Learn more about the conservation area from this write up on Trail Swag last year.
[via Rick Dolishny]
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The 10th Annual Shifting Gears Workplace Transportation Challenge (May 1st to 31st) will officially kick off with an event at B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop (336 Rubidge Street) on Wednesday, May 1st at 1 p.m. Organizers, workplace coordinators and dignitaries will be on hand to help celebrate.
"Shifting Gears helps to support our personal, community and environmental health through increased rates of physical activity and reduced vehicle emissions,” says Susan Sauvé, Transportation Demand Management Planner at the City of Peterborough.
There are many reasons to participate in Shifting Gears, for both employers and employees, with the benefits ranging from better personal health and air quality to lowered family transportation costs and reduced demand on parking spaces. Every employee can participate in Shifting Gears by signing up as an individual or through their workplace at Peterboroughmoves.com.
Employees who participate in the program can order a free walking, cycling or transit kit to help them shift gears. Quantities are limited, so register early. All participants also qualify for grand prizes, including the Grand Prize of a $750 gift certificate for Resorts of Ontario.
Shifting Gears is a program of GreenUP, the City of Peterborough, Wild Rock Outfitters, the Peterborough County-City Health Unit and B!KE: the Peterborough Community Bike Shop.
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Here's an email reply that Peterborough resident Susan Nelson has shared when she asked that perhaps installing advance green lights along Monaghan might be a good starting point for helping with north/south traffic flow efficiency.
Dear Ms. Nelson,
Thank you for taking the time to submit your comments on the Parkway Corridor Environmental Assessment Study.
We acknowledge your comments and agree that Monaghan Rd is not well suited and does not provide sufficient capacity to accommodate the long term growth in traffic in the City of Peterborough. Given the lack of separate left turn lanes at most of the intersections along Monaghan Road, it is virtually impossible to provide efficient traffic signal control with advance greens to provide protected left turns at intersections. This type of signal operation works best when there are separate left turn lanes at intersections and detectors can be imbedded in the pavement in the left turn lane, to indicate when vehicles are waiting for an advance green phase. The traffic signal controller can then provide an advance green move in one direction or both directions if there is demand to warrant the advance green phase.
Without a separate left turn lane, there is no way to know if a vehicle stopped at the intersection is intending to proceed through the intersection or is planning to turn left. Without separate turn lanes, the only way to provide the advance green is to provide it for every cycle of the traffic signal irrespective of any vehicles actually wanting to turn left. To provide advance greens in both directions at the same time, would require a separate signal phase to only allow left turning vehicles to proceed first, followed by the through vehicles later. Again this would occur regardless of the presence of a left turn vehicle at the stop line, and even if the left turning vehicle was second or third in the line, they would be blocked and not be able to use the advance green.
Unfortunately, Monaghan Road is quite narrow, as I am sure you are aware, and the widening of this road to provide separate left turn lanes, even at the major intersections, would result in significant impacts to adjacent properties; would eliminate the sidewalks and boulevards; and would remove many of the mature trees along this corridor. Even if the City did undertake this improvement to Monaghan Road, this would not address the remaining problem areas that have been identified early on in our study. The recent construction of Medical Drive, provided some relief in the volume of through traffic using Monaghan Road, and the potential extension of Medical Drive to better connect to the major road network in the south end of the City would further reduce the traffic demand on the Monaghan Road corridor, and would also relieve congestion on Clonsilla Ave.
Forecasts of future planned growth in the north end of the City combined with growth in employment in the south-west end of the city will lead to increased travel demands on the arterial road network in the north end of the City as well. This will be particularly noticeable on the Parkhill Road corridor, with the increase in traffic trying to get to Chemong Road and Fairbairn Street, for example. This growth will increase the current left turn demands at the Parkhill Road intersections with Medical Drive, Monaghan Road, and Fairbairn Street and further increase congestion levels beyond those experienced today. Increased congestion and delays have been linked to increased collision risk as well, as frustrated drivers take chances in finding a gap in traffic.
For that reason, this study is examining a number of alternatives to address longer term growth in travel demand in the City, that builds upon the recommendations of the recently completed Transportation Master Plan(2012). For the Parkhill Road area, two basic alternatives are being studied to provide capacity to accommodate future north south travel demands. One alternative includes an extension of Medical Drive north with a new bridge across the Jackson Creek Valley (as noted in your email) to connect to Fairbairn Street and a new two lane roadway in the Parkway Corridor north to Cumberland Avenue. The second alternative includes the widening of Parkhill Road to provide separate left turn lanes at Monaghan Road and Fairbairn Street (or a traffic circle), plus a widening of Fairbairn Street to 4 lanes to connect to the Parkway Corridor in the vicinity of Highland Road.
There are advantages and disadvantages with each alternative. For example, a new bridge across the valley would be expensive, would impact vegetation and habitats in the valley, and may reduce the enjoyment of the trails and park areas to the south of the crossing location, just to name a few. The widening of Fairbairn Street would either require the removal of up to 25 homes along the east side of Fairbairn Street, or widening on the west side of the road; with extensive fill, retaining walls, and loss of trees and vegetation within the valley. Conceptual designs for each of these alternatives were provided at the Public Information Centre held on March 21, 2013. These alternatives were presented to the public for comment prior to the project team completing our evaluation. No decisions have been made on these alternatives as this point in time. Based on input received and a technical assessment of the alternatives, the project team will present a recommendation to the community at our next public meeting, tentatively planned for June 2013.
If you haven’t had the opportunity, I would encourage you to review the material from the first two Public Information Centers for this project on the City of Peterborough website at the following link.
