Active Transportation Plan Update 2025
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Hello, as many of you are no doubt aware the City is updating the Active Transportation Plan this year. An Active Transportation Plan Update was provided to the city council Committee of the Whole on Jan 21, 2025, the full document can be found here under agenda item 5.1:
https://kamloops.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=1578
Summary:
"The Kamloops Transportation Master Plan sets out future projects and priorities for active transportation infrastructure, such as bike lanes and sidewalks. Council adopted the Transportation Master Plan in 2018. The plan combined older plans, such as the 2010 Bicycle Master Plan and the 2013 Pedestrian Master Plan.
Since 2010, guidelines and standards for active transportation infrastructure have been significantly updated, and community interest in using active modes, such as cycling and walking, to travel has grown. More recently, the City entered the Provincial Electric Kick Scooter Project, which will attract more trips of emerging transportation modes to the active transportation network.
To ensure that the City’s Transportation Master Plan stays aligned with community needs and modern design guidelines, staff initiated an update to the active transportation component of the Transportation Master Plan in 2023. While this updated Active Transportation Master Plan will be incorporated into the overall future Transportation Master Plan update, completing the active transportation portion earlier will enable the City to plan and budget for higher-quality infrastructure without waiting for the remaining Transportation Master Plan update to be completed. It will also better position the City to apply for infrastructure grants earlier."
It's encouraging that the City has recognized that there is urgency to updating the Active Transportation component of the TMP as soon as possible, and that they have recognized that quick build infrastructure to build out a connected network as quickly and cheaply as possible is preferable to the way the 6th Ave bikeway was designed.
The entire PDF linked above is interesting reading, it details the process for ranking projects (could use improvement imo), consultation, timelines, and the projects the City considers priority corridors.
The timeline outlined in the document is as follows:
• January/February 2025 - meeting with the Active Transportation Engagement Group
• March 2025 - follow-up meeting with the Active Transportation Engagement Group after
Active Transportation Plan refinements
• April 2025 - second round of public engagement- open house(s)
- Let’s Talk Kamloops
• May/June 2025 - Council adoption
I've extracted and attached the images for the report below. Unfortunately the detailed maps in the PDF are low quality and it's hard to make out details, I sent an email to the Transportation dept a few months ago to try and get higher resolution maps but didn't get a response.
Looking forward to discussing the positives and negatives of the City's plan with KCC.
- Skye
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The list of short term priority projects (next 0-10 years) from the report is attached below.
The first thing that jumps out to me is that the list still does not contain a downtown connection between the north and south AT networks.
In the cycling plan attached above, both 1st Ave and 2nd Ave are marked as Proposted AT Improvements - Multi-Use Path (Priority) but neither are included in the 0-10 year projects.
In my opinion, this lack of a connection between the Nicola/St Paul bikeway and Lorne St/Uji Way/Overlanders Bridge should be the top priority in terms of "ungapping the map".
Thoughts?
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The final meeting of the engagement group did occur a couple of months ago (I attended). Basically the City brought the engagement group together over a year ago, led a group cheer, and then called everyone back when Staff had settled on a plan. The problem with the lack of genuine consultation seemed to be due to the departure of an energetic and very strong AT advocate on Transportation Staff. His loss led to Staff wandering aimlessly for a year. We are all frustrated. The plan isn't terrible but it doesn't address some real needs (e.g., access to shopping) and could have doubled in utility if they had consulted us on the details.
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Sorry to hear that, my next question was going to be about how the follow-up meetings with the Active Transportation Engagement Group went. I hope we can get more AT advocates on city council during next year's election. In the mean time I'll do what I can to provide feedback during the public consultation phase.
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The Jan/Feb AT Plan Update pdf under "Communications Plan" said there were going to be two meetings with the Active Transportation Engagement Group, before and after refinements, is that not happening now?
• January/February 2025 - meeting with the Active Transportation Engagement Group
• March 2025 - follow-up meeting with the Active Transportation Engagement Group after
Active Transportation Plan refinements -
Trent, Bryce, did either of you attend a meeting since Xmas? I think it was just the one meeting that I attended and I don't recall any discussion on 'refinement.'
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Hi all
The City is finally moving on the AT master plan again! See below. Public input is sought through both "Lets Talk" and the open house. Not a lot of lead time for the open house, but if people are available we should try and get a good showing out.
**Hello ATEG Members,
The Transportation Division is officially informing you about the upcoming Active Transportation Plan Update public open house that will be held this month. Attached is the event poster.
This session is an opportunity for residents to learn about the proposed updates to the active transportation section of the Transportation Master Plan. The event details are as follows:
Date: Tuesday, May 13
Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location: Kia Lounge, Sandman CentreThe purpose of this public open house is for residents to provide feedback on the Active Transportation Plan Update and learn about upcoming projects and other long-term projects planned for the community.
Please be aware that the City will issue a news release about this event tomorrow, Friday, May 2nd.
Kindly spread the word to your network so we can get as much community participation as possible.Thank you for your support and involvement.
Regards,
Nii Noi Akuetteh, M.Eng., P.Eng. (he/him)
Transportation Engineer – Projects & Alternative Modes | City of Kamloops
P: 250-828-3564 | Kamloops.ca | LetsTalk.Kamloops.ca**
