Canadian children and youth once again received a failing grade this year for physical activity. Their example is no doubt set by the many adults who live sedentary lives.The Yorkton Active Transportation Collaborative is working to reverse those trends with smart plans for the city.
This summer, the Collaborative hopes to get people out of their vehicles and onto their bicycles by incorporating cycling lanes onto Gladstone and Darlington. Sheila Hryniuk, Executive Director of the Parkland Valley Sport, Culture & Recreation District, explained how the process will unfold.
"There is an engineer working on the drawings and dimensions of the lanes. The target date for those drawings to be completed is June 4th. Following the completion of the drawings, the work of painting the lanes and symbols along with signage will begin."
The appearance of cycling lanes will make the option of bringing your bicycle to work much safer, but both cyclists and motorists must learn to coexist peacefully.
"As part of this whole cycling network, the Collaborative understands there will be a need for both cyclists and drivers to understand the rules of the road," said Hryniuk. "An awareness and education campaign will begin shortly to ensure information is in our community about the rules of the road and understanding signals, etcetera."
Active Healthy Kids Canada released their latest report card on physical activity in April. The sad result is that only 12 per cent of children and youth are meeting Canada's guidelines of 90 minutes of physical activity a day.
On the bright side, Yorkton's efforts to change that statistic have been featured nationally in Readers Digest Magazine.
"The [Readers Digest] article focused on the work of the Yorkton Active Transportation Collaborative around built environments," said Hryniuk. Built environments can either encourage or discourage physical activity in residents' daily lives. "By building cycling lanes, it creates a safer environment for people to choose to use their bikes to go to work and go to school."
Hryniuk said she is a believer in creating environments accessible for people of all ages."The cycling network is something that all ages will be able to access whether you are eight or 80."
Human-powered transportation, such as cycling or walking, is a part of meeting healthy levels of physical activity.
Nicole Yacishyn, a consultant with Saskatchewan in motion, said the sedentary lifestyle of sitting in front of televisions and computer screens is leaving less time for people to be active."Finding time to be active in our busy lives many sound daunting, but if we make an effort to make active choices throughout the day we can greatly increase our activity levels."
For example, parking farther away from your destination and taking time to play with your children (or grandchildren) are simple things everyone can do. Making use of Yorkton's upcoming bicycle lanes is another simple choice.
The way a city is built affects our physical activity and transportation choices. To make Yorkton a city full of active citizens, Yacishyn recommends keeping plenty of green space and trails open to everyone.
"It is also important that councils address opportunities for physical activity in their long term community plans, such as considering connectivity and active transportation in community design."
Physical activity does not have to be difficult. With cycling lanes in Yorkton's near future, hopefully we will help children and youth pass their next physical activity report card.
