For Newmarket residents Peggy Stevens and Dave Kempton, advocating for cycling is a way of life.
The pair has spent years fighting for improvements to cycling infrastructure as part of the advocacy group Cycle Newmarket. They have faced hurdles and have not been able to make much headway during the pandemic, conflicting with the town and many fellow residents wanting on-street parking more than bike lanes.
The rate of progress is frustrating, they said.
“The vast majority of people in Newmarket don’t really pay attention to municipal politics or government,” Stevens said. “Until it impacts them directly and in Newmarket, it's always around street parking."
“There’s one or two councillors that say nobody cycles,” Kempton said. “I’m tired of being referred to as nobody.”
The battle over cycling has become heated in the past few years. Cycle Newmarket butted heads with councillors in 2021 when they opted to suspend the town's active transportation implementation strategy after conflict over on-street parking on Clearmeadow Boulevard.
The town’s grand plans for a multi-use path on Mulock Drive have also garnered protest, with the cycling group concerned by the prospect of cyclists and pedestrians on the same path versus dedicated bike lanes.
“We’re pretty disheartened, to put it mildly,” Kempton said.
Rallying cyclists to join the cause can be challenging, they said. Stevens said she thinks COVID-19 did get more citizens on their bikes, and there are plenty who cycle in Newmarket.
“Our difficulty is trying to collect them to express their concern for the lack of cycling infrastructure."
But they expressed some hope with the arrival of Newmarket Cycles, a bike hub being brought in by Toronto-based charity Centre for Active Transportation. The new group aims to provide for cyclists and encourage new ones, with the charity also known for political advocacy in Toronto.
“It’s encouraging. We can have two groups,” Stevens said. “But trying to get people to the next step is really challenging.”
Newmarket council voted in 2021 to have a workshop to review its active transportation plan in the third quarter of that year. That never happened, and with a municipal election in the fall, the town has indicated that is now getting pushed to 2023.
Development and infrastructure commissioner Peter Noehammer said the “changing operational priorities of the pandemic deferred the workshop due to workload demands.” But he noted progress on the Mulock multi-use path, plus York Region approving bicycle lanes along Bayview Avenue. The town is also putting bike lanes on Lorne Avenue.
“Ultimately, the intent is to refresh the (active transportation implementation plan) so that it reflects council’s desire to implement the on-street and off-street elements of the active transportation network,” Noehammer said.
The delay is frustrating, Stevens said, adding that council should do more to defend its plan.
“Cycle Newmarket is in a position of defending their plan for them,” she said. “Council needs more backbone.”
The region also has issues, they said. Although it has put in some bike lanes in Newmarket, they said its growth plans are acting against cycling with the amount of urban sprawl to come.
Despite all the challenges, the pair said they are not giving up.
“We’re teenagers of the '60s,” Steven said, “what can I tell ya?”
“All of these things link back to climate change for us,” Kempton said, noting they are also avid supporters of the environmental group Drawdown Newmarket-Aurora. “When we’re working at Cycle Newmarket, to a large extent, we’re working on climate change.”
Stevens said she feels there is a much greater acceptance of cycling in the last few years. She said they hope high gas prices may also spur more to take up the sport and lifestyle.
“We can either sit back and do nothing,” she said, “or we can try our little bit and be making a difference. Actually staying active gives us hope, which is a better way to live.”
