Cycle Stratford Responds to Ontario Bill 212

Proposed Legislation Aims to Limit Installation of Bicycle Lanes

Ontario Bill 212 was introduced at the Ontario legislature this week, and is now available for public comments. It includes many items; the section we are concerned with is Part XII Municipal By-Laws and Bicycle Lanes.

You can access the entire bill here, including the amendments to Part XII.

On behalf of Cycle Stratford, we are sending a letter to our MPP, Matthew Rae, as well as the Minister of Transportation. A copy of the letter is available here.

Take action by signing a Cycle TO petition and exercising your opportunity to provide public comments on this proposed legislation!

Formal Complaint to City

RE: Road Surface Conditions

Cycle Stratford’s Board of Directors composed a formal letter of complaint recently, regarding road surface conditions in the City of Stratford.  Cycle Stratford asked the City of Stratford councillors to prioritize remediation of road surfaces where road conditions are poor or very poor, and road segments that are components of the Transportation Master Plan priority cycling routes.

The full complaint letter can be viewed here.  The letter was submitted to councillors on September 12, 2024

Transportation Master Plan

Transportation Master Plan Update 2022-2023

The City of Stratford is currently revising the Transportation Master Plan, which is the long-range planning document to guide changes to Stratford’s transportation system for all modes of travel. This is a second planning study for the City’s transportation network, the first was released in 2010. The Cycle Stratford Board had the opportunity to engage directly with the consulting team and provide feedback on draft cycling route maps and priorities.

As of April 2023, the Phase 2 report is available for review.

For more information, visit the Engage Stratford TMP website.

Bicycle “valet” parking

Cycle Stratford has provided “valet” parking for cyclists who have attended various events, such as the Kiwanis Garlic Festival and the Labour Day picnic in Upper Queens Park.

Cyclists check their bikes with Cycle Stratford volunteers who tag each bike, park it securely, and look after it at no cost to the cyclist. Promoting cycling as a green alternative is part of the work that we do.​

If you have an event that might benefit from bike valet parking, please contact us.

ATAC Safe Routes to School working group

As part of an Active Transportation Advisory Committee (ATAC) working group, Cycle Stratford helped create a School Travel Plan Project to encourage children to walk or wheel to school in Stratford. Led by Councillor Kathy Vassilakos, the group established a relationship with the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board, and launched School Travel Plans at St. Joseph’s Elementary School and St. Aloysius Elementary School in the fall of 2017. At each school, data on how students travel to and from school was collected from the students and families. Using that data, a program to encourage active transportation to school was launched. The program included information about the importance of active transportation, as well as special “walk and wheel” to school events and a bike rodeo. The final phase of the project was to repeat data collection from students and families to measure whether the program has been effective in encouraging more walking and cycling to school. In the fall of 2018, Bedford and Romeo Public Schools joined the program and went through the same process.

In 2019, the City of Stratford, under the leadership of Councillor Kathy Vassilakos applied for and received a grant from the Green Communities of Ontario enabling the project to hire a full time coordinator for 1 year. Since September 1, 2019, Samantha MacGuinness has led the project with the help of representatives from ATAC, Perth Huron Public Health, teachers, parents and Cycle Stratford. She was able to enrol all the remaining Public Schools into the program. Now 8 elementary schools are enrolled in the program to encourage students to walk, scooter or bike to school. Maps have been made to help students and their parents to choose the safest route to their school.

Sadly, the project has been put on hold since March 1, 2020 due to the pandemic.