West-end rapid transit gets new priority in city's mobility plan

Rejected by city council in a close vote five years ago, London city staff is making rapid transit on Oxford Street a priority once again. 

Final details of the city's draft mobility master plan released Monday call for rapid transit — which in London means priority lanes for buses alongside regular traffic — on Oxford Street between Wonderland Road in the west, all the way to Highbury Avenue on the city's east side. 

The plan also recommends rapid transit along Western Road from Western University, running south along Wharncliffe Road to Riverside Drive and then Queens Avenue, connecting with the downtown loop rapid transit. 

City council voted against rapid transit along Oxford Street West back in 2019 when London's overall Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan was approved. 

Sarah Grady is the city's manager of transportation design. She said London's rapid growth, particularly on the west side of the city, has made rapid transit a priority again. 

"We have more information now. Things have changed since that time," said Grady. "We're seeing a lot of population growth in the west end of the city, which is one of the drivers of the Oxford corridor. Oxford and Wonderland is one of our strategic growth areas." 

The potential revival of west-end rapid transit is just one new detail of the draft mobility plan announced Monday. The plan is intended to guide how Londoners get around the city through to 2050. 

Based on targets approved by council last spring, the plan aims to have one third of London trips fall into the category of active transportation — defined as transit, cycling or walking — by 2050.

It's a big shift, given that in 2019 less than a quarter — only 23 per cent — of city trips involved active transportation. The goal comes as London's population is expected to increase by 50 per cent in the next 25 years. 

Road upgrades

While the plan calls for a shift away from vehicle trips, it also includes plans for major upgrades to many London roads, including some that already become choked with traffic during weekday commutes. 

These include road widening from two to four lanes on: 

• Sunningdale Road between Adelaide Street and Wonderland Road. 
• Oxford Street West near Westdel Bourne.  
• Wonderland Road south of Exeter Road. 
• Highbury Avenue south of Exeter Road 
• Commissioners Road East between Highbury Avenue and Veterans Memorial Parkway. 

Timelines for some of the road upgrades included in the plan mean many of the road projects won't start until 2045. 

However, Grady said getting the road upgrades approved as priorities now will help streamline the process. 

"We are going to start working on the planning process for these as soon as this plan is approved," she said. "There's a lot of steps we have to take to access provincial funding."

Wonderland Road, a frequent site of traffic congestion, isn't flagged for any major overhauls as part of the draft plan, other than being widened from two to four lanes between Fanshawe Park Road and Sunningdatle Road. In 2021 council put the brakes on a process that would have widened Wonderland from four to six lanes.

Cycling routes get priority

As for bike riders, the plan calls for improved cycling infrastructure on roads such as: 

• Hamilton Road. 
• Huron Street between Adelaide and Clarke Road. 
• Base Line Road between Wharncliffe Road and Victoria Hospital. 

However, the plan doesn't specify the type of cycling infrastructure to be added.

Daniel Hall, the city's manager of active transportation, said that will be incorporated into the overall design of the road upgrades.

"Whether it's a painted bike lane or whether it's a protected bike lane with a physical barrier, those are all being determined as we speak." 

One potential wrinkle is the provincial government passed legislation last month that requires municipalities to ask the province for permission to install bike lanes that would remove a lane of vehicle traffic. 

Hall said right now, the new provincial approval process would only potentially affect five per cent of London's cycling network. However he said it might affect the approval process for Hamilton Road, where space is tight. 

According to city documents, adding bikes lanes has already increasing the number of cycling trips.. After bike lanes were installed on Colborne Street, there's been a 45 per cent increase in the number of people riding. That data is gathered by a system of cameras that count and record bike trips in real time from eight locations.

The draft master mobility plan will have a round of public consultation starting with a series of public meetings in the new year. 

The plan is then scheduled to come council for a approval some time after spring of 2025. 

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