Mississauga updating cycling master plan

If you cycle around Mississauga, then city council has good news for you.

Cycling trips in the city have doubled since 2011, prompting the 2018 cycling master plan which was endorsed at a general committee meeting on June 27 and will go before city council on July 4 for approval. The plan includes creating a cycling infrastructure and a cycling network that’s “safe, connected, convenient and comfortable,” said transportation and works commissioner Geoff Wright.

The implementation of new cycling infrastructure will be co-ordinated with road construction projects. The network is expected to result in a total of 897 kilometres of cycling infrastructure over the next 27 years.

The plan was developed with the input of the Mississauga cycling advisory committee and public consultation. That consultation sought input from residents, cyclists and the business community. Information was also gathered from online surveys and face-to-face sessions in all 11 wards.

In the plan, cycling tracks are to be physically separated from the road by a curb, reserved for bicycles only. The separation is to be aided by flexible posts, planters, parking stalls, curbs and other barriers protecting cyclists. Multi-use trails are to be developed along boulevards and through parks, while roads with lower speeds will have shared routes for cyclists and motorists.

The cost of the plan in the 2019 budget is $5.3 million.