{"id":20321,"date":"2018-04-04T20:54:58","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T00:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=20321"},"modified":"2018-04-04T20:54:58","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T00:54:58","slug":"complete-streets-concept-would-make-road-a-comfortable-place-for-all-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/complete-streets-concept-would-make-road-a-comfortable-place-for-all-users\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cComplete Streets\u201d concept would make road a comfortable place for all users"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

All too often drivers, cyclists and pedestrians are caught in a battle for space and safety, but the concept of a \u201ccomplete street\u201d where everyone has their own lane could alleviate some of those problems.
\nAurora is investigating the feasibility of implementing a \u201cComplete Streets\u201d policy as part of upcoming revisions to the Town\u2019s official plan.
\nCouncil unanimously approved a motion from Councillor Tom Mrakas last week calling for the \u201cComplete Streets\u201d philosophy to be applied to all future road developments within Aurora and seeing where existing \u2013 and appropriate \u2013 streets can be redeveloped to meet the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, and persons with disabilities.\u201d
\n\u201cComplete Streets,\u201d said Councillor Mrakas, \u201censures that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire street network for all road users, not only motorists,\u201d and would be a cost-effective option in the long-run.
\n\u201cI believe, as we have always talked about moving towards more pedestrian-friendly streets in our Town [this] is a way to make it official, to integrate it within our official plan,\u201d said Councillor Mrakas, speaking to his motion at last week\u2019s Council meeting, noting the City of Ottawa has set a standard, transforming one of their main thoroughfares into a roadway compatible for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike. \u201cAs we move to do our Official Plan update, we can ask staff to officially incorporate that into that update.
\n\u201cIt is cost-effective [for future roads] because you look at doing it all at once instead of doing it piecemeal. Right now we are looking at doing a cycling master plan and developing that. When you do that, you turn around and five years later, you say we want to add this to the street. It is going to cost more doing it in that piecemeal fashion instead of setting forth a policy that looks at developing this all at once and, if we can, put it in all at once.\u201d
\nPutting it into the Official Plan, he said, makes this a guideline going forward and, within the Plan, there would be some flexibility.
\nWhile Councillor Wendy Gaertner noted that the Official Plan is Aurora\u2019s \u201cmain planning tool and not just a wish list,\u201d she said including the Complete Streets concept into its redraft was a \u201cfantastic idea,\u201d but one she hoped would not prove costly.
\nAnother vocal supporter was Councillor Sandra Humfryes who said a complete inventory of Aurora\u2019s existing streets, future thoroughfares, and possible opportunities should be compiled.
\n\u201cIt would be like a package of what every street should look like or be,\u201d she said. \u201cIt would be the same standards and there is a design approach. I love that it includes walkability and other means of transportation other than cars. I am looking forward to the report back and seeing how our approach is going to be and how we can put that into effect.\u201d
\nMayor Geoff Dawe, who has previously pushed for a re-think in traffic patterns on Yonge Street, including reducing the current four-lane road in the historic section to one lane of traffic each way with the balance dedicated to on-street parking, said Ottawa\u2019s venture was a \u201cfascinating one\u201d and led to a reduction in traffic.
\n\u201cI think there are great opportunities to pick up efficiencies in how our streets work,\u201d he said. \u201cI am still hopeful we\u2019ll see some action on Yonge Street at some point.\u201d
\nCouncillor Harold Kim, on the other hand, sought assurances from Town Staff, that going down this particular path would not adversely impact traffic around Aurora.
\n\u201cThere is an opportunity to further investigate Complete Streets,\u201d said Marco Ramunno, Aurora\u2019s Director of Planning. \u201cI will provide the framework for future implementation, but Council would still need to review and approve any construction program or project to implement a given Complete Street. Council will still have full opportunity to review the implementation plan.\u201d
\nCosts for Complete Streets that are not already finished would be borne by the developer, he added.
\n\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be able to turn the whole town into one complete street,\u201d concluded Councillor Mrakas. \u201cIt is just not viable and would never happen; it would be dependent on what areas, how it would work, and staff coming with their own expertise to say these are areas where we can implement the Complete Streets policy.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All too often drivers, cyclists and pedestrians are caught in a battle for space and safety, but the concept of a \u201ccomplete street\u201d where everyone has their own lane could alleviate some of those problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5hL","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 12:41:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}