Council passed a unanimous motion today on the future of cycling infrastructure along two of Brampton’s most important east-west corridors: Charolais Boulevard and Howden Boulevard. The result is not what either side of this debate walked into the chamber expecting. It is, I believe, something better.
The Challenge
For more than three years, residents along Charolais have raised concerns about the painted bike lanes through their neighbourhood. Councillors Keenan and Medeiros, who represent these wards, took those concerns seriously. They held town halls, ran surveys, and knocked on more than a thousand doors. The message they brought to Council was clear: the lanes, as currently designed, were not working for the people who lived along them.
But the surveys also told a more nuanced story. Many of the same residents who opposed the current Charolais design still supported bike lanes in principle. They were not anti-cycling. They were asking for something safer.
At the same time, cycling advocates and residents from across Brampton were urging us not to undo the active transportation network we have spent years building. Charolais sits on a priority east-west corridor that connects to the rest of our network — including the route to Sheridan College, which is heavily used by students on bikes and e-scooters. Removing it without an alternative would leave a critical gap.
Both groups were right.
The Solution
Through a compromise that came together at the table, with leadership from Mayor Brown and Councillor Power, Council agreed on a path that honours both concerns:
The painted lanes on Charolais will be converted back to four traffic lanes by the end of August, giving the community the summer with the current network in place.
A budget amendment will fund protected, boulevard-level cycling infrastructure on both Charolais and Howden, replacing painted lines with separated, dedicated paths that are demonstrably safer for cyclists, e-scooter users, and people using mobility devices.
Staff will report back on June 24 with costs, a delivery plan, and an assessment of what this means for our Brampton Mobility Plan targets.
This is not a step back from active transportation. It is a step up.
Why This Matters
Brampton has adopted an ambitious set of plans: the Brampton Mobility Plan, Vision Zero, the Active Transportation Master Plan, the Complete Streets Guidelines, and the Brampton Plan among them. Every one of them was passed unanimously by this Council. Every one of them commits us to building a city where residents can safely choose two wheels over four.
A network of painted lines was always going to be the first step, not the destination. What we agreed to this week moves Charolais and Howden closer to the destination of protected infrastructure that residents who currently feel unsafe will actually use, and that the cycling community has long advocated for.
It also sends a signal about how this Council does its work. We listened to residents along the corridor. We listened to advocates from across the city. We took the data seriously on both sides. And we found a path forward that respects all of it.
Thank You
To the residents who wrote in, spoke up, and made the case for keeping our active transportation commitments. Your voices shaped this outcome.
To the residents of Wards 3 and 4 who took the time to engage with their councillors through surveys and town halls, your voices shaped it too.
To my colleagues on Council, particularly Councillors Keenan and Medeiros for the work they put in with their constituents, Mayor Brown for finding the funding to make the upgrade possible, and Councillor Power for first suggesting the boulevard direction. Thank you for showing what mature governance looks like.
And to our staff, thank you for the years of work that brought us here, and for the work ahead to deliver the upgrade.
Progress takes time, commitment, and vision. This week, Council demonstrated all three.
