January 27, 2020, Budget Meeting Written Submission

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Hello,

I respectfully submit Bike Windsor Essex's comments and concerns regarding the 2020 Draft Budget. Thank you for your ongoing efforts to help create a community that facilitates mobility for all residents however they choose to get around. We believe that to be successful in providing safe multi-modal options for all residents, the City needs an investment strategy for AT, and we're not seeing that yet.

Active Transportation

We were encouraged when the Active Transportation Plan was received by Council and forwarded to the 2020 budget in July. We would like some clarity about the status of the AT Plan and next steps. We were very disappointed to see that the AT Plan was not mentioned or funded in the 2020 Budget and an implementation plan has not yet been forwarded to Council.

ICIP - Bikeways Development, page 564

More than $5M of some $7M+ funding for bikeways is dependent upon a grant. A grant application is neither a sure bet nor a real plan. There is no guarantee that Windsor will receive full or partial funding from this grant.

Traffic Calming Initiatives, page 563

Investments in traffic calming is a critical issue for residents across the City but we were distressed to see that it is being funded with $100,000 diverted from the very small Bikeways Development budget of $600K. Traffic calming will make everyone safer, not just cyclists — why would't it be funded through the $40M+ roads budget? After all, it is motorized vehicles that create the need for traffic calming. Bike lanes ARE traffic calming, we should be adding to the Bikeways budget, not decreasing it.

Intersection Improvements Program, page 327

There is capital funding for an Intersection Improvement Program to move more vehicles safely through dangerous intersections. We would like to see a policy that ALL intersection