We Make Milton - Official Plan project

The township of Milton continues to support the cycling community drawing cyclists from Toronto to Hamilton to make use of the network. We need to better understand where cyclists are entering into our township and improve that gateway experience. Pushing adjacent municipalities to meet those transition points with thoughtful connectivity. The velodrome marks Milton as a cycling hub and it is vital to continue to draw visitor and attract new residents

After completing the survey on employment areas I wanted to focus on a point talking about bringing small businesses into neighborhoods and I just love this idea. How our schools mainly high schools can become hubs in our community with parks and small business all working together. Often our schools are isolated and far from other community amenities. We have already added daycare to our schools, what about including some other small businesses.

Active transportation:
- The multi-purpose trails and bike lanes in Milton are very helpful, but there needs to be more connectivity between the various components to make it a more complete system.
- There's a road maintenance program, in which crews fill surface cracks with tar. The same procedure should be used on multi-purpose trails, so they don't fall into disrepair.
- Multi-purpose trails and/or segregated bike lanes should be included on several roads connecting nearby communities (Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington). They should have good connectivity with the trails and bike lanes within Milton itself.
- There should be no curbs prohibiting entry/exit from multi-purpose trails at road intersections. An example of this problem is at the newly-designed intersection of Louis St. Laurent and 4th Line (west-bound). Users of the multi-purpose trail have to veer over onto the sidewalk when they cross the street. If they're unaware of the curb blocking the trail, it could lead to an accident.
- Active transportation should be included on roadways leading to industrial areas.

Traffic calming:
- As a pedestrian, the most frustrating part of a journey is the walk-light activation system on traffic lights. If you don't press the walk button in time, you have to wait through two light cycles (traffic going in both directions) before you can cross. At major intersections, this is a very long wait. There are a couple of traffic lights where the walk light comes on automatically (one on the intersection of Thompson and a smaller residential street), but other lights should be calibrated to eliminate the walk light button. This would give the priority to active transportation over vehicular traffic. Car drivers would have to slow down to check if any pedestrians are waiting to cross, which would contribute to traffic calming. If there are no pedestrians, they could proceed as usual. As opposed to the walk-light button, the pedestrian countdown timer is still a useful tool.
- Coming from another part of Canada, where drivers have to stop for pedestrians at every crosswalk, Ontario's crosswalk/crossover designation is confusing to both drivers and pedestrians. It's also dangerous for pedestrians because many drivers ignore street crosswalks, even near schools when no crossing guards are present. All crosswalks in Milton should be converted into crossovers, with a driver education program so that drivers will learn to slow down and check for pedestrians.

Rural areas:
- The urban sprawl occurring in Milton and nearby communities is very disturbing. Farmland is being gobbled up by the construction of single-family dwellings and town houses.
- The greenbelt should be actively protected by all levels of government.
- It would be useful for Halton to explore other ways to protect farmland and provide support to farmers. This could include lobbying other levels of government to provide financial support for existing farmers, and for new farmers wanting to acquire farms that are being sold. Locally-grown food is important for our growing population and the environment, but it's going to disappear if the most profitable option for farmers is to sell their land to developers. In some parts of Canada, there are land-use restrictions on areas designated as agricultural. This could be done in Ontario too, but it would have to be balanced with compensation for farmers wanting to sell their land.

Housing and walkable neighbourhoods:
- As mentioned above, the continuing development of urban sprawl has negative effects on the environment. It also puts a strain on the town's finances, since infrastructure and services have to be provided to an expanding area.
- Housing densification must be included in the plan, especially on transportation corridors. There's been an increase in condo development, but the missing component is rental apartments. There are only a few dedicated rental apartment buildings in Milton, and there need to be more. Not everyone can afford to finance the purchase of their own home, and not everyone wants to either. Currently, due to the lack of options, renters usually live in units that are owned privately. This can cause housing insecurity, because renters often have to move if owners sell the property or want relatives occupy it.
- Developers usually don't want to become landlords too, but construction approval priority could be given to plans that include dedicated rental housing. All levels of government could work together to provide incentives for the construction of rental housing.

