An introduction to the Town of Innisfil’s Transportation Master Planning update notes that “Innisfil is proactively planning for the future.”
That future includes a population expected to more than double to 100,000 people by 2051, as a result of the “bold and aspirational” Mobility Orbit planned community.
A virtual public meeting was held on Wednesday night to launch the update process, led by the town’s engineering department and planning services.
Ray Bacquie, senior vice president at R.J. Burnside,explained his role as “providing support for the town” in developing a vision of transportation infrastructure for the coming three decades.
Bacquie, welcoming participants to the online public open house, explained, “The Town of Innisfil is considering the transportation services that the town should provide over the next 20 to 30 years,” and developing strategies to implement those services, including necessary policies and capital investments.
Innisfil last updated its Transportation Master Plan in 2018, at which time the plan provided a vision to the year 2041.
Now, with changes to land use forecasts and the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area and Simcoe County, Ministerial Zoning Order approval of the Orbit, and other changes, there is a need to revisit existing plans and extend them to the 2051 planning horizon, while coming up with preferred transit solutions that meet the challenges, Bacquie said.
Not only will the new Transportation Master Plan look at already planned infrastructure, it will have to incorporate a transit hub and new GO train station on the 6th Line, and provide a “robust” transportation network connecting communities through roads, transit, cycling and walking.
And it all will have to fit with the transportation plans of upper-tier governments – including the widening of Highway 400, a new interchange at Highway 400 and Line 6, widening of Yonge Street by the County of Simcoe, and a new Cookstown Bypass.
There will be an opportunity to look at road extensions into new developments, changes to misaligned intersections, sidewalk improvements and strategies for improvements to pedestrian road crossings, but also the development of the Orbit as a transit hub, with new service connections.
Public transit can be a key part of the study, the meeting was told. At present, Innisfil is serviced by GO Bus transit, the county’s Lynx system, and the innovative Uber On-Demand transit partnership, introduced in 2017.
Not only will the future include GO Train service, Bacquie said, but “as the demand grows, there may be opportunities to convert high demand Uber routes into scheduled transit routes.”
He presented a draft vision, describing a system that “connects people and communities, fosters healthy living, and operates innovatively and efficiently across the town, as an environmentally and financially sustainable, resilient system ready for the future.”
The master plan will follow the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process, looking at four basic options that include doing nothing, maintaining the status quo (i.e., the 2018 Plan), providing “balanced investment,” or pursuing “alternative mode-focused investment” and innovation – with higher investments in transportation to meet identified needs, opportunities and constraints.
The study will “develop alternative strategies for addressing the needs and opportunities, and achieving the vision,” he said, and suggest a preferred option.
“This is open to comment from the public and stakeholders,” Bacquie said, explaining that comments will be considered in developing the next stage – a “preliminary preferred strategy” that will be presented at a second open house tentatively scheduled for the end of November.
The Transportation Master Plan is expected to be finalized early in 2022.
Among the questions received virtually during the meeting was whether the master plan would include consideration of the needs of retirees and seniors.
Bacquie said he recognized that “there are barriers associated with a range of demographics” and that there is a need to accommodate “those who may have difficulties driving,” whatever their age, to ensure access to services.
"Province-wide we are an aging population... We will be looking at that to determine if travel patterns will be changing,” he added, and developing appropriate transit policies and infrastructure.
He was also asked if the study will look at possible routes and needed infrastructure for a future fixed route transit.
“It’s an important thing to think about,” said resident Jason Zimmerman, “because those types of things are hard to add after the fact.”
Bacquie agreed, noting the study is just starting a review of the UBER data, which will be used to determine patterns of origin and destinations, looking for the most logical and “most suitable” routes for a future transit system. But, he warned, “it’s quite a step to introduce a new service.”
He noted that any move to introduce fixed transit would need “a more fulsome study” with a view to long-term implementation.
To begin the process of engagement, the virtual presentation was frequently interrupted by a series of survey questions that participants and viewers could answer by using their Smartphones and a QR code.
Questions included ranking their top transportation issues by importance; asking if residents were interested in attending work or school from home; and if there are any significant barriers that kept them from utilizing the town’s Uber transit solution.
It was pointed out that only a tiny fraction of Innisfil’s population was watching the online meeting; Bacquie was questioned on the validity of the responses.
He identified the polling as simply providing a “snapshot” and a means of beginning the process of engagement. An online “more comprehensive” survey will be available on the Get Involved Innisfil website shortly, and Bacquie expressed the hope that at least 2 to 3 percent of Innisfil’s households will participate, over the coming month.
“If we could achieve that level of input, that would be tremendous,” he said. “We’re hoping that folks will reach out and complete that survey.”
To participate, residents were urged to subscribe on the GetInvolvedInnisfil.ca website.
“I encourage everyone to… please, please, please subscribe – to please go to the GetInvolvedInnisfil.ca/TMPlan site and subscribe,” said Meredith Goodwin, Innisfil's Capital Project Manager.
Comments, questions and concerns can also be sent directly to Goodwin, at [email protected] or call 705-436-3740 ext. 3220, or Ray Bacquie at [email protected] or 905-821-5891.
The meeting was recorded, and is posted on the town’s YouTube channel.