www.york.ca
What is new in York Region’s updated plan?
Transportation Master Plan public meetings to discuss draft network and policies
NEWMARKET – Public consultations on the Transportation Master Plan update will be held between November 12th and 27th and will review a draft transportation network and a set of policy recommendations that will form the basis for an update to the 2002 Transportation Master Plan. They will also discuss the sustainability principles that helped to formulate York Region’s transportation policy directions.
An expanded transit network brings more residents closer to rapid transit services
The focus on transit in the 2002 Transportation Master Plan is enhanced and expanded in the draft update of the plan. An increase in the number of rapid transit corridors reflects York Region’s strengthened commitment to sustainable development to meet the Provincial forecast for significantly more population, employment and household growth for York Region over the next three decades.
Previously-planned rapid transit lines carried forward are:
• Extensions of the Spadina and Yonge subway lines to Highway 7 at the Vaughan Corporate Centre and Richmond Hill Centre, respectively
• Yonge Street rapid transit line from the vicinity of Highway 7 and Yonge Street (Richmond Hill Centre) to the vicinity of Davis Drive and Yonge Street (Newmarket Centre)
• A Highway 7 rapid transit line through York Region from the City of Brampton to the City of Pickering
• A Markham north-south rapid transit line in the Warden Avenue corridor
Proposed additional rapid transit corridors include:
• An east-west line along Major Mackenzie Drive from Weston Road in the City of Vaughan to Ninth Line in the Town of Markham and connecting to the Highway 7 rapidway along Ninth Line
• An east-west line in the Steeles Avenue corridor extending from Highway 27 in the west to east Markham, connecting to an extension of the proposed Malvern rapid transit corridor
• A north-south extension of the proposed Jane Street Light Rail Transit (LRT) line from the City of Toronto to the Major Mackenzie Drive corridor
• A north-south rapid transit line in the Bathurst-Dufferin Street corridor
• A north-south extension of the proposed Don Mills LRT line from the City of Toronto to the Beaver Creek-Commerce Valley employment node at Highway 7 along Leslie Street
In addition, the update recommends a revised network of transit priority corridors where conventional bus services feed the rapid transit lines. In these corridors, buses can be prioritized through cost-effective measures such as traffic signal priority, queue jump lanes at congested points at signalized intersections, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, reserved bus lanes or a combination of them.
York Region’s 2002 plan provides the foundation for Metrolinx initiatives in York Region
Many years of advance planning and preparation typically are required prior to senior levels of government making any infrastructure investment announcements. York Region’s 2002 Transportation Master Plan provided a significant portion of that pre-announcement work and enabled Metrolinx in its Big Move initiative to announce investments in four major infrastructure projects in York Region, including two TTC subway extensions into York Region, one to the Vaughan Corporate Centre and one to the Richmond Hill Centre, along with Viva rapidways on Yonge Street and Highway 7.
Draft plan reiterates need for maintaining an efficient road network
A refined road network includes transit priority corridors and widening of two-lane roads to four lanes in major travel corridors. Selected road improvements will ensure the efficient movement of transit vehicles, goods vehicles and cycling connections. Road capacity is added only when no other viable options exist.
Sustainability is the foundation of the new Transportation Master Plan
To address travel demands in the future and be successful in meeting the goals of the Sustainability Strategy, sustainability principles are the foundation of the updated Transportation Master Plan. This direction led to the development of a set of 11 transportation sustainability principles that guided the development of both network and policy initiative recommendations. The 11 sustainability principles are:
• Put pedestrians and transit first
• Integrate transportation and land use planning
• Protect/enhance the environment and cultural heritage
• Support our economic well-being
• Provide access and mobility for everyone
• Adopt energy efficient transportation systems
• Conduct on-going performance measurements and monitoring
• Ensure fiscal sustainability and equitable funding
• Further encourage communications, consultation and engagement
• Implement and support transportation supply management
• Implement and support transportation demand management
A typical transportation master plan would consist of the following major components:
1) Transit network
2) Road network
3) Pedestrian and cycling (or active transportation) master plan
4) Policies and strategies
The sustainability of a transportation plan is measured by how well it will reduce the amount of travel; how well it will accommodate travel using the most sustainable modes such as walking, cycling, transit and car pooling; and finally, how well it will reduce the use of the single occupant vehicle.
Growth forecasts for York Region population, jobs and number of households
The provincial growth plan forecasts York Region's population to reach 1.5 million people by 2031. Adding 570,000 more people in two decades is comparable to adding the population of our two largest cities, Markham and Vaughan, combined. To successfully implement the provincial growth plan, York Region must add 333,000 jobs for a total of 797,000 jobs by 2031. In addition, York Region must add 231,300 households to our current stock of 275,500 households.
For more information on The Regional Municipality of York, please visit www.york.ca |
