Jennifer Smith

I must admit, when I heard that Milton was looking to build a Velodrome for the 2015 PanAm Games, my first thought was "Monorail!" The whole thing sounded like an enormous white elephant - another orphaned Hamilton project championed by certain Milton councillors as a way to garner headlines, much like their ill-advised flirtation with the "Milton Ti-Cats".

However, having reviewed the preliminary plan put together by Town staff and presented to Council last night, I'm now supporting the project.

The plan is really quite innovative in that it won't cost taxpayers one extra cent. This seems impossible, but here's how it breaks down:

Total project capital cost:	$40 million (reduced from $44 million)
Local share:	44%, or $17.6 million
Site servicing/parking:	$2.2 million
Total local cost:	$19.8 million

Of that local cost, staff propose that funding be broken down as follows:

Pledged Donations:	$7.0M	(from Mattamy - already secured)
Sponsorship:	$2.0M
Milton Education Village Partner:	$2.5M	(from reserves until Laurier campus is confirmed)
Fund Raising Campaign:	$3.0M	(we raised $2M for the arts centre very easily)
In-Kind Capital:	$1.5M	(already have commitments from numerous suppliers)

That leaves $3.8 million to be covered by the Town of Milton. That's still a lot, but here's the clever part: it's money we've already planned to spend. That's because the velodrome will have space for three indoor gymnasiums that were originally going to be part of a planned Sherwood Survey community facility - a facility that will be funded largely through development charges. The only difference will be locating the gyms in the velodrome instead of the new rec centre.

Again: this is money we're spending anyway.

The same approach applies to the operating costs. PanAm is setting up a Legacy Fund to finance a big chunk of the ongoing expenses for these facilities after the Games are done. The rest will be financed from the same sources that would have otherwise paid for running the Sherwood gymnasiums.

Even the money for the full business plan, which councillor Maboeuf has balked at, will come from the slots fund and not from taxpayers.

As for the benefits, I've gotten a whole new perspective on that as well thanks to my participation in the recent London Bike Summit. A large portion of that day-long event was devoted to the community benefits of cycling tourism. Several presenters noted the hugely successful Velo Quebec program that has seen a huge return on their sizable investment in cycling infrastructure and cycle tourism promotion.

Milton is already a mecca for cyclists and cycling competitions, thanks to the challenges of the Niagara Escarpment. Having one of only two indoor velodromes in the province and becoming the home of the Canadian Cycling Team would further cement our role as the Cycling Capital of Canada. This will benefit us not only in terms of tourism and tourist-related businesses, but also in attracting larger firms that want to locate somewhere where their employees can enjoy a healthy lifestyle and high quality of life.

Council voted last night to continue pursuing this project by a vote of 9-2. You can watch the debate here. The two hold outs were Rick Maboeuf and Ward 2's Greg Nelson. Of course Malboeuf's vote was to be expected - he is, after all, rapidly establishing a reputation as Milton's very own Grover Norquist. Greg Nelson spoke to me about his own concerns about the project recently (concerns which I shared at the time), but ultimately his objection was the same as Malboeuf's - that he couldn't find anyone in his ward that would support spending money on such a thing when they couldn't see any direct benefit to themselves.

While that may well be true, I would suggest that it also indicates a decided lack of leadership. Yes, a councillor must represent the interests of their specific constituency and respect their wishes. However, they also need to be able to look at the bigger picture and to communicate that perspective to their constituents. If a councillor consistently displays a negative attitude towards projects like the velodrome (or transit) when polling their constituents, that attitude is going to be reflected in the response they receive - especially if they don't bother to explain the details or the potential benefits.

I hope that I have explained things a little better. I encourage you all to read the report in full and then let me know what you think.

UPDATE: Here's a brief bit of coverage from CHCH, with quotes from Rick Malboeuf and Mike Cluett. And BTW, if anything has convinced me that this plan is financially sound, it's the support of the very fiscally conservative Cluett.



 

In 2006, OPP Sgt. Greg Stobbart was struck and killed by a truck while cycling on Tremaine Road, just south of Main. The truck driver had had his license suspended five times before the accident, owed $14,000 in driving-related fines, and yet he was only sentenced to 100 hours of community service and told to attend drivers ed.

That tragic experience led Stobbart's widow, Eleanor McMahon, to begin a crusade for bike safety that resulted in the formation of the Share the Road Cycling Coalition. The group brings together cyclists, police, and policy makers from all levels of government, all dedicated to “enhancing access for bicyclists on roads and trails and educating citizens on the value and importance of safe bicycling for healthy lifestyles and communities.”

In 2009, Share the Road sponsored the first Ontario Bike Summit. This year, the summit was held in London, Ontario, a community which was recently awarded a Bronze designation in the Bicycle Friendly Community Program. This program - which Milton would do well to implement - assesses the progress made by communities in the 5 "E's": Enforcement, Encouragement, Evaluation, Engineering, and Education.

The keynote speaker was Amy Ryberg Doyle, city councillor in Greenville, South Carolina. She outlined many of the specific measures that have been taken by Greenville over the past 30 years to make it not only bike-friendly but people friendly through its 'Complete Streets' planning policies. These policies have been successful because they are not merely suggestions - they are legislated requirements which mandate the city to consider bike lanes every time a road is repaved, and all businesses to install bike racks. They also closely monitor bicycle use and changing traffic patterns in order to measure their progress. Throughout her presentation, Ryberg Doyle's mantra was, "If you want bikes to count, count bikes!"

Amy Ryberg Doyle, Greenville, SC

The first panel discussed the potentials of bicycle tourism in Ontario, and highlighted the economic benefits of cyclists as visitors who tend stay longer and spend more than other types of tourists. Quebec was held up as a model of a province-wide promotion and infrastructure commitment (through initiatives like Velo Quebec) that has paid off to the tune of $166 million from cycling tourists. They also discussed the Welcome Cyclists program, which allows businesses to promote themselves to cyclists by providing amenities like covered bike racks, enclosed bike lock-ups, bike repair kits, healthy food options, and local bike route maps.

The second panel discussed the specifics of building bicycle-friendly communities, and included Deputy Chief Bob Percy of the Halton Regional Police Service. Percy spoke at length about Halton's 'Share the Road' program, and highlighted the police service's role in educating cyclists and motorists in partnership with local cycling organizations. He was followed by representatives from Waterloo and Ottawa talking about their respective cities' policies, and how they plan to go from Silver to Gold Bicycle-Friendly Communities.

Waterloo representatives Diane Freeman and Scott Nevin

I came away from the conference with a renewed optimism that we really can make Milton more bike-friendly, and a host of practical ideas for making it happen. One of the best of these was the Road Diet.

It sounds like a radical notion: instead of adding lanes to improve traffic, take a lane or two away and give the space over to bike lanes, pedestrian islands, turn lanes, and/or sidewalks. And yet, it's an idea that has been proven to work - in Greenville, in Waterloo, and in dozens of other communities. Here in Milton, this is essentially what was done to Bronte Street.

Diane Freeman, a city councillor from Waterloo, showed exactly how a road diet was successfully applied to Davenport Road, transforming it from a dangerous, deteriorating four-lane thoroughfare that split the community into a quieter, safer two-lane neighbourhood road with bike lanes, pedestrian safe medians and even 'bike boxes' - all without increasing congestion. They even had a street party to celebrate Davenport's re-opening - and a thousand people came!

So, which Milton streets do you think would benefit from something like this?

Moving Beyond the Automobile: Road Diets from Streetfilms on Vimeo.