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City of Hamilton Named Innovative Management Practices Winner

April 19, 2022, Oakville, ON – Congratulations to the City of Hamilton for winning the 2021 John Niedra Better Practices Competition, Innovative Management Practices category. The award was announced during the 2022 Good Roads Conference in Toronto, April 10 -13, 2022.

“The competition showcases the ingenuity of municipal employees and recognizes innovations and achievements that improve the efficiency of municipal transportation and public works services and operations.” said Scott Butler, Executive Director, Good Roads.

“Two Good Roads members, Iris and the City of Hamilton, used artificial intelligence to improve sign inventory and location mapping.” said Dr. James Smith, Manager of Research and Technical Products. “The two worked to enhance proprietary technology that can automatically detect, analyze, and report pavement defects and other infrastructure. This is a great example of streamlining a labour-intensive process. Moreover, this initiative also helps support the City’s Vision Zero strategy.” continued Dr. Smith.

Every year Good Roads recognizes municipal, First Nation and corporate member projects that help improve the quality of life of residents.

Good Roads is a municipal association concerned with the advancement of roads and other infrastructure in Ontario. Based in Oakville, Ontario, we have been devoted to the cause of better roads since 1894. Originally known as the Ontario Good Roads Association (and still using that name corporately), we have more than 450 member governments, including most of Ontario’s municipalities and a growing number of First Nations, as well as dozens of affiliated corporate members in the transportation and infrastructure sectors. Our purpose, in part, is to connect our members to each other, to other levels of government, and to relevant companies in the private sector. Our members look to us for training, knowledge, political advocacy, and answers to their most pressing problems. Good Roads is resolutely independent.

For more information, please contact:

Rachel Swiednicki
Manager, Communications and Marketing
Good Roads
1525 Cornwall Road, Unit 22
Oakville, ON L6J 0B2
P. 289-291-OGRA (6472) ext. 30
C. 905-630-0542

Good Roads 2022/2023 Board Of Directors Announced

April 19, 2022, Oakville, ON – At the 2022 Good Roads Conference, the membership of Ontario’s oldest municipal association elected a record number of women to its Board of Directors. For the first time in its history, one-third of the Directors are women. More than 1,500 professionals attended the conference that was held in Toronto from April 10 – 13, 2022.

“While the Board recognizes this milestone, it also acknowledges there is more work to do. Everyone understands that it is important to have leaders that reflect Ontarians,” said Scott Butler, Executive Director, Good Roads. “I look forward to working with the new Board to deliver the advocacy, training and services that municipalities need to be successful in 2022. On a personal level, I am honoured to be the president of Good Roads at such a critical time for the municipal sector,” said Paul Schoppmann, President, Good Roads.

Good Roads 2022-2023 Board of Directors includes:

  • Paul Schoppmann, President, and Mayor, Municipality of St. Charles
  • John Parsons, First Vice-President and Division Manager, Road Operations and Forestry, City of London
  • Bryan Lewis, Second Vice-President and Councillor, Town of Halton Hills
  • Antoine Boucher, Director of Public Works and Engineering, Municipality of East Ferris, Third Vice-President
  • Dave Burton, Immediate Past President and Mayor, Municipality of Highlands East
  • Melissa Abercrombie, Manager, Engineering Services, Oxford County
  • Paul Ainslie, Councillor, City of Toronto
  • Chris Angelo, Director of Public Works & Environmental Services, City of Quinte West
  • David Armstrong, Manager of Public Works, Town of Gananoque
  • Nazzareno Capano, Manager of Transportation Policy and Innovation, City of Toronto
  • Aakash Desai, Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Grey Highlands
  • Kelly Elliott, Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Thames Centre
  • Cheryl Fort, Mayor, Township of Hornepayne
  • Donna Jebb, Councillor, Town of New Tecumseth
  • Kristin Murray, Councillor, City of Timmins

Good Roads is a municipal association concerned with the advancement of roads and other infrastructure in Ontario. Based in Oakville, Ontario, we have been devoted to the cause of better roads since 1894. Originally known as the Ontario Good Roads Association (and still using that name corporately), we have more than 450 member governments, including most of Ontario’s municipalities and a growing number of First Nations, as well as dozens of affiliated corporate members in the transportation and infrastructure sectors. Our purpose, in part, is to connect our members to each other, to other levels of government, and to relevant companies in the private sector. Our members look to us for training, knowledge, political advocacy, and answers to their most pressing problems. Good Roads is resolutely independent.

