Cycling Master Plan

The Cycling Master Plan will be at General Committee at its meeting of Monday, March 14. Recommendations from this General Committee meeting proceed to City Council on Monday, March 28. Comments can be submitted to City Councillors at any time, but delegations to Council are only possible at the City Council meeting scheduled for March 28.

We are in the final stage of the Cycling Master Plan. A report with recommendations and cycling network maps is expected to be presented to City Council in late winter 2022. Your ideas and input throughout the process have provided valuable information and have been integrated into the Cycling Master Plan to a great extent. Thank you for taking the time to participate! The Executive Summary is now public and the other documents will be shared soon too.

The first cycling lanes in Peterborough were on George and Water Street between McDonnel Street and Hiliard Street. Cycling has come a long way since these lanes were installed in 1995. Just think, that was the same year that the first two trails were built as well, the one through Jackson Park and the Rotary Greenway Trail. Most of us spend so much time on the trails it would be hard to imagine a Peterborough without them today.

The George Street cycling lanes were a pilot when they were first installed and parking was permitted in them outside of the main commuting times, so they didn't work as well as many cyclists had hoped. A few years ago, the lanes were upgraded and extended south to Hunter Street when the road was resurfaced. The lanes were then extended south to Lake Street in 2019.

This year, George Street is being micro-surfaced between Lake Street and Lansdowne Street, so we will once again have the opportunity to extend the cycling lanes. When a road is micro-surfaced or resurfaced, it's like wiping the chalk board clean and starting fresh. This is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to add to our cycling network.

The public consultation on this project has finished and a report to City Council on this project is anticipated later this winter. Stay tuned!

Charlotte Street between Park Street and Hospital Drive is one of eight stretches of road that the Cycling Master Plan will look into in more detail to be ready with a plan when road works take place. This section of Charlotte Street is being resurfaced this fall, making it an ideal time to look at changes in how the pavement markings are laid out.

In July, the City held a public consultation about cycling lanes on Charlotte Street. Staff and the consultant on the project, the IBI Group, have reviewed the input and looked at the technical aspects of the project to make a series of recommendations found in Report IPSTR20-025 on the Agenda for the General Committee meeting of Council on September 14.

You may be wondering what work is being done on Charlotte Street west of Park Street. To preserve the pavement, it is being micro-surfaced, a treatment that keeps asphalt in good condition for longer, economically. As part of this project, we are looking at whether this section of Charlotte Street should have cycling facilities. When the top layer of asphalt is replaced, it is the ideal time to change the layout of a street because we will be starting with a blank slate in terms of pavement markings. The curbs are remaining the same, so there will be no changes to the trees, boulevard, sidewalks or driveways. Any changes we are looking at are on the street itself, from curb to curb. For a full picture of this aspect of the project, watch our video presentation.

So, what are the options? Between Park Street and Monaghan Road, there is currently a parking lane on the north side and two vehicle lanes, one in each direction. If the parking lane were removed, there would be enough room to put in cycling lanes instead. Examining the options here is part of the scope of the Cycling Master Plan project that the IBI Group is currently leading. They have looked at the options (two-way cycling lane, etc.) and are recommending one cycling lane in each direction.

The image below depicts how the street would be configured with cycling lanes, including a small, painted buffer.

For the section of Charlotte Street between Monaghan Road and Hospital Drive, there are several changes that would be needed to fit in cycling lanes. One eastbound vehicle lane would need to be removed just east of Sherbrooke Street, new left turn lanes provided at the Westmount Pharmacy and the Medical Centre and the left turn lane at Monaghan Road would be a shorter, dedicated lane,

We want to know what you think about these concepts to include cycling infrastructure along Charlotte Street. Fill out the survey to provide your comments.

Charlotte Street Survey