Public Transit:
- To be honest, I seldom use Milton Transit. I find it pricey for the distance that it goes. A fare system based on distance travelled, that's more integrated with GO Transit and bus services in nearby communities, would be helpful.
- There should be more transit options on north/south routes, making medical facilities, GO stations, and colleges in Oakville and Burlington more accessible. Milton should lobby for such routes with GO Transit.
- There should be frequent access to the Milton Highway 401 Park and Ride from the Milton GO Station. This would allow easier access to GO busses heading towards Pearson International Airport and other communities. The route could continue on to businesses along highway 25, including Service Canada.

A)Seniors
1)require free public transportation, GO train/bus and local transport!!!
2)public transport linking to burlington oakville and missisauga hospitals/malls/airport
4)have on demand bus stops.
5) with stops at front doors of hospital large medical clinics xray and physio,labs, senior/retirement/long term care homes plus senior center/leisure center/sports/arts center/velodrome/ malls/churches

This will not only help the Milton economy it will reduce the medical/social budget burden since it will encourage mobility, volunteering, independence, social interaction, less depression and promotes wellness
Thank you for allowing input from me and my many active senior friends

B) We need street names in area around art center , main library, area, Leisure center and art on main condo/parks require monitoring of many people not stopping at stop signs in the area
-we require a designated crossing area be it a light or cross walk between the library and arena going to the the superstore mall. With many people crossing there, we fear a serious accident or fatality on Thompson Rd may be evident in the near future.
-we need wheelchair assessable cut outs on sidewalks in the above area and street crossing marks on the road where pedestrians cross in above area
Many dogs are seen relieving themselves on library area without poop scooping causing this not to be friendly for young children and families thus a lease free or dog run area should be allocated

Milton has a great transportation connectivity opportunity with the existing trails at many of our neighborhoods. We have lots of trails, but we lack on how these trails connect to each other for pedestrians and cyclists. It`s not a major project in most places, it requires better signals and some civil work. This will make users get around using secondary roads, trails, different transportation methods, rather than clogging the main roads with cars.

According to the current situation that my children and I are in now, and because I do not have a car, the transportation situation within Milton is very bad, as there is no good connection between the bus stations, and the time that the bus takes within the city as a result of the road is considered long. In my opinion, the solution is to develop a carefully studied transportation map within the city of Milton, and to include shopping places, health and educational centers in this map, and this will be a good solution to reduce the suffering of citizens.

I saw today first-hand that Derry & Ontario is an extremely busy intersection, and there’s 3 new condo buildings going up there. May we get more public transit in that area to reduce traffic there?

Would Milton please consider "garbage" pickup on a weekly basis instead of every 2 weeks. This would also help the 3 bag limit.
VM

Monarch Butterflies are now officially endangered species. We need a special project to encourage reproduction. We can accomplish this by planting more Milkweed shrubs in our conservation areas and/or personal gardens. Here is the link for reference.https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/About/Native-Plants/Milkweed

Please hire someone who knows how to effectively program the Town's traffic lights. The current traffic light system is terribly inefficient and causes unnecesary delays and is a significant cause of pollution. I am so tired of getting red lights when there are absolutely no cars or pedestrians going in cross traffic.

I like Milton to set the bar for renewable energy. Let's start will all government be retrofitted with solar panels. Let's install them on all new schools being built or planned.

Let's make the planned Trafalgar GO station run on 100% solar and wind.

All new build, residential or commercial, should have 50% of the roof surface have solar panels.

We need to partner with the provincial government help shoulder the cost.

I have read the "Places of Worship section" of the Big questions report. As a volunteer leader in a church in Milton, I wish to thank the town staff who have put this report together, and have taken the time to listen to the concerns of faith groups in Milton. The policy considerations section starting on page 118 is an excellent summary of the actions that Milton must, should, and could do to facilitate the establishment of Places of Worship for the benefit of the community. I agree with these 7 considerations and would encourage you all to work toward their implementation. Thank you for listening.