Active Transportation Master Plan

Draft Final Active Transportation Master Plan now available

The final draft of the Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) is now available under Important Documents in the widgets to the right for public review

This version of the ATMP was presented to Council on July 22, 2024, for Council’s information and discussion, but a motion to adopt the ATMP has not yet been considered. The ATMP will go back to Council for a vote to endorse the plan on Monday, Sept. 23.

Project Overview

The City of St. Catharines is developing an Active Transportation Master Plan (ATMP) that will guide the growth of physical and social infrastructure to support walking, cycling, and rolling within the City.

The ATMP will leverage existing active transportation (AT) infrastructure in St. Catharines and support the growth of the City’s network going forward. The ATMP document will be developed through technical analysis, best practices, and community consultation to ensure the plan serves the community of St. Catharines. This development process will create an ATMP that is a community-focused plan that will make walking, cycling and rolling a safer and more reliable transportation option. The plan will also strengthen political support and establish new partnerships with community stakeholders to guide the implementation of the plan’s final recommendations.

Some of the high-level goals of the ATMP are to:

• Create a safer, more livable community for all residents and visitors
• Develop facilities that provide connections to existing and future AT infrastructure
• Promote and embrace sustainable transportation options
• Create equitable and accessible transportation systems for all users
• Foster strong partnerships to support the implementation of AT infrastructure into the future

The project is organized into the following phases:

• Phase 1: Project Initiation & Background Review – understand the community’s existing conditions through technical analysis, policy reviews, and engaging with residents and stakeholders.
• Phase 2: Development of a Comprehensive Active Transportation Network – work closely with the City, key stakeholders, and the public to develop recommendations for a well-connected, all-ages and abilities on- and off-road active transportation network.
• Phase 3: Policies/Framework and Programs – identify opportunities for the ATMP to support a Complete Streets planning framework and develop policies to support the ATMP including maintenance standards, asset management policies, Transportation Demand Management policies, and more.
• Phase 4: Implementation – work with the City to generate a realistic, achievable implementation strategy that outlines costs and prioritizes projects from quick wins to long-term implementations.
• Phase 5: Monitoring & Reporting – develop a draft list of metrics and Key Performance Indicators that can be tracked over time to demonstrate the success of the ATMP as it is implemented, and suggestions for relevant data collection.

Throughout the project, our team will be developing a series of Discussion Papers that align with each phase of the project, and that will eventually help to form the final ATMP document. Each of these Discussion Papers will be refined through consultation with City Staff and stakeholders before they are finalized and posted on the project website to ensure greater transparency and accountability throughout the project.

How To Provide Input

The ATMP is meant to be a community-based plan meaning your input is essential to improve AT in St. Catharines! There will be a number of opportunities to engage throughout the project where we will be looking to stakeholders, rightsholders and community members to provide input to guide the development of the ATMP. Some upcoming opportunities to participate in the project are listed below:

• Respond to the public survey (below) to provide input on how you use AT in your community and what opportunities you see for improving AT
• Use the mapping tool (below) to share your local knowledge of existing conditions, desires and opportunities for improving AT
• Subscribe to this webpage to receive project updates about additional opportunities to provide input including public open houses and Discussion Papers
• Reach out to a member of the project team. Contact information can be found on the right toolbar of this page