COMPLETE STREETS STRATEGY REPORT DRAFT FOR COMMENT Please send comments to: [email protected] Last updated: May 28 2014 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Over 60 active transportation advocates, organizations, and community leaders from all across the Nation’s Capital took part in Ecology Ottawa’s Complete Streets Strategy Forum held on March 28th, 2014. The one-day event featured a panel discussion from Councillors Egli, Chernushenko, Fleury, Holmes, and Wilkinson, followed by an interactive strategy session whereby participants discussed ways to help ensure that walking, cycling, and public transit would continue to be prioritized in the city. A Complete Street can be defined as a street that is “designed for all ages, abilities, and modes of travel. On Complete Streets, safe and comfortable access for pedestrians, bicycles, transit users and the mobility-impaired is not an afterthought, but an integral planning feature” (Complete Streets for Canada). The first half of this report provides a summary of the councillor’s panel discussion. All five councillors expressed what a Complete Street looked like in their respective wards, and the current challenges that they faced in moving towards their implementation. Key points that were highlighted throughout the two-hour conversation included the importance of creating a network of integrated and connected streets, as well as the need for communities to work together and to engage their city councillors on issues that mattered to them. The second part of this report is a working strategy that has been compiled from the feedback received from the participants at the Forum. The strategy has been broken down into four key opportunities where community organizing and engagement is needed in order to move the Complete Streets discussion from policy into action. 1. Complete Streets policy: While the adoption of a Complete Streets policy in the City’s Transportation Master Plan is a step in the right direction, we need to ensure that the policy contains the 10 key elements of a comprehensive complete streets policy, as established by the National Complete Streets Coalition (see appendix A). This includes language that outlines specific next steps for policy implementation, as well as the development of concrete and measureable performance measures. 2. 2014 Municipal Election: With new elected officials coming into office this year, we need to ensure that all candidates are knowledgeable and willing to prioritize Complete Streets in their wards and in the city. 3. Budget: For the 2015 fiscal year, the City needs to adopt a budget (from transportation to infrastructure) that supports the Complete Streets policy and implementation. 2 4. Streets: We need to mobilize community support around specific streets that have already been designated by the City for work to be completed, and would benefit from the elements of a good Complete Street design. This includes streets that will be reconstructed for either sewer/ water renewal, as well as ones that are included in Transit-Oriented Development Plans, Community Design Plans, or the Downtown Moves study. Under each opportunity, we have included tasks that individuals and groups can take leadership roles on within their communities. This strategy is intended to help communities identify opportunities, work together, and begin to move towards having safe and accessible streets in each neighbourhood. OUR VISION We believe that the City of Ottawa will benefit immensely from the implementation of a Complete Streets policy. We believe that streets should be designed as places and destinations in their own right, and not just conduits for cars. We believe that streets should be accessible to and inclusive of all citizens, regardless of age, gender, or ability. We believe that people should have real transportation choices, so that they have real alternatives to driving. We believe that streets should be designed with people’s safety, health, and comfort in mind, in whatever mode of transit they choose. We believe that Complete Streets should be an integral part of the planning process for the construction, retrofitting, and maintenance of all roadways. We believe that individuals and organizations who care about these issues should work together to demand action. INTRODUCTION The City of Ottawa stands at a pivotal point in its development of sustainable planning and transportation policies. Since the City’s Infrastructure Master Plan and Transportation Master Plan were updated in 2009, Ottawa has experienced accelerated population growth, expansion of the city's urban area, and rapidly progressing high-density development. Last year, the City undertook a citywide review of land use, transportation and infrastructure policies that make up its Official Plan, Transportation Master Plan, Cycling Plan, and Pedestrian Plan. Together, these five plans set the vision for building a more livable Ottawa in the next 17 years. With that in mind, thirty groups – representing over 100,000 people across the City of Ottawa – joined Ecology Ottawa in launching a Complete Streets for Ottawa campaign. Since the campaign