New map to help cyclists navigate NOTL streets
A new map of Niagara-on-theLake aims to help cyclists navigate the town’s streets more safely and accurately.
The map and its accompanying website, CycleNOTL.ca, were created to address safety concerns related to cycling in town.
“The town had been getting complaints from residents for years and so council assigned (the community safety committee) to look into the complaints,” said committee chair Catharine Wickabrod.
The group is a committee of the town, formerly known as the NOTL community policing committee. It has been working on safety issues within town for more than 23 years and cycling has always been a key component.
“Our first major project, when this committee was formed, was highlighting bike safety for migrant workers in the community,” said Wickabrod.
The committee decided that a map was needed for cyclists to help them better navigate through Niagara-on-the-Lake’s streets. The map it designed — with the help of the town’s geographic information systems (GIS) technologist, as well as input from the committee, Niagara Regional Police, Ministry of Transportation and cyclists — outlines some of the differences between urban and rural cycling.
“Keeping in mind that a number of residents and tourists alike do not understand our unique urban/rural town and the fact that most of the rural roads do not have any dedicated bike/ walking lanes and can be very narrow,” said Wickabrod.
“Most of the rural roads have higher speed limits than urban roads, in fact riding a bike or walking on a narrow rural road with traffic speeds of 80 km/h hour can be frightening to most people, and especially visitors to our town.”
She said the map will be useful not just for visitors to the area, but residents as well.
Committee member Kenneth Gansel served as the map designer. He said there were several issues that needed to be addressed through the development of the map. The map is twosided and was made to scale, unlike some of the other maps available in town.
“You have people who are trying to cycle from Old Town to Queenston because they think it’s only one inch away, then they get to East West Line and think they’re there,” he said. “We wanted this to be accurate.”
The map highlights walking trails, roads with bike trails, town facilities, public washrooms, the chamber of commerce, health clinics, wineries, as well as park and pedal destinations.
The back of the map highlights rules of the road and bike safety, including road speed limits, bus routes and more.
When folded, the Niagara-onthe-Lake Cycling and Pedestrian Route Map is pocket-sized. It is available at bike rental facilities throughout town, as well as at town offices.
While the website, cyclenotl.ca, has been launched, Gansel said digital copies of the map are not yet available. The committee will be working throughout the winter to populate the site with content, including a downloadable map, and bike route guides.
Wickabrod said the committee will be doing a formal presentation on the new map before council sometime this month.