Milton is launching the ‘Move More, Milton’ program tomorrow (June 1st) with a “Take it to the Trails” promotion.  You may find more details on http://www.movemoremilton.ca.  You may also want to print out the June activities calendar for a schedule of activities for the entire month. 

Unfortunately there’s no trail walks in Harrison or Scott neighbourhoods, so I will join people at one of the other Hawthorne village neighbourhoods. 

Trudeau Drive, with a beautifully landscaped median and multiple rows of trees:

Holly Ave that came later. Not as nice is Trudeau but still a nice looking median with nice street lights with hanging pots:

Scott Blvd, that came after. Tiny, ugly median with no beautification:
 

We should be learning from old construction and making new ones better, not worse. 

Shameless promotion: This also underscores why it is important to have councillors who actually live in the neighbourhood (I live near Scott Blvd).  If Ward 8 councillors actually lived here (and spent time thinking about residents instead of writing borderline-racist document demonstrating questionable intellect – yes, this guy is our current councillor), we would have a safer road and a beautiful neighbourhood. 

Instead we are represented by a local councillor who almost lost his seat four times in last couple of years because he skipped meetings for almost three months in a row.  Even now, instead of representing residents on subcommittees (he doesn’t sit in a single one), attending public meetings (I attend all of them and have never seen him in one), council meeting on budget (he skipped) or council meeting to take feedback on the official plan that could make roads like Scott Blvd nicer and safer (he skipped it); he chooses to spend time writing on how all other cultures are destroying Canada and and causing “us to lose our moral compass”, how all other countries are “moral and/or financial cesspools”, Canadians who got stuck in a war zone and asked to be rescued were “bitching” and, well, go read for yourself and then decide if you want to elect a councillor from among your neighbours or an outsider who doesn’t live in ward 8.

The City of Portland optimized traffic signal timing at 135 intersections on 16 streets in Portland. This optimization work has resulted in saving motorists over 1,750,000 gallons of gas each year. This reduction in gasoline consumption is equivalent to 15,460 tons of CO2 each year.

I wonder how much gasoline we waste idling at horribly timed traffic lights and Milton’s aversion to right-turn-lanes (seriously, why do we not have dedicated right-turn lanes?)

As if it wasn’t bad enough to have major arterial roads where traffic doesn’t flow, neighbourhood roads like Scott Blvd have no traffic calming devices whatsoever.  When taking a neighbourhood road, like Scott Blvd, from Derry to Main is faster than traveling on major arterial roads then we know that planners messed up.  After two close calls on Scott Blvd I now drive my children to village square, which kills the purpose of having village squares that people can walk to.

I have been asking for traffic calming devices and signalled crosswalks near schools and parks.  Recently a 7 year old boy was hit by a vehicle while he rode his bike (and the vehicle promptly fled the scene, shame on the driver).  Fortunately the boy’s injury was not major but Scott Blvd is a disaster waiting to happen.

I went up to the council on May 10th asking for different things.  One of them were traffic calming devices.  We must figure out how to make traffic flow on major roads (by synchronizing traffic lights and putting dedicated right-turn-lanes) and we must figure out how to make neighbourhood roads pedestrian friendly (by adding traffic calming devices and signalled crosswalks).  It is borderline criminal to build high-density neighbourhood with busy roads and put parks and schools next to those roads without doing anything to make them safe for pedestrians.

Driving on Scott Blvd, with no traffic calming, is noticeably faster than driving on major arterial roads.  People should leave Scott Blvd to drive on Derry and Bronte, not the other way around.  I truly believe that we’ll have a pedestrian death on Scott Blvd unless something is done to control traffic. 

One of the first things I intend to do if I am elected is to make neighbourhood roads like Scott Blvd safe for pedestrians and to make arterial roads (like Derry) better for traffic flow. 

If you haven’t heard already, there is a No-Frills grocery store going at the southwest corner of Scott & Derry.  I have been involved in the site design process to make sure that it fits in with the character of the neighbourhood (no industrial building with a large yellow sign). It’s actually decently designed, with stucco, bricks and architectural stones.  It won’t be your typical no-frills.  There is also a drive-through bank.  You can see the site plan here.

I am trying to get information on the traffic impact study, I have concerns about even more traffic in that intersection. I would still like to see more trees and landscaping along the parameter to hide the parking lot from streets.  In addition, I don’t like the idea of a large “No-Frills” sign on Scott Blvd in front of people’s homes (there is already a sign in the building and on Derry).  I would also like Scott Blvd to get a median with trees until the No-Frills entrance so residents facing No-Frills can get a tree cover and to control traffic a little entering the plaza.

If you have any concerns around the site plan then please let me know.  I don’t think this is the ideal site and the grocery store should really have gone at the Shoppers plaza on Bronte & Derry, but the council rejected that and approved this.  It’s too late to change that legally, unfortunately.  The best thing is to make it the best looking No-Frills anywhere. 

If you have feedback then please send it to Aaron Raymond at aaron.raymond@milton.ca or (905) 878-7252 x 2313.