The city of Markham in Ontario, Canada, offers a complex transportation infrastructure. These include airports, highways, public transit, regional roads, municipality-funded roads, and train services.
Air
Due to Markham's proximity to Toronto, Markham residents use Toronto Pearson International Airport in order to travel to various international destinations. However, the city of Markham has a local alternative to Pearson.
There are two airports in Markham, operated by two different operators. These are Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport and Toronto/Markham Airport. Their names are signed under Toronto because of Markham's proximity to Toronto.
Operated by Toronto Airways Limited, Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport is Canada's 8th busiest airport by aircraft movement in 2006. The airport is located at the city's west end, at 16th Avenue and Highway 404.
Buttonville Municipal Airport is privately owned, and that is until the licence expires in 2010. The Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) has plans to cease the airport operation in 2011 and redirect Markham residents will use the nearby Pickering Airport in Pickering. In 2010 Toronto Airways announced the gradual closure of the airport (by 2017) and redevelopment of the airport site. As Pickering Airport remains unbuilt, tenants and users will need to find an alternate site. Owners of the current airport hope to relocate somewhere within York Region.
Buttonville Municipal Airport offers domestic flights and flights for United States destinations. Operators using the airport include NexJet Aviation Inc, Million Air, Executive Edge Air Charter, Aviation Limited and Canadian Flyers International. The airport also offers flight school hosted by the Seneca Community College.
The Toronto/Markham Airport is located at the northeastern end of the city, at Highway 48 and 19th Avenue. It is operated privately by Markham Airport Incorporated and owned by the Thomson family. Further growth of this airport is being explored.
There is only one heliport in Markham. The Toronto/Markham Stouffville heliport is located on the roof of the Markham Stouffville Hospital in the eastern end of city, at Highway 7 and Bur Oak Avenue. The heliport is privately owned, with ownership shared between Markham and Whitchurch-Stouffville. The pad will move to the roof when the new hospital expansion is completed in 2014.
Cycling
Markham designated almost 400 km as "Cycling devoted routes", as part of the city's Master Cycling Plan. There are three primary cycling route signs. The first one, which displays a diamond and a bicycle, indicates an exclusive bicycle lane for cyclists.
The second sign is a green sign with a bicycle on top, and is the most frequent sign across Markham. Roads bearing this sign have no specially marked bicycle lane, but have other lanes wide enough for motorists and cyclists to comfortably share a lane.
The third sign is the most rare of all, with a car on the left side, a cyclist on the right, and a sign saying "Share the road". This sign is located on busy road where it is narrow enough that motorists and cyclists have to share a lane.
The Markham Council proposed a final draft of the "Cycling Master Plan" in 2007. The plan would be put in place in the next 15 years. The plan includes designating various major municipal roads into the following categories:
Signed-Only Routes : On-road bicycle routes denoted strictly with bicycle route signs with no other physical changes to the roadway geometry. Users share the pavement with motor vehicles. There are no special lane designations. Bike Lanes and Paved Shoulder Bikeways : Facilities located in the traveled portion of the roadway and designed for one-way cyclist traffic. Bike lanes are typically located on urban streets with curbs, and paved shoulders are typically used to accommodate cyclists on rural cycling routes where no curbs exist. Multi-Use Trails : Facilities that are separate from the traveled portion of a roadway. They may take the form of a boulevard trail in a public road right-of-way, or a greenway completely separate from roads. The proposed cycling network will expand on the spine network developed as part of the first phase this study and is intended to provide access to existing and proposed utilitarian and recreational cycling routes and trail systems in the Town of Markham and adjacent municipalities.