Making it easier for people to get to, from and through Bradford West Gwillimbury depends extensively on the completion of the Bradford Bypass, but the planned provincial highway is just one piece of the municipality’s transportation puzzle.
Two public information sessions were held April 25 on the town’s Transportation Master Plan. The goal of the plan is to turn an issue with a traditionally narrow focus into something more holistic.
“The objective (is to) turn roads that are full of cars into a system that’s more balanced so that we can find ways to get around town and to other places by other modes of transportation", said Brett Sears of WSP, the consultants hired to draft the master plan. That balance, Sears said, includes walking, cycling, public transit and vehicles.
The plan will have to reflect the continued growth of the community, not only from a housing perspective but also in terms of business development. Ideally, it will aid in keeping Bradford West Gwillimbury a vibrant place to live and work.
Which can be difficult to appreciate when stuck in traffic on Bridge Street during either the morning or afternoon rush hour.
WSP used data from 2016 as a starting point to show the congestion on town streets, focusing on volume-to-capacity (V/C) ratios. V/C ratios measure the level of congestion on a road by dividing the volume of traffic by the capacity of the road. A congested road, signified by red on a map, has a V/C of 1.1 or above. Even with the reduction in traffic throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the projections for 2031 show a lot more red throughout the town than existed in 2016.
The consultants have been careful to consider Bradford West Gwillimbury in a regional context as it looks at meeting travel demand. The town is “not an island,” Sears said, acknowledging many vehicles on local roads are passing through, and the plan put together has to do more than focus on trips that begin or end here.
The need for the Bradford Bypass to be completed by 2031 was showcased through the work WSP has done, as they anticipate it to ease congestion significantly through Bradford West Gwillimbury, particularly in Bradford’s downtown. However, the proposed plan looks at options with and without the bypass, as well as other road development in the municipality, such as the proposed Bond Head bypass to the east of County Road 27 and the southwest arterial road near Line 5 and Sideroad 10.
Even though a significant part of the plan calls for roadway and transit improvements – including expanded public transit offerings in the community – it would be irresponsible for such a document to exclude active transportation options.
To create the balance WSP is striving for in the master plan, the town’s trails are proposed to increase 10-fold. On top of a “fulsome” series of sidewalks throughout the community, the town currently has 21 km of multi-use trails; the plan suggests that number should grow to 238 km.
“One of the key factors we can look at is to shift the mode of travel to something else,” said Sandy Yang, one of the WSP consultants. As part of their background, WSP looked at pre-existing trails and plans already on the books from both the municipality and the county.
“We started to look at where we can provide additional connections and candidate routes that create a full network and provide connections to where people want to go,” Yang added.
These trails will be both on- and off-street, as the plan also recommends adding cycle routes for all new construction and rebuilding of major and minor arterial roads. Ample options are also provided for creating safe spaces for active transportation on collector and urban routes throughout the community.
Consultants and town staff will take back the feedback received from the public at the information sessions and present the Transportation Master Plan to Bradford West Gwillimbury council before the summer.
