Hamilton councillors want to speed up building bike lanes at a cost of about $500,000

Hamilton councillors are looking at speeding up the city's cycling master-plan projects for completion, but at a possible cost of at least $500,000 starting in 2023.

Several councillors suggested the city's cycling master plan, created in 2009 and which identifies bike projects that could take about 30 more years to be completed, at a cost of over $380 million, is too slow and needs to be moved forward by about three years.

I'm actually considering accelerating the implementation plan (and) that we direct staff to actually follow through on this," said Ward 4 Coun. Tammy Hwang.

The first-time councillor introduced a motion at the Jan. 20 budget committee requesting staff provide the financial impacts on the 2023 operation budget if the cycling master-plan is implemented over three years.

Hwang said building cycling lanes will address climate change, improve transportation options for the public - particularly those people living in marginalized neighbourhoods - and boost the city's image.

This is where we signal, we are a progressive community-minded city and council," said Hwang.

Brian Hollingworth, director of transportation planning, said it could take about $500 million to hire five full-time staff in 2023 to move the projects forward, suggesting a three-year time frame.

Hollingworth said staff will provide councillors with some ideas to accelerate the cycling plan."

Councillors voted 14-0 to support the report at their Jan. 20 budget meeting.

The estimated total cost for the new cycling infrastructure is about $386 million in cycling infrastructure, said Hollingworth. But he expects the project costs to increase since they were budgeted in 2018.

Over the past several years, the city has implemented an average of 10 to 15 new cycling facilities annually, along with 5 to 10 kilometres of enhancements.

In 2022, 14 cycling projects were completed creating 14 kilometres of new lanes and upgraded cycling infrastructure at a cost of about $1.4 million. For 2023, the city has budgeted $3.3 million for 35 kilometres of infrastructure.

Ward 1 Coun. Maureen Wilson said the city will pay $300 million regardless to implement the cycling master plan. The question, she said, is whether councillors want to pay the cost over three years or 25 years.

Are we satisfied with the knowledge it will take us 25-30 years (to implement the cycling master-plan)?" said Wilson.

Mayor Andrea Horwath agreed speeding up the city's cycling plan really does integrate a lot of the values we have talked about around the table. This is very, very positive."