The consultant’s report calls for an aggressive shift to sustainable travel modes in St. Thomas

Andrew Lawton will represent the new riding of Elgin-St. Thomas-London South as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the next federal election. Lawton defeated Central Elgin resident Anthony Shields at the nomination meeting Saturday afternoon at St. Anne’s Centre. As the media was not allowed to attend, we have no indication of how close the vote was or the contents of their five-minute speeches to attending party members.

 

Kevin Jones of Paradigm Transportation Solutions attended the Nov. 4 meeting of city council to provide an update on the status of the Transportation Master Plan refresh project.
His report offers a sweeping overview of the current transportation picture in St. Thomas and what the road ahead should look like.
He is recommending an aggressive shift in the operation of Railway City Transit that would see a six-fold increase in annual service hours involving 26 buses in service operating 17 hours every weekday.
These figures are based on a city population of 79,500, a couple of decades distant.
We’ll come back to that scenario in a moment.

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For the third time in as many years, St. Thomas is on the hunt for a city manager

Well, that was short-lived.
Heralded as “a pretty good standout” among over 70 applicants, Michael Bradley assumed the city manager post at city hall on May 15.
Exactly five months later, a media release from Mayor Joe Preston announced, “City to begin recruitment for new city manager.”
Bradley has accepted the position of CAO with the City of Brantford – his hometown – and will depart his office at city hall in mid-November.
Before accepting the post in St. Thomas, Bradley had been the Commissioner of Community Development with the City of Brantford.
He also served for 11 years with the County of Brant, including a stint as CAO from 2018 to 2023.

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Make St. Thomas a bicycle friendly community

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Thanks to Ald. Lori Baldwin-Sands for passing along the current Share the Road Cycling Coalition newsletter.

It’s timely in that it outlines The Active Communities Pledge – an initiative to increase the visibility of active transportation issues in the upcoming municipal elections.

Here is a relevant excerpt:

“With just under month before the October 25th municipal election we ask that you do what you can to engage your colleagues – and your candidates – where you live in the discussion about how to ensure that cycling is a part of the vibrant debates which are taking place in communities across Ontario.

Your first step should be to ask your local candidates to sign the Active Community Pledge on our website – all the information you need to get going follows this message. The Pledge is already up and running here

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