The work that has been done so far on bicycling plan for Espanola shows broad support for it in yo.
The Town of Espanola is working on their first cycling plan, and the work that has been done so far shows broad support for it in Espanola.
Justin Jones, the Manager of the Bicycle Friendly Ontario Program with the Share the Road Cycling Coalition, says polling done by OraclePoll shows that about 40% of Espanola residents are already using their bikes for utilitarian trips.
He adds 51% of residents are riding their bikes for recreational purposes in Espanola a few times a month.
Jones says the number one concern is more secure bike parking throughout town.
Increasing the availability of bike racks was seen as important by 66% of respondents, with people identifying destinations like the mall, the sports fields and the hospital as areas that lack safe, secure bike parking.
“From our tour of Espanola, we have observed that the community is quite bikeable by design – with its compact layout, grid network of streets and high percentage of in-town trips, every single trip that has an origin and destination within Espanola’s town limits is easily doable in 15 minutes or less on a bike. The stakeholder workshops identified a number of different ways to engage more residents in discussions about cycling in town, and the consulting team will be working closely with town staff over the summer to compile those suggestions into a draft plan that is ambitious, achievable and driven by what we’ve heard from the community to date.”
Jones adds the final plan will be presented to council in October.
