NOVEMBER 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................................1 2.0 VISIONING DIRECTION ....................................................................................................................................2 2.1 Context for Sustainable Growth – The Official Community Plan ...................................................................2 2.2 Transportation Vision .....................................................................................................................................5 2.3 Integrated Goals & Objectives ........................................................................................................................6 3.0 STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS ..................................................................................................................................9 3.1 Pedestrian Strategy ..................................................................................................................................... 11 3.2 Bicycle Strategy ........................................................................................................................................... 15 3.3 Transit Strategy ........................................................................................................................................... 19 3.4 Road Network Strategy ............................................................................................................................... 24 4.0 IMPLEMENTATION PRIORITIES .................................................................................................................... 35 i 1.0 INTRODUCTION The City’s 2000 Master Transportation Plan (MTP) recommended a number of transportation improvements to meet the demands of growth, to a planning horizon of 2021. Since that Plan was prepared, the City has experienced significant growth and development. This rapid growth is expected to continue in the coming years both in Port Coquitlam and in surrounding municipalities, which will place increasing pressures on the local and regional transportation systems. In order to accommodate increasing pressures and to enhance mobility and accessibility for residents and visitors, the City, TransLink, ICBC, the Province of BC and the federal government have invested significantly in the transportation system over the past decade. Significant projects include the Coast Meridian Overpass, the Pitt River Bridge, the Golden Ears Bridge, the David Avenue Connector and the Port Mann Hwy 1 Improvement Project. In addition to these projects, a number of local, regional, and provincial policy initiatives have placed an increasing emphasis in Port Coquitlam on sustainability and improved transportation options. With all the changes in the transportation landscape and expected growth on the horizon, the emphasis of the 2013 Master Transportation Plan update is on a transportation system that will support growth, development, and connections between key areas of Port Coquitlam. In particular, the City has identified that future development, redevelopment, and infill will be directed to the four mixed use areas of Downtown, Northside, Westwood, and Dominion Triangle, while supporting businesses in Port Coquitlam’s economic engine. The City’s Regional Context Statement (2013) supports this direction of concentrated urban growth, seeking the creation of compact urban areas, and complete communities with sustainable transportation choices. Ultimately, the 2013 MTP is intended to help shape Port Coquitlam’s transportation investments in and around each of the community and business nodes, providing residents, visitors, and businesses with key connections to, from, and within these four core areas as they continue to grow and develop over time. The transportation system is also intended to support the movement of people and goods to key destinations outside of the City, such as northeast Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam Centre, as well as the future Evergreen Line, and to connect people with other parts of Metro Vancouver. This process of updating the MTP is important to ensure that transportation investments work towards achieving this strategic vision and community goals, and to make the best use of available resources. In order to provide the City with clear directions and priorities, the 2013 MTP will provide the City of Port Coquitlam with a clear vision of the multi-modal transportation system to serve the residents and businesses of the community into the future. 1 2.0 VISIONING DIRECTION The vision for the 2013 Master Transportation Plan (MTP) builds on key community policies and plans and has been developed through input and feedback received from the community and City staff. The MTP encourages increased walking, transit and cycling while also accommodating general vehicle and commercial goods movements. The vision includes increasing the non-automobile mode share from 14% to 25%. Council will consider priorities and capital investments to support this vision as part of the annual Financial Plan review process. 2.1 Context for Sustainable Growth – The Official Community Plan Port Coquitlam is committed to being more sustainable and “smart” as it grows by incorporating new ideas and approaches into planning and development. These ideas and approaches are expressed in the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP) and will result in a more integrated approach to community development that considers the City’s economic, environmental and social future. “Smart growth” is a collection of urban development to reduce sprawl and encourage development that is fiscally, environmentally and socially responsible. Development patterns in traditional suburban areas have raised concerns about sprawl, land consumption, loss of farmland, automobile-oriented commercial development such as “big box” retail, habitat and stream destruction, waste production, air pollution and greenhouse gases, energy consumption, reduced economic efficiency and infrastructure costs. Smart growth is development Regional Growth Strategy Goals that enhances quality of life, protects the environment, and uses Create a compact urban area tax revenues wisely with strategies which focus on compact Support a sustainable economy communities, affordable housing, transportation, economic Protect the environment and respond to development, agricultural land, green space, alternative climate change development standards, and community involvement. Develop complete communities, and Support sustainable transportation choices. One of the key goals of the Metro Vancouver Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) is for a compact urban area which will serve to support cleaner air, more efficient infrastructure utilization, land conservation, effective waste management, enhanced greenways, and a reduced ecological footprint region-wide. Port Coquitlam’s downtown is identified in the RGS as a Municipal Town Centre, which is described as an area supporting local transportation hubs, frequent transit, and having a high quality and accessible walking and cycling environment. The OCP reinforces a community development pattern that reflects a compact, mixed-use community focused on a vibrant commercial core in Downtown. In addition to Downtown, the OCP also identifies three additional core commercial and mixed-use areas in Port Coquitlam – Westwood, Dominion Triangle, and Northside – as areas to concentrate the city’s commercial development. The OCP describes these four commercial areas as becoming 2 activity nodes, serving local and neighbourhood populations with a range of services and amenities. Higher residential densities are also identified for the commercial areas, with mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development, and a range of mobility options available to residents. Recognizing that Port Coquitlam is a highly developed community with more growth anticipated, the City aspires to focus future commercial and residential development within these four identified mixed-use areas, each developing over time with a distinct identity. The OCP also emphasizes the importance of supporting the employment in the industrial lands (i.e. Mary Hill Business Park and Dominion Triangle). These mixed use and industrial areas of the city are shown below in Map 1. Map 1 - Mixed Use and Industrial Areas of Port Coquitlam 3 Over the last ten years, medium-density growth has been directed to these commercial areas, and in the future, these areas will become the vibrant, mixed-used growth areas of Port Coquitlam. These areas will continue to have a primarily commercial focus, mixed with office uses, and some increase in residential uses to support vibrancy. The OCP reinforces that a diverse mixture of commercial activity can stimulate the local economy and provide incentives for residential and economic growth, but must be carefully controlled so that potential businesses and customers are not drawn away from the centres. This means encouraging commercial centres to have services and amenities that attract the local or neighbourhood population, with a mix of retail, offices, personal services, and pedestrian-oriented designs. The distinct identity of commercial centres must be supported through integrated land use and transportation decisions. The smart growth attributes of these community nodes points to community nodes where there is a: Strong sense of place where residents and visitors