FAQs

The city-wide Transportation Master Plan (TMP) was approved in 2022 and identifies four Special Study Areas requiring more detailed study and additional focused engagement with residents and community partners to determine the preferred transportation improvements. The TMP recognized the ongoing operational and safety concerns in the Sherbrooke Street, Clonsilla Avenue, and Goodfellow Road area (i.e., Special Study Area A).

The City has initiated the Clonsilla Area Transportation Study to assess the need for transportation improvements in Special Study Area A.  As recommended within the TMP, opportunities to optimize the performance of the existing transportation network, intersections and invest in active transportation and transit services and infrastructure will be evaluated as part of this study.

A Study Design is an initial, pre-planning phase of the study that is generally intended to establish the study area and work plan for completing the study, and seek feedback on the workplan from the public, First Nations, community partners and agencies before work begins.

This phase of the study will also help to confirm the preliminary assessment of transportation needs, identify preliminary alternative solutions, evaluation methodology and evaluation criteria, and the engagement plan to be carried out in Part B of the study.  Before initiating Part B, Council’s approval will be sought on the Study Design.  

During Part B of the study, the Municipal Class EA process will be followed to guide the decision-making. This includes completing a series of environmental studies, developing and evaluating alternative solutions and design concepts, assessing potential impacts, developing mitigation measures and documenting the process within an Environmental Study Report, at which time Council’s approval will be sought on the study recommendations.

A preliminary assessment of future transportation network performance in the study area has been undertaken.  For the purposes of this study, the mode share targets, and other related policy measures approved as part of the TMP, have been assumed to be fully implemented by the 2051 planning horizon, including 10% of all trips would take transit, and 25% of all trips would use active forms of transportation.

As such, additional measures to increase transit or active transportation use beyond the levels recommended in the TMP are not being considered, however opportunities to implement portions of these approved plans are being reviewed as part of this study.

The city-wide TMP concluded that the full Parkway extension from Clonsilla Avenue to Water Street is not recommended by 2051.

As part of the approval process for the city-wide TMP, City Council passed a motion that, “road network improvements shall not utilize portions of the lands reserved for the Parkway Corridor”. As such, an extension to The Parkway in whole or in part is not being considered as part of this study.

Alternative multi-modal transportation improvements being considered as part of this study rely upon the recommendations of the City’s TMP and Official Plan and include new or improved sidewalks, multi-use paths, cycling facilities, intersection improvements, transit priority measures, and new localized road links within the study area.

Alternatives outside the study area, or a new road facility within the Parkway corridor will not be considered as part of this study.

An initial set of evaluation criteria have been developed based on the preliminary problems and opportunities identified within the study area, and in consideration of the technical, socio-economic, cultural heritage and natural environment factors.

The criteria are presented for review and feedback during the Study Design and may be updated to reflect the feedback received from the public, First Nations, agencies and other community partners, prior to being used to evaluate the transportation alternatives during the Municipal Class EA process.

During Part B of the study process, a 4-step evaluation is proposed:

Step 1: Screening a long list of transportation alternatives against the following criteria: 1) does the alternative reduce collision potential for all users; and, 2) can the alternative be designed using appropriate standards. Alternatives that meet these criteria will be directly carried forward to Step 3.

Step 2: Identify alternatives that do not meet the screening criteria but include components that are common to other alternatives (e.g., walking, cycling or transit alternatives that may not reduce collision potential but are important elements of an overall multi-modal alternative). These alternatives will be combined with other alternatives in Step 3.

Step 3: Develop 3 to 4 combinations of alternatives, each of which will be associated with a particular focus (e.g., improving existing intersections, adding left-hand turn lanes, adding midblock pedestrian crossings, etc.).

Step 4: Subject the combination alternatives to a detailed comparative evaluation using a reasoned argument approach that focuses on the advantages/disadvantages of each combination alternative in response to a set of defined technical and environmental evaluation criteria.

A secondary evaluation process will then be used to assess the sensitivity of the initial evaluation approach using a weighted scoring system. The combination alternative with the highest scoring will be identified as the Preferred Alternative.

A series of environmental studies are planned for Part B of the study process to identify key features within the study area, determine potential constraints and opportunities, and to support the evaluation of alternatives and identification of proposed mitigation measures. These studies include:

• Natural Heritage Assessment
• Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment
• Cultural Heritage Assessment
• Drainage and Stormwater Management Strategy
• Limited Geotechnical and Hydrogeological Investigation
• Air Quality Impact Assessment
• Traffic Noise Impact Assessment

If you have any comments or questions and/or would like to receive future notifications about this study, please email the study team at clonsillaareats@peterborough.ca, or contact:

Vinod Soman, M. Tech, M.Sc.

Senior Project Manager

City of Peterborough

Tel: (905) 742-7777 ext. 1749

Gene Chartier, M.A.Sc., P.Eng.

Vice President and Chief Development Officer

Paradigm Transportation Solutions

Tel: (416) 479-9684 ext. 501

Please visit this webpage regularly for the latest study updates and notifications, and to review information shared at public consultation events.  

In addition, you can contact one of the members of the study team by email at clonsillaareats@peterborough.ca.