Hamilton East-West Cycle Superhighway #1: Dundas
Start: Rail-Trail at Sanctuary Park in Dundas.
This is the start because of the Five Schools Project. Starting at Sanctuary Park, the Rail-Trail will be paved and lit to be a main transportation route. The draft Transportation Master Plan’s Cycling Master Plan update contains plans to pave the Rail-Trail to Old Ancaster Road. We recommend that this paving be extended to Sanctuary Park for the Five Schools Project. See Appendix C at:
The Five Schools Project
The City of Hamilton is currently planning to build a Multi-Use Trail to be a high-quality connection across Sanctuary Park from the Rail-Trail to Highland Park Drive. This is Project 13-9 as seen at:
Here is an image cut from that document:
And here are the Google Maps images:
This project will have the effect of connecting five schools to the Rail-Trail: Dundas Valley Secondary School, Sir William Osler Elementary School, St. Bernadette Elementary School and St. Mary Secondary School. Please note that Dundana Elementary School feeds into Sir William Osler for grades 5-8 and to Dundas Valley Secondary for grades 9-12. Similarly, St. Bernadette Elementary feeds into St. Mary Secondary for grades 9-12. So the Five Schools Project connects all five of these schools with a car-free route through Sanctuary Park and along the Rail-Trail.
For people living in Pleasant Valley, cycling to the three schools on Governors Road will now be as little as ¼ the distance of the road motor vehicle distance. Also, school buses can be eliminated for these children as they are now within the walk/cycle distance standard. This standard is 1.6 km for grades 1-8 and 3.2 km for grades 9-12.
Old Ancaster Road
We recommend a “Book 15” crossing at Old Ancaster Road and all other level crossings.
Dundana Elementary School
The school is directly on the Rail-Trail. We recommend a paved connection to secure cycle parking at the school. Note that public school children living in Pleasant Valley will attend Dundana School for grades JK-5 and Sir William Osler for grades 6-8. All Dundana graduates will attend Sir William Osler for grades 6-8, and Dundas Valley Secondary for grades 9-12. The Five Schools Project will connect these Dundana graduates with their new schools.
Fortinos
We recommend the Rail-Trail be routed directly in front of the store. This enhances safety by removing conflicts with motor vehicle operators. It also enhances convenience for shoppers at Fortinos by bringing people directly to the store. The current route not only has two points of conflict with motor vehicle operators, but it is too narrow and has two blind corners. This change also brings the Rail-Trail closer to St. Mary Secondary School.
McMaster University Feeder Route
The City of Hamilton is currently planning a feeder route to the University along Emerson Street. We recommend that steel bollards be used to restrict motor vehicle traffic on Emerson Street to local access and public transit vehicles only.
Chedoke Car-free Residential Area
We recommend that any additional residential development of the “Chedoke A” city-owned property be a car-free residential development. If this happens, we recommend that the existing “Chedoke B” development be enhanced to a car-free zone.
Safe Cycling in Dundas 