If you have any trouble downloading the material please let me know and we will arrange to have a copy sent to you. Please note some of the files are quite large.
The City as recently agreed to extend the comment period for PIC 2 until April 19, 2013 to allow additional time for members of the public to familiarize themselves with the study, the information that has been presented so far, and the full range of alternatives under consideration.
Comments received after the April 19th deadline will also be reviewed and included as part of the study process and documentation.
We have added you to our study email list and will notify you in advance of the next public meeting.
We look forward to receipt of any additional comments you may have on the study.
Regards,
Kevin Jones
Project Manager
D 905-668-4021 ext 2515
Stay up-to-date by following the Friends of Jackson Park Facebook Group and Friends of Peterborough Trails website. Remember that all feedback for the Parkway Extension and protection of Jackson Park must be in by this Friday (April 19th) at AECOM. Email your thoughts to kevin.jones@aecom.com and be sure to include your full name and address to validate your input.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
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The second Parkway Public Information Centre Meeting is taking place this Thursday (March 21st) at the Evinrude Centre from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Come see the latest proposals to route traffic through our city.
"At PIC #1, held in October 2012, the Study Team presented the
problems and opportunities in the road network, the assessment of
the Alternative Solutions to address the identified problems/opportunities, preliminary Network Alternatives and the proposed evaluation criteria to assess the Network Alternatives. Since PIC #1, comments received from the public have been reviewed and considered by the Study Team and the Network Alternatives and associated evaluation criteria have been confirmed. The purpose of PIC #2 is to present the evaluation of the Network Alternatives and the Recommended Network Alternative."
Download the .PDF from the City of Peterborough to learn more. There will be a presentation at 7 p.m., with discussion afterwards.
[Related: Some Findings And Input From The Parkway Road Meeting On Impact On Community]
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
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The City of Peterborough is undertaking a project to improve George Street from between Sherbrooke and Perry Streets. The photos below show the present structure, followed by the proposed changes which would include a turning lane, pedestrian islands and a cycling lane.
Attend the public meeting on Thursday, March 7th, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Transit Terminal Training Room (190 Simcoe Street) to provide information and receive input from the public.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
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The Peterborough Cycling Club held their 2013 Open House Saturday night (February 23rd) at Wild Rock Outfitters. Roller racing was the hit of the night, provided by the West of Quebec Wheelers.
There were four fixed gear bicycles on rollers that were hooked up to a mechanical score board to show the racer's progress. As the evening progressed, the bracket of competitors were whittled down to the Final Four men and women.
Do Levis commuter jeans help you win? How about galoshes? Does beating a Wild Rock owner net you a 20%-off discount? Head over to the Peterborough Cycling Club website to hopefully learn these answers and more about the club.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
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The Canadian Canoe Museum is showing some Peterborough pride at the Outdoor Adventure Show in Toronto this weekend. Be sure to check out their artisan workshops as well.
You can see their booth on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
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The second public consultation of the Active Transportation By-Law Review is Wednesday night (January 30th) at the Peterborough Public Library (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Three By-Laws are being reviewed and you can submit your input in hard copy or online before February 15th.
A total of 196 surveys were submitted from the November 1st review meeting, and now there is this second opportunity to help shape where cyclists, skateboarders, longboarders, in-line skaters and e-Bikes can ride.
You can download the .PDF of the updated changes from The City of Peterborough.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
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The Canadian Canoe Museum is having an open house this Sunday (January 13th) from noon until 5 p.m.
Come visit the museum and explore the exhibits for free. The Peterborough Model Railroaders and the Lindsay & Region Model Railroaders will also be there.
[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]
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Here's the media release from City Hall...
Work on Trans-Canada Trail Construction at the CPR Bridge is scheduled to commence during the first week of January, 2013.
Innovative Civil Constructors Inc. (the “contactor”) will begin by fencing off the construction staging area on the top of the east bank of the Otonabee River, immediately north of the CPR Bridge. Pedestrian traffic will be redirected around the compound throughout the construction period.
As the work involves the construction of a temporary access road within the river, there will be considerable construction traffic on Maria Street in order to access the work site. People should exercise caution when travelling in the area. Unfortunately, some residents may be inconvenienced while trucks are delivering the fill material and again in March, when the fill will be taken away.
A construction staging area will also be established on top of the west bank of the river immediately north of the CPR Bridge. Otonabee River Trail users will be redirected around the compound throughout the construction period. A small length of temporary construction access road will be constructed in the river from the west bank. Trail users must exercise caution during periods when construction traffic is high and when crossing the CPR tracks.
The temporary construction access roads in the river are necessary to access the various work sites along the CPR Bridge. All the requisite environmental approvals and permits are in place. After the in-water work is complete, the access roads in the river will be removed, and the fill material will be trucked away. The removal of the access roads is scheduled to take place before the end of March, 2013.
Subsequent to the completion of the work on the bridge piers, repair work on the CPR Bridge will continue and the new three-metre-wide Trans-Canada Trail Bridge will be installed. Completion of the entire project is scheduled for the end of May, 2013.
The Canadian Pacific Railway advises that public use of the bridge is prohibited until such time as the Trans-Canada Trail on the bridge is complete and open for travel.
The City of Peterborough advises that the CPR Bridge and the contractor’s staging areas are construction zones and access to these areas is prohibited.
The City of Peterborough regrets the inconvenience to the public and area businesses through the construction of this important project and appreciates their patience and understanding. Any inquiries may be directed to the Planning Division, City Hall at 705- 742-7777 extension 1880.
This information is also available on the City of Peterborough website www.peterborough.ca.
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