ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION CONNECTIVITY PLAN LONDON ONTARIO
DESG-7031 APRIL 23, 2021 RYAN KORAEN
CONTENTS
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PURPOSE SITE CONTEXT CASE STUDIES THEORY & DESIGN GIS ANALYSIS
DESIGN IDEAS
TIMELINE/DELIVEABLES
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PLANNING & POLICY 12
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PURPOSE PROBLEM
PROJECT OVERVIEW
2 Impacts of global warming are being observed around the world, impacts that are influenced by human decisions. Together with climate change, air quality is to a great extent worsening due to the burning of fossil fuels. Resulting in augmented levels of smog which is posing health effects on people living in urban environments. Namely, one of the leading, and destructive contributors to the world’s climate crisis is the transportation sector. Significantly, North American cities have been developed around the use of motor vehicles, creating challenges of advancements towards sustainable solutions, and detaching from personal vehicles as a main mode of transportation.
This capstone project will focus on improving active transit in London Ontario by locating main transportation nodes, and areas for improved connectivity of cycling networks to the current London Transit Commision routes, as well as the new Shift Bus Rapid Transit system. Once the nodes are identified, a model for improved cycling infrastructure that can be implemented into the existing framework, or proposed for new transit villages, will be designed to allow safe, accessible, and sustainable methods of transportation through the city.
LIVED EXPERIENCE
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lines on a road. Today, I still enjoy cycling through the city, and along the Thames Valley Parkway, but there is plenty left to do in order to make London a cycling friendly place to live. Oftentimes, people yell or honk their horns for cycling on the road, but under the London City Bylaw, you are not allowed to operate a bicycle on a sidewalk. While it does not happen every time I’m on the street, it occurs more than it should. Active transit has also been a more important part of my recent life as I enrolled in post secondary education and would take the bus to Fanshawe College. This works well, but to rely solely on the bus can be slow with multiple transfers. This is where the idea and influence from other countries has brought me to wanting better connections for cycling and public transit where you can bike to a transit hub, use the washroom, fill your water, safely lock your bike, and continue on with public transit. These nodes would not only accommodate cyclists, but every active transportation user of all ages. Somewhere an elderly person can take a rest, and use the washroom as some medication can result in frequent need of this amenity. People will use these systems more if they are safer and more enjoyable.
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Growing up in London, I remember being brought from place to place in my parents car. I had always rid my bicycle around the neighbourhood with my friends, but it was not safe for me to bike to their house,so, the car we took. As time went on, and I grew up, I began using the sidewalks and side street to bike further distances, and travel to new destinations. During my time in highschool, I would bike 12 kilometres to and from school every day. Safety was always questionable as cars would drive past at speeds of 60- 70 kilometres per hour. It was strange as there was an abundance of space for an off street bike path, however, it is much easier to paint
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Potential locations for sites will be located in existing transit nodes in North, East, South, West, and central London. These are areas of importance to London residents as they serve purposes as live, work, learn, with shopping centers, schools, and residential. Highlighted in these study sites are areas with potential high density development, transit village, or along the Bus Rapid Transit corridor.
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W E S T M O U N T SHOPPING CENTRE, located in west London at the intersection of Wonderland Rd. and Viscount Rd., has many bus routes and stops at the south entrance. It is also an area with potential for development, and three schools south of Viscount. White Oaks Mall, located in South London at the intersection of Bradley Ave. and Wellington St., is a significant area with a main BRT stop, and a potential area for transit oriented development. There are also a couple schools, with a new Fanshawe College building at the adjacent corner
6 Masonville Mall, located in North London at the intersection of Richmond St. and Fanshawe Park Rd., is a developing shopping district with a transit node with multiple routes convening in the bus loop.
Fanshawe College main campus located in East London on Highbury St. east of Adelaide St. is on the BRT corridor with the former psychiatric hospital grounds proposed to become a transit village, would be a great catalyst for improved cycling infrastructure. The BRT Loop is underway located in the downtown core. This loop could serve the intensifying downtown as a center for active transportation, and increased cycling infrastructure is necessary.
POTENTIAL MODEL SITE The parking lot owned by Impark located along Queens St. and Ridout St. would be a considerable site for a multi model active transportation stop connecting cycling, walking, and public transit. This site has close proximity to Thames Valley Parkway connections, near the new dundas flex street with new bike lanes that will be implemented soon. This stop is also a proposed BRT stop connecting to the BRT Loop that is begining this year. This location would help London achieve the goal of reducing surface parking with creating better solutions. This location would be used as a model site to show what can be done to a concrete city block, to create an ecological connecting point for sustainable transportation.
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CA E STUDIES The Danish are a great representation of the potential for active transportation, connectivity, and infrastructure. Planning and design are very much cycling oriented which helps the community acceptance of this as a mode of transportation.
DENMARK
9 1 Cycling is a culture of its own in the Netherlands, and cities are moving towards cycling as a main more of transportation. Rotterdam is a great model for improving infrastructure with their new underground bicycle parking. In only six months, it is said to be close to maximum capacity.
ROTTERDAM
The City of Toronto’s comprehensive bicycle parking programs are great examples of local infrastructure and planning that can be implemented in London as there are similarities in cycling culture, and growing popularity.
