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Pelham cycling map helped by provincial grant

Funding helps Pelham Active Transportation Committee achieve milestone BY JENNIFER CHORNLEY The VOICE It’s been five long years of power-pedaling but the Town of Pelham now has its own Cycling Map.

 

Funding helps Pelham Active Transportation Committee achieve milestone

BY JENNIFER CHORNLEY The VOICE

It’s been five long years of power-pedaling but the Town of Pelham now has its own Cycling Map.

The funding for the map project was obtained from the Safety Cycling Education Fund, a provincially designated grant with the application being submitted by Pelham Active Transportation Committee (PATC), Chair Bea Clark.

The map’s development was under the direction of Niagara Regional Councillor Brian Baty and PATC member Bill Gibson.

Baty said the development of the project began well before the Advisory Committee was established.

His experience derives from being the former Chair of the Regional Niagara Bicycling Committee and a representative between 2006 to 2010, when the Regional Bicycling map was created.

Baty used the same principles of mapping that were used in the Regional map project. On the map, hills are indicated with one, two or three chevrons according to their steepness. Roads were evaluated according to four levels of cycling safety, and then maps were created using four different colours of risk, which are minimal, low, medium and high.

“There was significant consultation with cycling organizations and individuals that took place before the final version of the map was created,” Baty said.

Bill Gibson’s role in planning the map was physically measuring every roadway and lane within the entire town.

“Bill had the experience and equipment to measure the slopes,” Baty said. “He lent his expertise to not only calculate the actual slope but also to note the duration of the hills.”

Gibson measured the distance of the road, and also the length of the slope and determined the varying degrees of the road. With those measurements, it was possible to determine the road’s four risk levels. Other determining risk-level factors were traffic volume, traffic speed, shoulders, curves and pavement/shoulder conditions.

Measuring the roads for the map took a year-and-a-half to complete.

The map’s GPS coordinates were populated by Matt Sferrazza, the Town’s Engineering Technologist.

“This is very beneficial, especially if the cyclist wants a challenge, or not,” said Baty.

“It was a lot of fun when I provided the updates at our monthly meetings on how long or steep the roads were,” Gibson said. “There was a lot of interest expressed by residents when they saw me with my equipment. Even a Niagara Regional Police officer who saw the equipment on the road one day wanted to know what we were doing.”

PATC Chair Bea Clark said during the map’s development process they wanted to ensure it accommodated residents of all activity levels, from the everyday to recreational users.

Clark said this map is another enhancement to the town’s Silver Bike Friendly designation. “They just don’t hand you the award and say ‘good luck.’ We are assessed every five years and this year maintained our silver designation.”

“We hope in the future we can reach the gold status,” she said.

According to Clark, Pelham is the first community of its size to achieve the silver award level.

Pelham's 2013 Silver Bicycle Friendly Community designation put the Town in line with Ottawa, Toronto, Waterloo, and Hamilton, in providing an abundance of cycling choices. Some 60 percent of the town's total road network (or 150 km) is considered highly suitable for road bikes.

During the next term of Town Council, Baty said he is going to work with the PATC to create three signed bicycle routes running east and west across the municipality.

He proposed three tentative routes.

The Town of Pelham's new bicycle route guide, Fonthill inset. Click through to download a high-res version suitable for printing. SUPPLIED GRAPHIC

The southern route would be the River Route with flat terrain.

The middle route would be the Villages Route with moderate terrain connecting the several surrounding villages.

The third would be the Rural Route that ventures through more rugged terrain involving the Niagara Escarpment and the northern parts of town.

Baty said in an effort to reduce costs, PATC has consulted with the Fire Chief and Bylaw Officer to use existing green 911 sign posts to identify the routes.

When completed, PATC will share the status of the implementation of the Active Transportation Masterplan with the community and continue to seek improvements to both the Town’s walking- and cycling- friendly designations.

Clark said not only does the map benefit residents, but also the cycle tourism industry, which is on the rise in Niagara.

Clark said it is the hope of the Committee to work towards developing a trail system with existing former railway areas that are scattered throughout the Pelham, Welland and Thorold areas. The trail development initiative is already on track with the Berkhout Rail Trail to officially open in November.

Gibson said it’s a “blessing” to have these types of existing trail systems that can be converted for potential future recreational use in the surrounding area.

Clark said this would be a long-term initiative that requires time and sourcing-out various forms of funding to develop the trails.

“So, as you can see, we still have big dreams,” she said.

Clark said they plan to update the map every three to four years to coincide with the new roadways due to community growth.

Baty says that PATC welcomes any corrections that may be required for the next printing of the map and is open to suggestions for improvements.

The cycling map is now available at Pelham Town Hall. Clicking the map image above will also take readers to a high-res version on the Fonthill inset suitable for printing at home.