For more information, please contact:

Rachel Swiednicki
Manager, Communications and Marketing
Good Roads
1525 Cornwall Road, Unit 22
Oakville, ON L6J 0B2
P. 289-291-OGRA (6472) ext. 30
C. 905-630-0542

Municipal Association Awards County of Lambton Student With Bursary

March 15, Oakville, ON – Good Roads has awarded its 2022 bursary to Evelyn Cole from Bright’s Grove for her community leadership and wanting to further her engineering and science studies.

Good Roads asked students of municipal employees to submit a 500-word essay for the chance to be awarded one $1,500 bursary. “We all benefit when bright ambitious people choose a career in municipal government. That’s why we wanted to fund and support future leaders and empower knowledge and learning of young adults.” said Scott Butler, Good Roads, Executive Director.

“I’ve always been into science and math and growing up I looked up to my Dad who is an engineer. My Mom put me into a women in engineering and science program to try, and I enjoyed it.” said Evelyn Cole, Good Roads Bursary Winner. Ms. Cole is also a community leader and gives back. “I volunteer with my church and school. Recently, we held a collaborative fundraiser with student council and St. Patrick’s High School, and helped raise $1,000 for Ukraine.” said Evelyn.

“This is another way Good Roads is giving back to our members and community. We want to encourage young people to get involved in their local level of governments.” said Paul Schoppmann, President, Good Roads Board of Directors.

Submissions for the 2023 bursary close December 2, 2022.

Good Roads is a municipal association concerned with the advancement of roads and other infrastructure in Ontario. Based in Oakville, Ontario, we have been devoted to the cause of better roads since 1894. Originally known as the Ontario Good Roads Association (and still using that name corporately), we have more than 450 member governments, including most of Ontario’s municipalities and a growing number of First Nations, as well as dozens of affiliated corporate members in the transportation and infrastructure sectors. Our purpose, in part, is to connect our members to each other, to other levels of government, and to relevant companies in the private sector. Our members look to us for training, knowledge, political advocacy, and answers to their most pressing problems. Good Roads is resolutely independent.

For more information, please contact:
Rachel Swiednicki
Manager, Communications and Marketing
Good Roads
1525 Cornwall Road, Unit 22
Oakville, ON L6J 0B2
P. 289-291-OGRA (6472) ext. 30
C. 905-630-0542

Heads Up Alert: Vaccine Distribution for Essential Workers

On behalf of OGRA members, President Rick Harms sent the following letter regarding vaccine distribution to the Hon. Christine Elliott, Ontario’s Minister of Health.

Dear Minister Elliott:

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine marks a turning a point in the battle against this pandemic. Like many Ontarians, I am thrilled and frankly relieved to hear that it will become available to most Ontarians in the first half of 2021. I do not envy the difficulty and ethical maze that is in front of you as you design a plan to prioritize deployment of vaccines. In fact, my purpose in writing is to further complicate these deliberations.

To be clear, those Ontarians most at risk of dying from the virus should also be at the front of the vaccine line.

Similarly, those Ontarians that keep us safe should be prioritized. Frontline medical staff. Firefighters. Paramedics. Police. For these professions, response time is critical to efficacy.

As winter sets in across Ontario, I am deeply concerned that municipalities may have to close roadways because those charged with keeping them open and safe during the winter have fallen ill. If this happens, it directly undermines the efficacy of those men and women mentioned above, who we all count on to be there for us during an emergency.

OGRA has pushed its municipal members to tackle the risk of COVID head-on. We have collaborated with the private sector, insurers and other associations to raise awareness and provide best practices. Municipalities across Ontario have risen to this challenge. However, even these efforts cannot overcome the fact that for many municipalities, the risk of even one infection could result in the shuttering of public works departments.

I would respectfully and strongly urge you to consider prioritizing the men and women who are on the frontline of winter road maintenance in Ontario. Including this very small cohort of people in your prioritized vaccine distribution list will ensure that those we are relying on to get us through this pandemic are not undermined by something as foreseeable as snow in Ontario.

