A presentation to council last night gave a glimpse into what the future of transportation in Thorold will look like for drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians, and commuters.
After consulting with the public and stakeholders in the community, a laundry list of new roads and existing upgrades to both bike- and pedestrian trails, as well as extensions to the public transit system, was laid out in the Transportation Masterplan, produced by a consultant firm for the city.
During his presentation of the plan, Bruce Mori from IBI Group sais that the goal was to accommodate the anticipated growth in Thorold in the coming years, and provide all residents and road users improved safety and connections to businesses while maintaining the small-town profile.
Some suggestions in the report include:
- Filling in a total of 13 kilometres of missing sidewalks on urban roads, near schools and transit to a cost of $1.36 million
- Two new walking- and cycling bridges crossing Highway 406 and the Welland Canal
- 5 kilometres of improvement on regional roads, and closer to 10 kilometres on municipal roads
- An extension of the transit system to cover Port Robinson West through partnering with Welland transit, and create transit hubs at Brock and Thorold South
- Improve safety and connections for walking and biking to Brock
- Better parking downtown
The suggested bike system is suggested to be developed over 20 years time, to a cost of around $14 million.
The plan also underlined the importance of designing future streets in Thorold with a multi-layered approach, to take into consideration accessibility- and safety needs.
The entire report can be found here.
