After the success of the Tactical Urbanism Pilot Project in 2019, the City is permanently installing bike lanes, new bike racks and public art on Living Arts Drive in Mississauga’s downtown. Protected, on-road bike lanes have been installed to increase safety and comfort for everyone, using a design that is the first of its kind in Mississauga. New bike racks will also be installed this year that will increase convenience and encourage more people to ride their bikes by providing somewhere to lock them up while downtown. In spring 2022, the bike lanes will be joined by vibrant road murals that will run alongside the bike and parking lanes. Commissioned through the City’s Public Art Program, the murals will be designed by professional artists and will help animate Living Arts Drive as part of the Cultural Districts Implementation Plan for the Downtown. These new features reflect how the City is rethinking street layout and design by using lessons learned from temporary installations to create spaces that are enjoyable and safe for all road users.

The new bike lane design features wide bike lanes between the sidewalk and vehicle parking lane, as well as the use of flex posts, which are plastic, reflective posts that are bolted onto the surface of the road and provide visual and physical separation between the bike lane and the rest of the road. This provides cyclists and e-scooter users with additional protection and separation from vehicle traffic. The decision to use this design was informed by its success in other Canadian and North American cities, as well as by the lessons learned from the temporary bike lanes, of similar design, that were piloted in 2019.

Living Arts Drive remains fully open to road traffic, including vehicles. The vehicle lanes have been slightly narrowed to accommodate the new bike lanes. Drivers can continue to park on Living Arts Drive using the designated vehicle parking lane.

This new cycling infrastructure advances the goals in the City’s Cycling Master Plan and Active Transportation COVID-19 Recovery Framework by improving cycling safety and helping to build a safe, connected, convenient and comfortable cycling network in Mississauga. The bike lane design is also consistent with the City’s Vision Zero initiatives and the proposed Complete Street guidelines under development through the Changing Lanes project, which aim to make Mississauga’s streets safer for all through street planning and design.

Residents are invited to share their feedback on the new infrastructure online. This feedback will help inform many similar projects happening this year and in the future.

To learn more about Mississauga’s cycling infrastructure, programs and projects, visit mississaugabikes.ca.