launch, more than 3000 citizens have signed our petition urging City Council to 3 support the approval and implementation of a comprehensive Complete Streets policy into the City’s official planning documents. On July 17th, 2013, City Council voted to redevelop Main Street into the City’s first Complete Street, marking a major milestone. With the momentum gained from the Main Street development, City Council passed the Transportation Master Plan on November 28th, 2013, which included a Complete Streets discussion. But our work is not done yet. The decisions we make today will determine whether we will be able to enjoy increased rates of walking, cycling, and transit-use in the future, or whether we will pave the way for increasing traffic congestion, infrastructure costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. PART I: COUNCILLOR’S PANEL SUMMARY The Complete Streets Strategy Forum began with a panel discussion that included Councillors Egli, Wilkinson, Holmes, Chernushenko, and Fleury. The councillors expressed what a Complete Street looked like in their respective wards, and the current challenges that they faced in moving towards their implementation. WHAT IS A “COMPLETE STREET”? There is no one-size-fits-all Complete Street design; what is considered to be a “Complete Street” will vary between communities and wards in the City of Ottawa. This is acknowledged throughout the Transportation Master Plan, which states that “each setting requires a road to perform different functions, and for this reason, each road must be sensitive to its immediate context”. Additionally, as outlined in the Building a Livable Ottawa 2031 policy proposal, when designing a street from a Complete Streets framework, “the needs of the most ‘vulnerable users’, pedestrians and cyclists, are considered first, followed by the needs of transit users and motorists.” Trade-offs are made among competing users, guided by the street’s intended function. To accommodate all users, Complete Streets often include features such as on-road bike lanes, wider sidewalks, protected crossings, landscaped areas, and traffic calming measures. Below are two examples of Complete Streets in the city’s suburban and downtown areas. SUBURBS: KNOXDALE-MERIVALE For residents living in suburban communities, accessibility to arterial roads is crucial. In Councillor Egli’s ward of Knoxdale-Merivale, city staff proposed implementing a sidewalk on Sherry Lane, a small residential street that was slated to undergo infrastructure reconstruction. However, after consulting the local community, they quickly realized that residents did not want 4 a sidewalk, but rather a multi-use pathway that would allow them to better access public transit on the larger arterial roads. While a multi-use pathway was what this community wanted, Councillor Egli emphasized that it may not be what other communities want. This is why community engagement and organizing is critical to ensure that a proposed Complete Street meets the needs of all residents. DOWNTOWN: RIDEAU-VANIER Modifications that give priority to pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users will be essential to support and accommodate the implementation of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project in downtown Ottawa. Councillor Fleury provided Queen Street as an example of a street that would soon be benefiting from a new LRT station. A Complete Street in this case would mean providing a safe environment for the huge influx of pedestrians that will be arriving by train. In order to make the street a safer environment, he suggested including widened sidewalks and trees to act as physical barriers to vehicle traffic. ROLE OF COMMUNITIES “BOY, DO WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO.” During the panel discussion, councillors acknowledged the progress being made on Complete Streets in the city. “If you look at the Transportation Master Plan, there is this great policy discussion about Complete Streets,” said Councillor Holmes. “It’s an improvement, and we are getting somewhere.” At the same time, Councillor Holmes made it very clear that there was much work to be done—as indicated by the long list of new roads and road widenings included in the Transportation Master Plan. The real challenge ahead would be translating the Complete Streets policy into practice. The following three measures were suggested by councillors as effective actions that your community can take to move this issue forward. 1. MAKE NOISE: TALK TO YOUR COUNCILLOR One message that was continuously brought up during the councillor’s panel session was the importance of engaging with your city councillor. Councillor Holmes emphasized the power of numbers, stating that “we need more noisy parents, cyclists, and pedestrians” because “we already have plenty of noisy drivers”. Regardless of what aspect of Complete Streets is important to you, councillors made it very clear: mobilizing your community and getting out to talk to your city councillor is critical. 2. BE SPECIFIC: ESTABLISH CLEAR DEMANDS Councillors also emphasized the importance of having clearly articulated, well-thought-out demands.