Residents recommending more connected trails, safer crossings and more in new Active Transportation Plan

By Zachary Roman

The Town of Caledon is currently in the midst of creating a new Active Transportation Master Plan.

The goal of the plan is to develop a well-connected and safe active transportation network in Caledon that will encourage both residents and visitors alike to choose active forms of transportation such as walking and biking.

Sabrina Davidson, the Town of Caledon's Sustainable Transportation Coordinator and the Town's lead on the master plan, has, along with a subcontracted consultant, been collecting feedback from the Caledon community regarding what they'd like to see implemented in the new Master Plan, which will guide the Town's active transportation projects for the next five years, 10 years, and beyond.

Davidson explained dividing goals into these three timelines organizes and streamlines goal implementation.

Davidson met with the Citizen to share some of the feedback she's received from residents through community engagement both in person and online.

Davidson said since Caledon is known for its trails and outdoor activities, the community is lucky there has been a lot of support for active transportation here.

One of the main things she's heard from residents is that they'd like to be able to use active transportation to get to work, school, shopping, or a friend's place.

“We've seen that in youth specifically, that they want that freedom to be able to feel safe biking to school, to their friend's homes, the shops, like I mentioned. They want to see more options for safe and direct connections to the places that they visit…. there's really a palatable wish for that type of independence in their travels,” said Davidson. “That can be through connected trails, sidewalks, and even shouldered spaces — treatments are very context specific.” 

Oftentimes, Davidson said all it takes is adding a simple connection trail to open up a brand-new route. She also said she's heard a desire for a north-south connection in Caledon that's similar to the Caledon Trailway which runs east-west.

“There's a strong desire for recreational trail loops — being able to park somewhere or walk somewhere and then get back to your first destination — so that's an interesting thing we've heard,” said Davidson. “There are some informal trail (loops) that we've seen, so we are also looking to see how we can potentially formalize them. A lot of people naturally gravitate to those loops… if you're looking for a recreational experience, those loops are really key.”

She said these loops are often not documented anywhere, but just known about by community members in Caledon's many villages and hamlets. Davidson is hoping residents will be able to tell the Town about as many of these loops as possible so the Town can look at what options may exist for formalizing them and making them safer and more accessible.

Safe trail crossings are another priority for Caledon residents that Davidson said she's been hearing about. Both drivers and trail users alike have reported wanting improved safety at crossings, something Davidson said can be achieved with stronger and more modern design elements at crossings, as well as just by improving sightlines.

She's also heard residents would be more inclined to bike on the road if there was a level of separation between them and cars. She said the Town will be looking into how it can make people more comfortable and willing to bike on the road in its master plan process.

“All of the feedback we've collected, whether that's conversations with people or survey feedback, everything has been recorded,” said Davidson. “Once this round of engagement is done, we're going to take all that back, analyze it, break it off into key themes that we can actually bring to our consultant and to staff that are working on developing some recommendations, and then take those things and build them into those recommendations.”

There's still time for Caledon residents to offer their input on the active transportation master plan, and they can do so online at haveyoursaycaledon.ca/ATMP or at upcoming workshops on September 14 at the Caledon Seniors Centre and September 17 at the Alton Bicentennial.

“We've only heard excitement for this project, so it's really nice,” said Davidson. The Town hopes to have the plan complete by Fall 2023.