As the population and employment grows rapidly in the southern urban municipalities of York Region, the corresponding growth in vehicular traffic is exerting considerable strain on York Region's transportation system. York Region is actively taking steps to address the additional growth in the Region by considering the future transportation needs in a sustainable and integrated manner. While it was acknowledged that York Region needs to maintain arterial roads as vital corridors for people and goods, it was realized that increased emphasis needs to be placed on expanding their functions to integrate reliable transit facilities, and encouraging pedestrian and cyclist use. Therefore, our transportation mandate is to provide safe, well designed and accessible mobility systems that prioritize pedestrians and cycling connections, support a reliable and efficient public transit network, promote multi-occupant travel and enhance community character. Dufferin Street is the first transportation project in York Region to be designed and constructed with the key objective of reducing the number of single occupant autos by providing alternatives such as walking, cycling, transit and high occupancy vehicles. This is in accordance with the Region's objectives to harmonize road improvement efforts and to align them with our Official Plan, Transportation Master Plan, Pedestrian and Cycling Master Plan, and the recommendations of the 'Towards Great Regional Streets - A Path to Improvement' (TGRS) Study. This project was nominated for the TAC 2009 Sustainable Urban Transportation Award. For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD number E220308.
Abstract