Four years ago, Mayor Gord Krantz said he questioned his sanity when he agreed to the construction of a $63-million cycling facility for the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games 2015.
Now, with plans for transportation, transit and security underway, he’s confident that the town is finally “on the right track.”
On Monday, the organizing committee for the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games co-ordinated a series of presentations at the Milton Sports Centre with Town staff, Halton Regional Police and Ministry of Transportation to provide residents with information about the Games. Presentations were centered on transportation and logistics, transit and security measures.
“This is the largest multi-sport event the country has ever hosted and we’re setting the bar to a new standard in the region,” said Aaron Glynwilliams, senior manager for external partnerships for the Pan-Am/Parapan Am Games (TO2015) organizing committee.
The Games will see more than 10,000 athletes and officials from 41 countries and territories participate in 51 sports. In Milton, there will be 220 athletes participating in events at the velodrome, as well as the time trial course, where athletes will cycle outdoors along a dedicated route.
“If you consider all their family and friends, that’s a lot of people coming to Milton,” said Doug Spooner, senior manager, transportation partner integration and planning at TO2015.
According to David Chant, advisor for policy and planning at the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), the goal is to reduce road traffic by 20 per cent during the Games to ensure athletes, officials, spectators and media will be able to get to and from the venues in a timely manner.
“We live in a busy, busy region with lots of traffic…during peak hours we will try and reduce that traffic but we need help from businesses and residents,” said Chant.
The ministry is promoting carpools, cycling, walking, using public transit and avoiding busy areas.
The MTO is also creating high occupancy lanes (HOV) in highways 401, 427, the Queen Elizabeth/Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway/Hwy. 404. During the Pan Am Games, July 10 to 26, a vehicle will have to have three or more occupants to use the HOV lanes. This will drop to two or more during the Parapan Am Games, August 7 to 15. The lanes will help ease traffic coming into Milton, but there will be no HOV lanes within the town itself.
Chant also said that unlike other games where there are designated routes for athletes, officials and spectators, there would be a “shared network” for all commuters in hopes of minimizing the impact.
Road closures will be in effect during the outdoor cycling events. On July 22, Louis St. Laurent, Bronte Street/First Line, Lower Baseline and Fourth Line will be temporarily closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On August 13, the Parapan Am riders will race along Louis St. Laurent, Regional Road 25, Britannia Road and Fourth Line, making them inaccessible to vehicular traffic during the same hours.
Milton Transit will add an additional route from the GO Station to the velodrome, which will run every 20 minutes. The bus will travel down Thompson Road to Derry Road, then down Tremaine Road to the velodrome. It will run on all event days and scheduling will be targeted toward the event start and end time, according to Tony D’Alessandro, transit co-ordinator for Milton.
D’Alessandro added, anyone with an event ticket for that day will get free transit service across the GTHA, as part of a transit ticket integration initiative.
There will also be a ‘Park and Ride’ service from the Milton Sports Centre, but that will be contracted out through a private company.
Brad Cook, Pan Am security lead planner, assured residents that the Integrated Security Unit, made up of police officers and private security guards, are working diligently to ensure the safety and security of everyone involved with the Games. Citing the work of his intelligence officers, Cook said there were no issues to date. He admitted the tunnel discovered around York University in late February brought a higher volume of phone traffic to security officers, but once inferences were quashed, there have been no threats.
“We want to provide a safe spot for everyone to go. Everyone in the community will be impacted by the Pan Am Games and our job is to make sure you’re safe,” he said.
Jennifer Reynolds, director of community services for the Town, ended the presentations with a look at the success of the velodrome as the country’s premier cycling facility. Since opening its doors in January it has hosted the Canadian Track Championships and a number of community and sporting events.
As far as cycling goes, Reynolds said there have already been 730 registrations, 377 are on a waitlist, 134 cycling memberships have been purchased, 75 per cent of bike lockers rented out, 348 individuals have been certified by cycling instructors and drop-in rides have been sold out. The walking/running track and fitness centre have also been popular among Miltonians.
“This makes for a good business case that the velodrome won’t be a burden on the taxpayers or the Town of Milton,” added Krantz.
The Pan-Am Games will run from July 10 to 26, break for a week and a half, then move into the Parapan Games, which run from Aug 7 to 15.
For more information, visit http://www.toronto2015.org/.
------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ---------------
Detail Link :
http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/5523782-milton-residents-hear-about-transportation-logistics-transit-security-measures-surrounding-pan-am/