A consultant working to develop a transportation master plan for Yellowknife says the city has “a unique opportunity” to encourage cycling and walking.
“I see a lot of opportunity here,” Brian Patterson, a senior planner at Urban Systems Ltd, told city councillors on Monday.
“I think a real unique opportunity is just the compact urban form that Yellowknife has.”
Patterson noted a large portion of the city is located within half an hour’s walk from City Hall and downtown, while many locations across the city can be reached within 30 minutes on a bike.
Patterson gave councillors an update on work toward the transportation plan, which he said aims to make travel throughout the city “safer and more welcoming and more inclusive for all.”
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“We’re really looking at providing transportation choices that work for everybody,” he said.
What residents think
The city launched the first round of public engagement on the impending transportation plan in September.
Patterson said that has included pop-up events at the farmers’ market and aquatic centre, an interactive online map, a youth survey and targeted meetings. A full engagement summary report is expected next month.
Patterson detailed feedback from a community survey that received more than 160 responses. He said most respondents were aged 25 to 54 and lived in the downtown, Frame Lake, south Forrest Drive or Old Town neighbourhoods. He said 10 percent of respondents identified having a limitation that impacted their mobility.
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Asked about their priorities for transportation, Patterson said respondents chose improving road safety followed by public health and providing more transportation choices. He said the least popular outcomes were reducing transportation costs and reducing travel times and congestion.
The survey also looked at barriers and potential opportunities to improve walking, cycling, public transit and driving.
The barriers to walking that respondents chose were personal safety followed by a lack of pedestrian facilities, pedestrian facilities being in poor condition, or feeling uncomfortable walking next to busy streets.
Respondents said opportunities that could encourage residents to walk include more multi-use pathways, sidewalks and crosswalks, repairing uneven sidewalks and traffic calming measures.
Currently, the city does not have a traffic calming policy.
Patterson said sidewalks are provided on about half of all streets in the city, with greater coverage downtown and in residential areas. He said most sidewalks in Yellowknife are less than 1.8 metres wide, which is the standard for two people using mobility aids to walk side by side.
Cycling, public transit and driving
Patterson said the city has “a fairly fragmented and not very well connected network” for cycling.
He said the municipality should focus on creating cycling infrastructure that is comfortable for people of all ages and abilities, such as multi-use pathways or protected bike lanes.
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Barriers to cycling selected by survey respondents were a lack of on-street cycling routes, feeling uncomfortable cycling next to traffic, and gaps in the cycling network.
To encourage more cycling, they selected more multi-use pathways, more on-street bike lanes physically separated from traffic, more bicycle parking and ensuring bike routes are properly maintained throughout the year.
Patterson said use of public transit in Yellowknife has been steadily increasing and there is good transit coverage in the city.
He said survey respondents said public transit is not frequent enough and has limited service, and some liked the idea of service on weekends and evenings.
Patterson said “far and away” the biggest opportunity respondents identified to improve road networks and driving was to improve walking, cycling and transit infrastructure – reducing the need to drive. He said that was followed by safety improvements, more parking, and improving sight lines at intersections.
Next steps
Patterson said a draft transportation plan is expected to be complete in the next two to three months.
He expects a second round of community engagement will take place in February or early March.
Patterson said he hopes a final transportation plan will be prepared for council to approve in June or July.
Patterson said the plan will provide “a single unified roadmap” to guide city investment and decisions related to its transportation network over the next 25 years.
He said it will build on and combine previous transportation studies, strategies and policies that have been developed over the past two decades.
