A city of some 45,000 people and a diverse range of employers, Cornwall’s is often described as ‘a great place to live and work,’ and many of the City’s economic initiatives are tied to this theme. However, over the past few years it has become clear that promoting Cornwall as a great place to live and work can be significantly enhanced by creating a walkable and bicycle-friendly community. In fact, whether the overall objective relates to retaining youth in the City, promoting the environment, or increasing tourism potential, there are strong links to the improving conditions for walking and cycling. In 2010, the City of Cornwall Completed its first ever Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. Drawing on TAC’s recent publication “Active Transportation-making it work in Canadian Communities”, the plan identified a number of strategic initiatives to increase the uptake of active transportation in the City. Over the last two years, the City has been aggressively implementing a number of initiatives identified in the plan with very successful outcomes. The City of Cornwall’s Active Transportation Plan and follow-up implementation is very much in line with the criteria for the Sustainable Urban Transportation Award and the results are highly transferable to other Canadian communities. One of the most exciting features of this project is that the time from initial planning to implementation and subsequent transformation was less than three years.
