AFFECTS Direct: WARD 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 12 Indirect: CITY WIDE CITY OF HAMILTON Office of the City Manager Report Chair and Members Submitted Bob Robertson, City to: Corporate by: Manager Administration Committee Date: November 28, 2003 Prepared by: Shelley Merlo-Orzel SUBJECT: Road World Cycling Championships Final Report- (CM03014b) Wards 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 12) RECOMMENDATION: The Final Report to be received as information. Bob Robertson, City Manager EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Hamilton hosted The Road World Championships October 6-12, 2003. The six day event proved to be an overwhelming success with an estimated 230,000 spectators in attendance during the week long championships. The Road World Championships (RWC) were awarded to Hamilton in 1999. It was only the sixth time the RWC were held outside Europe and the second time in Canada, the first occasion was 1974 in Montreal. SUBJECT: Road World Cycling championships Final Report (CM03014b) (Wards 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 12) Page 2 of 18 The event used the same courses as the Tim Horton’s Road Cycling Championships in June, and required full closures of the race routes for extended periods each day. Numerous road closures were implemented. This was in order to assist the Hamilton 2003 Cycling Championships (HCC) in its responsibility to ensure the safety of the cyclists and the public and to ensure the event is undertaken and completed in a manner that is acceptable to the International Cycling Union (UCI, Union Cycliste Internationale), Canadian Cycling Association (CCA), City Council, City staff and the residents of Hamilton. Fast Facts * 1,225 athletes attended the RWC from 57 countries * Approximately 900 media from 33 countries covered the event * Over 2,500 volunteers assisted at the event in the capacity of security, course marshals, media centre, the festival and more. * 9692 pieces of crowd control fencing and insta-fencing * 700 traffic cones * 500 flexible traffic drums * 600 traffic signs( detour warning, road closed and traffic controls signs) * 271 Garbage receptacles * 150 Recycling bins * 170 portable washrooms BACKGROUND Recent History: August 2001 CM01005- Council approval of the race routes for both National and World Championships December 2001 CS01103-Approval of Quality Assurance Position for World Events April 2002 CSO1103 (a)- Cycling Update, approval of World Cycling Council Liaison Committee, approval of Canadian Cycling Championship event for June 2003 June 2002 CSO2028 (a)- Interim Landscape Enhancements July 2002 David Braley provided Council with an HCC Activity Update September 2002 CSO11036/TOE02174- Traffic and Access Issues November 2002 FCS02115- Election Sign By-law February 2003 Neil Lumsden provided cycling update - meeting continued in camera April 2003 CM03014 - Canadian Cycling Championships Road Closures June 2003 Tim Horton’s Road Cycling Championships September 2003 CM03014A Road World Cycling Championships SUBJECT: Road World Cycling championships Final Report (CM03014b) (Wards 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 12) Page 3 of 18 Road World Championship Debriefing HCC together with City staff and affected Ward Councillors held a debriefing of the Road World Championships. Items observed were: • Re-routing of traffic • Re-routing/scheduling of transit • Emergency services operations • Race course operations and schedule • Implementation of revised parking plan • Volunteer resources/scheduling • Pedestrian crossings • Revised civic services • Economic Impact - Visitors Public Health and Community Services The Events Section of Public Health and Community Services provided the lead and coordination to the event organizers with a single-entry point to City services. A Municipal staff team was developed to help facilitate “one-stop shopping” for the event organizer. This also provided for an inter-departmental working staff team to deal with event planning, overlapping issues, interests or responsibilities. Each member was responsible to plan and ensure their municipal service was delivered to the public in a timely fashion during the cycling event. Once each department plan was created it was communicated to the public in a coordinated fashion. Meetings were held monthly and as the event drew closer weekly meetings were held. Due to the level of detail required for this event each department staff met with their HCC staff counterpart to ensure planning, operations and logistics were dealt with and roles and responsibilities were established. Municipal staff filled in the gaps when necessary. Establishing regular open communication with HCC was critical to ensure that timelines, critical paths were established and adhered to. The Associate Medical Officer of Health was involved in the event planning