Politicians need better resolve over trails

July 10, 2013 · 0 Comments

There is some good trail news – and some not so good.
The region will allow trail underpasses across Leslie Street and St John’s Sideroad, and will even pay one half of the costs.
In a general way, they have now identified grade separated crossings as the preferred solution for trail crossings of Regional roads.
However, the Region has vetoed one underpass because of perceived “prohibitive costs”, costs that have been estimated, with no back-up calculations. That decision is in need of a review.
In Aurora, our Council has decided against a formalized level trail crossing over the railroad tracks, along Cousins Drive.
It is the rationales used to justify that decision that baffle me. To give an example, according to one Councillor, it should be quite ok for pedestrians to take a 1 km detour up to Wellington, or down to Englehard Drive, to cross the tracks.
When I conceived the idea of recommending to Council an off-road trails network for Aurora in 1985, I was guided by three considerations:
That Aurorans should be able to connect with natural environments on a daily basis, on off-road trails, thereby not only enjoying green spaces along the greeenways, but help to preserve them, through appreciation;
That Aurorans of all ages, social standing, and capacity, should be able to walk from anywhere to anywhere, along off-road green corridors, and thereby have the opportunity for affordable and enjoyable exercise and commuting, on a daily basis; and
That Aurora residents should have an opportunity for switching away from the automobile, to self-propelled modes of transportation, primarily walking, for environmental and health related reasons.
I was advocating for a well-connected off-road trails network to become part of the fabric of life in Aurora.
When I now, over 25 years later, still am faced with a rationale that totally defies the above cornerstones, after they were incorporated in the Aurora Trails Master Plan, which was adopted by the current Council, then I can’t figure out what goes on in the minds of the Councillors.
We continue to have reports that our children do not get enough exercise, are overweight, don’t play outdoors, are disconnected from nature, have no opportunity for contemplation, and yet we refuse to arrange for infrastructure that will make it easy for them, and for any adult, to improve on all of these conditions.
The Region’s new policy about grade separated trails crossing regional roads, which is also incorporated in Aurora’s Trails Master Plan, is a very good start. But ignoring the policy by using unsubstantiated cost estimates that render contemplated crossings cost prohibitive, is not the way to go.
Not even for one crossing. There is a need to have the costs determined by subjecting them to the bidding process.
And that also applies to the Cousins Drive crossing: At least two options, level crossing and underpass should be costed in a bidding process, and across both, Cousins Drive and Industrial Parkway.
We are making progress for pedestrian traffic. But we have to apply even more resolve, at the Regional as well as at the Aurora level.

Klaus Wehrenberg
Aurora