Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty proposed a comprehensive 25 to 30-year transportation master plan for Yellowknife.
The city currently boasts numerous transportation plans; however, Alty says, they are compilations of costly recommendations from consultants, rather than one cohesive transportation master plan.
A transportation master plan exists alongside community plans in many cities. As it is, the transportation section of Yellowknife’s community plan only occupies five pages. In contrast, Ottawa’s comprehensive transportation plan spans one hundred thirty-five pages and addresses topics such as investments. Winter sidewalk snow removal, bike path construction, and transportation planning are all covered in depth.
The proposed transportation master plan aims to bring together several initiatives and ideas, recognizing the value of existing reports and their contributions to the big picture.
Currently, individual plans are focused on distinct areas: transit, pedestrians, cyclists, and automobiles. Alty states that there is significant potential and interconnectedness in terms of development design standards and climate change initiatives.
Projects that have already started will proceed as planned without interruption.
This endeavour is given Tier 4 status. Its scope goes beyond public transportation, so it’s important to define it correctly. If the goal is to implement this by 2026, the city manager says they need to start talking about it this year, recognizing that budget-related approvals may take some time.