to ensure that the event organizers understood the City’s legal responsibilities with respect to Public Health and that the organizers accommodated the City’s concomitant needs for co- operation, access, and accreditation. In Ontario, many important health and safety issues are the responsibility of the municipal level. International organizers may be more accustomed to working at provincial/state and federal/national levels and may underestimate the importance of the municipality. Corporate Communications Event communication (race schedules, festivals information, educational opportunities, spectator and participant parking, road closures and traffic detours) to Hamilton residents and businesses has been planned and implemented by the Community Relations staff of the Organizing Committee (HCC) in consultation with the City’s Corporate Communications Division and the World Events Manager. Tactics included SUBJECT: Road World Cycling championships Final Report (CM03014b) (Wards 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 12) Page 4 of 18 brochures (delivered to all residents and businesses in the Race Zone and periphery), four Town Hall meetings (March 4 meeting televised live on Cable 14), a resident information meeting (held September 16 at Chedoke Twin Pads arena), a monthly one hour show televised on Cable 14, regular media appearances by Hamilton 2003 and a City staff information meeting, stakeholder meetings, news releases and information on the Hamilton 2003 Web site (www.hamilton2003.com). Municipal communications strategies and tactics (communication to Hamilton residents on cycling event-precipitated changes, deletions and additions to municipal services) were planned and implemented by the City’s Corporate Communications Division and the World Events Manager. Municipal communications were co-ordinated with HCC communications and community relations initiatives for consistent, efficacious communication to Hamilton taxpayers. The primary tactics included a weekly column in City Connections leading up to the races starting August 6, Web pages on the City’s Web site dedicated to information for Hamilton residents (www.hamilton.ca), Customer Contact Centre training, Ward/neighbourhood newsletter submissions, resident Special Event parking information mail drop to Race Zone residents, news releases, public service announcements, media appearances/interviews, and Town Hall meetings/resident information sessions. The City’s Web site was well referenced by local media and used as an accurate and timely source of information. Information Technology Services’ Web Solutions staff report that the City of Hamilton website received 67,000 hits during the cycling week. Three cycling pages were in the top ten most hit pages for total of 25,000 hits, these included; 20,600 from U.S.A., 1,213 from Europe, 909 from Australia and 553 from Asia. During the race week, local residents were kept informed of road closures and any changes to municipal services through the City’s Web site and through news releases and traffic bulletins. The traffic bulletins were distributed via e-mail on an “as needed” basis as roads were closed in the mornings and reopened in the evenings and were used extensively by local broadcast media. The City also used the national and international media focus on the event as an opportunity to raise Hamilton’s profile. Corporate Communications staff coordinated media interview opportunities for the Mayor, City Manager and elected officials; interviews broadcast on the closed circuit race route video screens; media events and media conferences. Media coverage analysis shows that the City of Hamilton was profiled to an audience of more than 7.8 million across Canada alone – an ad value that exceeds $271 million. Traffic Planning Data gathered during the National event showed that general traffic flows were lighter than usual, (30% less overall, with an even greater decrease during the morning rush SUBJECT: Road World Cycling championships Final Report (CM03014b) (Wards 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 12) Page 5 of 18 hour). This was due to the increased public awareness of the event and the school year being completed, as well as the July 1st holiday on the following Tuesday. Similarly, it was anticipated that traffic flows would be lighter during World Cycling Championships due to the continuing communication and the school closings during the week of October 6, 2003. However staff did not expect an estimated 50 percent lower than the normal travel pattern. The reduction in the background traffic significantly contributed to the overall transportation plan. It allowed those shared roads from running without delay and removed the threat of closing the 403 off ramps to Main Street. Another significant operational difference between the Canadian and the World Cycling Championships was the need to