Windsor's Active Transportation Master Plan is ready to go to council for approval

It's been a long time in the making, but Windsor's Active Transportation Master Plan is now available online for everyone to see.

Released on Friday, it's a lengthy document with the ultimate goal of encouragingmore people to walk, ride bikes and use public transit to get around the city.

"It outlines a pretty clear vision for where we want to be within 20 years," said JoshuaHaddad, atransportation engineer with the city, who helped put the plan together.

The plan still needs to be presented to city council for final approval.

Ultimately, the hope is that by 2041, Windsor will be a leader in active transportation.

More cycling, walking, less driving

"Hopefully within the next couple of decades we see sort of a transportation with more of an emphasis on cycling and transit than we do currently," he said.

Right now, he said, only 10 per cent of the city population travels by means other than a personal motor vehicle, but the hope is that by 2041, it will be closer to 25 per cent of the city population.

He explained that the report suggests the kind of infrastructure the city should invest in to help support that, like allowingfor bike lanes and paths that are fully connected throughout the city.

"Moving forward, it's making sure that we're guiding the city with their investments and their approach and how they go about these things,"Haddad explained.

'A clear vision'

Chair of the Windsor Bicycling Committee and City CouncillorKieran McKenziesays he's pleased with the report.

"There is a clear vision that is articulated in the document and a commitment for us moving forward as a community and as a city to continue to make those investments and a recognition that the investments in active transportation have a range of economic benefits, health benefits, and community benefits," he said.

"I'm quite excited about it."

He said he's planning on leading his own consultation with the biking community to get some additional feedback on the document and where it could be strengthened.

He likes that the plan has identified the gaps in the system and the trouble spotsthat currently exist.

"I think generally speaking the reaction from the community is going to be positive. I'm very confident that the plan itself will pass pretty easily through the council process."

The intention is for the Active TransportationPlan to become a natural consideration in all decisions made on future projects, McKenzie said.

"I have a lot of confidence that moving forward and just having those discussions with our administration that there's a vision that they want to express through that document, and moving forward through the projects and the infrastructure investments that we are going to be making going forward."