Keeping our roads safe and open depends on it.

Sincerely,

Rick Harms
President, Ontario Good Roads Association

OGRA Welcomes the 2021-2022 Board of Directors

Oakville, ON, February 26, 2021 – Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) is pleased to announce its 2021-2022 Board of Directors. The installation of the board took place this past week at its annual conference, which because of the pandemic was held online.

OGRA welcomes its new President, Dave Burton, Mayor, Municipality of Highlands East.

“We look forward to Dave Burton’s leadership as the new President of the OGRA Board. At the same time, we are grateful for Rick Harms’ service as President during a most unusual year”, said Scott Butler, OGRA’s Executive Director. “The board will be a valuable strategic resource as we look for ways to help municipalities understand the opportunities available to them after the pandemic.” continued Mr. Butler.

OGRA helps municipalities and First Nations succeed through advancing technology and infrastructure, through its training and education courses, advocacy and services.

OGRA 2021-2022 Board of Directors is:

Executive Members
Dave Burton, OGRA President and Mayor, Municipality of Highlands East
Paul Schoppmann, OGRA First Vice-President and Mayor, Municipality of St. Charles
John Parsons, OGRA Second Vice-President and Division Manager, Road Operations and Forestry, City of London
Bryan Lewis, OGRA Third Vice-President and Councillor, Town of Halton Hills
Rick Harms, Immediate Past President and Project Engineer, City of Thunder Bay

Directors
Melissa Abercrombie, Manager, Engineering Services, Oxford County
Paul Ainslie, Councillor, City of Toronto
Chris Angelo, Director of Public Works & Environmental Services, City of Quinte West
Antoine Boucher, Director of Public Works and Engineering, Municipality of East Ferris
Nazzareno Capano, Manager of Transportation Policy and Innovation, City of Toronto
Aakash Desai, Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Grey Highlands
Kelly Elliott, Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Thames Centre
Cheryl Fort, Mayor, Township of Hornepayne
Donna Jebb, Councillor, Town of New Tecumseth
Travis Wilson, Director of Public Works, Township of Minden Hills

About Ontario Good Roads Association
The Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) was founded in 1894. Based out of Oakville, Ontario, OGRA is governed by 15 board members with 17 staff supporting its membership. The mandate of the Ontario Good Roads Association is to advance the infrastructure and transportation interests of its members through training, advocacy and services.

For more information, please contact:
Rachel Swiednicki
Manager, Communications and Marketing
Ontario Good Roads Association
1525 Cornwall Road, Unit 22
Oakville, ON L6J 0B2
P. 289-291-OGRA (6472) ext. 30
C. 905-630-0542

Heads Up Alert: Province Announces Cargo E-Bike Pilot Program

On Monday, March 1, the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) announced a pilot program to permit the use of larger cargo e-bikes.

Municipalities wishing to permit the use of cargo e-bikes can now do so by the enacting a bylaw. Many smaller cargo e-bikes currently meet Ontario’s definition for power-assisted bicycles (e-bikes). This pilot program is specifically for larger cargo e-bikes that do not currently meet the definition of e-bikes. The pilot program sets out specific vehicle and operator requirements. These are linked below.

Highlights of the program include:

As with regular bicycles or e-bikes, all Highway Traffic Act rules of the road apply to cargo e-bikes. Penalties will also apply to violations of the pilot regulation (fines of $250 to $2,500).
Cargo e-bikes are only permitted in those municipalities that pass by-laws to permit their use.
Cargo e-bike operators are required to report any collisions in which they are involved to police in order to allow enforcement to report collisions to the ministry.
Similar experiments in other jurisdictions have shown that cargo e-bikes are an innovative modality that efficiently facilitates less carbon-intensive movement of goods. These devices have proven to be a key component of right-sized fleets and an effective tool in addressing congestion.

OGRA supports this pilot project because it preserves the decision-making authority of municipal governments while also enabling private sector innovation.

For more information, you can review the regulatory changes at:

O. Reg. 141/21: PILOT PROJECT – CARGO POWER-ASSISTED BICYCLES
Cargo E-bike Pilot Program

For Municipal Guidelines on Cargo E-Bikes Click Here