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Tag : Walking (19)

Brockville backs active transportation plan

Recorder & Times / Ronald Zajac / 26 September 2018

A change of heart by Mayor David Henderson means Brockville will get its active transportation plan after all.

City council on Tuesday voted down a recommendation by its finance, administration and operations committee – one Henderson supported last week at that committee meeting – which would have diverted money from the preparation of the plan to physical improvements on the Brock Trail.

The mayor said the fact the Brock Trail committee was itself supporting the active transportation plan contributed in part to his change of heart.

[ FULL ARTICLE ] [ SOME BACKGROUND ON ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ]

Walking the rural way in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark

Eastern Ontario Active Transportation Network / Fall 2018 Newsletter

The Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (LGL) District Health Unit, in partnership with active school travel stakeholders in Brockville, Smiths Falls and Mississippi Mills, was successful in receiving $100,000 over two years to pilot the “Walking the Rural Way” Project. This project will operationalize “community tailored” Walking School Bus (WSB) models, using trained adult leaders to walk with elementary school children, on established routes to school. Similar to a yellow school bus, a WSB has designated “bus stops” and “pick up times”, where children and families are encouraged to join. The project is supported by Ontario Active School Travel, a program of Green Communities Canada with funding from the Government of Ontario.

The following six schools are scheduled to participate in the first year of the “Walking the Rural Way” Project:

Westminster Public School (Brockville)
Commonwealth Public School (Brockville)
Chimo Elementary School (Smiths Falls)
Duncan J Schoular Public School (Smiths Falls)
St. Francis de Sales Catholic School (Smiths Falls)
R. Tait McKenzie Public School (Mississippi Mills)

Brockville schools will be running the Walking School Bus on Walking Wednesdays, with Westminster school using a before and after school model, while Commonwealth will start with mornings only. Smiths Falls will be piloting a Monday to Friday model, mornings only. The Walking School Bus will run from October to November 2018, and start up again April to end of June, 2019.

For more information, visit http://healthunit.org/health-information/physical-activity-rest/active-school-travel/ or e-mail WalkingSchoolBus_LGL@healthunit.org

Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2017

Chief Public Health Officer / 26 October 2017

Without being aware of it, our neighbourhoods and how they are built influence how healthy we are.

I chose designing healthy living as the topic for my first report as Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer because of the tremendous potential that changing our built environment has for helping Canadians live healthier lives.

Chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease are the leading causes of death in Canada. It is alarming that in 2011, almost 2.7 million or 1 in 10 Canadians 20 years and older were living with diabetes. Rising rates of type II diabetes can be considered a red flag for poor health as they are associated with higher rates of other diseases and conditions and linked to an unhealthy diet, low physical activity and higher rates of overweight and obesity. Rates of type II diabetes and other chronic diseases in Canada could be reduced by seamlessly integrating healthy living into our daily lives which can be achieved, in part, by designing and redesigning our communities.

[ FULL ARTICLE ]

Kingston is WALK friendly

Green Communities Canada / 17 April 2017

The City of Kingston has been designated as a 2016 Bronze Walk Friendly Community. This medium-sized city has done an impressive job of promoting walking and walkability and in engaging its citizens to increase walking rates. A large number of Kingston’s residents live close to their workplaces, providing a huge opportunity to increase the number of walkers. Kingston has consistently done well in the Commuter Challenge, and in 2016 recorded the highest participation rate in Ontario. The city has laid a great foundation for increasing walking through a variety of initiatives, plans and actions, including its stated vision of building “A Smart and Livable 21st Century City”, with an emphasis on active transportation as the guiding theme for all future municipal projects.

[ FULL ARTICLE ]

Leeds-Grenville moves ahead with paved shoulders

Brockville Active Mobility Matters / Alan Medcalf / 04 April 2017

In a unanimous vote today, the Committee of the Whole of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville passed the following motion:

THAT the Committee of the Whole recommends consideration of paved shoulders in its award of the 2017 County Road 2 contract for the reconstruction of part of the road between Johnstown and Cardinal; and

THAT staff prepare a full financial analysis of paved shoulders in the upcoming update of the Counties’ Asset Management Plan.

If followed through, this would bring Leeds Grenville on par with jurisdictions regionally and further afield who have recognized the cost savings and myriad other benefits of paving shoulders on rural roads.

[ FULL ARTICLE ]

2nd major infrastructure grant for Brock Trail/cycling project

Active Brockville / Alan Medcalf / 10 February 2017

Brockville’s project to extend the Brock Trail through the 401 corridor and extend the Trail from Laurier north to Centennial is receiving a $175,000 grant from the federal government.

The grant is part of the Ontario allotment of the $3.4 billion Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF), intended to support transit and active transportation projects. The project received $325,000 under the Ontario Municipal Cycling Infrastructure Program last year (read here).

[ FULL ARTICLE ]

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