HomeMy WebLinkAboutINS-17-051 - 2017 Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program Application Declaration
REPORT TO:Committee of the Whole
DATE OF MEETING:June 26, 2017
SUBMITTED BY:Justin Readman, Interim Executive Director, Infrastructure
Services, 519-741-2200 ext. 7646
PREPARED BY:Danny Pimentel, Active Transportation Planning Project
Manager, 519-741-2200 ext. 7371
WARD(S) INVOLVED:ALL
DATE OF REPORT:June 20, 2017
REPORT NO.:INS-17-051
SUBJECT:2017 Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program
ApplicationDeclaration
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute the 2017 Ontario Municipal
Commuter Cycling Program Application Declaration for Large-Medium
Municipalities, subject to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor; and further,
That the Chief Administrative Officer or the Infrastructure Services Department
Headbe delegated authority to finalize the 2017 Project List through consultation
with the City of Kitchener Cycling and Trails Advisory Committee.
BACKGROUND:
On May 29, 2017 the Province of Ontario launched the Ontario Municipal Commuter
Cycling Program. The program is a four year, cost-shared, direct funding program for
infrastructure projects, with the goal to support and develop commuter cycling. While
the program was launched in late Maythe application guidelines were not posted until
June 5, 2017 and did not allow Staff sufficient time to review the eligibility requirements
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anddevelop a prioritized project list for the June 12committee cycle. The application
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deadline is August 18, 2017.
REPORT:
The Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling(OMCC)Program offers a significant
opportunity to utilize cap and trade proceeds to build better commuter cycling networks
*** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. ***
Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance.
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and to improve the safety of existing cycling networks. It should be noted that eligible
projects must be projects that primarily support commuter cycling. Therefore,
recreational trail projects would not be eligible for funding under this program.
The City of Kitchener falls within stream 1: Medium and Large Municipalities (population
>15,000). Thismeans that there is a total of $40.5M available for these municipalities in
the first year of the program. The amount will fluctuate from year to year based on the
annual cap and trade proceeds.
Funding is determined through afunding model which provides $25,000 base funding
for each participating municipality plus population-based funding (70% of the remaining
allocation based on 2011 census information) plus cyclist-based funding (30% of the
remaining allocation based on thenumber of municipal commuting cyclists from2011
census data).
Upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities are both eligible for OMCC funding; however,
funding will be divided 50/50 between the two tiers if both tiers declare interest in
participating in anygiven year. Staff will work with Regional counterparts to align
priorities as much as possible.
Lastly, the project list submitted must be prioritized based on the City’s Cycling Master
Plan and any projects submitted must be supported by the Cycling Master Plan.
Through City of Kitchener staff report, INS-14-002– Cycling Master Plan Update,
Council approved a four year cycling implementation schedule, which staff have been
working on completing. This list will form the basis of the development of the project
priority listing. Additionally, consultation with the City of Kitchener Cycling and Trails
Advisory Committee will occur in July to determine any other priorities which should be
included.
Future OMCC annual submission deadlines are proposed to be near the end of May
which will allow Council the opportunity to review the project list prior to the submission
deadlinein future years.
The 2017 City of Kitchener Business Plan identifies project ID SE12, Update the Cycling
Master Plan, in 2018-2019. Staff are reviewing the abilitytomove this work up to early
2018. This will allow Staff the abilityto conduct a coordinated review of the Cycling
Master Plan with the Trails Master Plan. Based on the geography of the City of
Kitchener there is a significant opportunity to utilize some of the City’s trail connections
as part of an overall commuting cycling network. Since trails have not been identified in
the Trails Master Plan as cycling commuting connections they would currently be
ineligible for funding. By conducting this review and prioritizing future on-road and off-
road cycling connections together the City will create a safer and more connecting
commuter cycling network.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
Strategic Priority:Sustainable Environment & Infrastructure
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Strategy:4.4 – Develop a network of safe, comfortable and linked pedestrian and
cycling facilities and improve year-round maintenance on priority routes
Strategic Action:SE13 Implement the Cycling Master Plan
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Under a program such as the Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program, the City of
Kitchener is able to leverage provincialfunding to do more work than if the City were
required to completely fund commuter cycling infrastructure on its own.
The framework for the funding partnership is based on an 80:20 funding model where
the largest share of funding comes from the provincial program, with 20% being funded
from the City.
A few of the priority projects identified in the 2014 project prioritization list have not been
completed to date as they are significant projects, which may warrant curb separated
bicycle infrastructure, based on Ontario Traffic Manual Book 18, and this funding
opportunity would significantly help with their implementation.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM – This report has been posted to the City’s website with the agenda in
advance of the council / committee meeting.
CONSULT – The cycling master plan was developed through consultation with the
community and the project list will be finalized with input from the Kitchener Cycling and
Trails Advisory Committee.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Justin Readman, Interim Executive Director
Infrastructure Services Department
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