TORONTO
THEORY DESIGN &
10 Many theories and design and planning practices will be applied to the design and idea behind this project. There are many aspects to creating a successful design with numerous global issues that must be addressed. Some of the main goals for this project are to create usable places that connect people to sustainable modes of transportation. The design will be people focused as it will be easily accepted into the existing urban fabric, while augmenting the urban experience. One of the main theories that will be focused on is ensuring the design accommodates everyone of every age. Designing for resilience will be important addressing the impacts that COVID-19 has had on people, and the ways active transportation is looked at. Resilient design will help the city of London persevere while meeting sustainability goals and reduce the carbon footprint.
RESILIENT FORM
URBAN DESIGN
CONNECTIVITY
SUSTAINABILITY
GIS ANALYSIS CONNECTIVITY
Connectivity will be analyzed by looking at existing roads, bicycle paths, and transit routes. Areas with high traffic volumes and bicycle paths will be looked into further for traffic calming methods.
DEMOGRAPHICS
BIKEABILITY
A bikeabililty analysis will be conducted for the city of London. This will be done by joinin the components; bike lanes, topography, destination points e.g. grocery stores, schools, as well as connections to other active transportation modes of walking and public transit. This bikeability map will allow for bike scores for different areas in London where increased bike infrastructure would be the most benificial. This bike score methode will be based on the Prtland model with a bike score rating from 0-100.
11 1 Demographics will act as a crucial role for a pilot site as age, income, and population are key factors in who, and how many people might potentially use active transit as a main mode of transit.
STREET TREES
Street tree inventory analysis will be done to look at areas that need additional trees incorporated into the design, as they can be used for traffic calming methods as well.
90-100 70-89 50-69 0-49
EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE
Bike lane score will be based on London’s curent bike lane infrastructure.
Existing infrastructure will be combined with amenities to gain qualitative, and quantitative data for areas of improvement. Existing amenities will look at what can be implemented in the design to provide access washrooms, wifi, and water refill stations.
DENSITY
Density scores will be calculated using a density tool created in class as a guide for areas that can be focused as multimoadal transit hubs.
biker’s paradise very bikeable bikeable somewhat bikeable
Hill score will look at the grade 10% being a score of 0 and 2% a score of 100.
Destination will look at distance and time to bike to amenities.
Connectivity to public transit will look at bus stops in these bikeable areas.
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LANNING OLICY The London Plan
London Cycling Master Plan Ontario’s Cycling Stratagy
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Increasing Cycling In Canada NYC Street Design Manual
Antwerp Bicycle Policy Plan There is an abundance of cycling manuals, street design guidelines, and stratageys to look at. For my capstone, I will be goin looking at these in the same fashion the Environmental Design and Planning program is layed out. I will be looking at planning methods and guidelines that are currently in place at the local, provincial, national, international, and global scales. This will be important as a comparison between how different levels of government are planning on implementing cycling and active transportation into cities, as well as internationally for what can be learned and influencial.
DESIGN Preliminary design ideas stem from lived experience, past projects, theory covered over the last three years, and designs I’ve seen from classmates, competitions, and other sources. While much will change with further analysis, model site identification, multiple design and site layouts, the main design implementations will remain.
street trees will be placed in one of two systems, the first being silva cell modular suspended pavement system for stormwater management, as well as increased tree health. The second system will be urban swales to manage water runoff, filter road pollutants, and increase infiltration. Increased vegetation will also create a relaxing environment where people can take a minute to rest from their walk or cycling trip. Other design features to accommodate all people would be adequate seating for all active transit users, and allowing people of all ages to rest. There must be easy access to a filtered water station for people to fill their water bottle. Additionally, the use of solar panels could be implemented into the design to provide electricity to the transit stop for lighting, as well as wifi and phone charging stations.
13 1 To begin, the main design goal will be to focus on creating a safe and enjoyable pedestrian experience. This will be done with traffic calming methods, moving away from car oriented design. Having reduced speed limits with signage. seperated bike lanes to the transit stop and bike parking. Increasing street trees and green space as a placemaking tool to allow people to feel like they have arrived somewhere significant. The
DELIVERABLE
WEEK
MONTH
The last two weeks of April have been dedicated to exploring ideas, and finding a problem/design solution 1 that I would like to see happen. This has also included a site selection and capstone proposal. 2 May will split between theory, gathering implementable 3 policy, and analysis for the first two weeks. Analysis will continue for the last two weeks as site specific. 4 My findings and other important information will be noted as I will start writing the first half of the report during this time. Initial design ideas sketches, and 5 site layouts will begin.
APRIL
MAY
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June will be the design process. These ideas will 7 be drawn in AutoCAD. Simultaneously, I will be working on a bikeability analysis of London to 8 find where cycling works best. By the end of june, my design will be complete and I will start to create visualizations. Base plan and design 9 proposal will be complete.
JUNE
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I would like to have all visualizations 11 completed in the first two weeks of july. The report should be mostly complete 12 with only a post design analysis. End of june will be dedicated to creating my 13 boards and editing my report.
JULY
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By August, I will have finished my capstone deliverables allowing me 15 to revise, edit. It will be a recorded presentation, so I will be editing the 16 video during week 15.
AUGUST