HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Advisory 2013-04-25
DOWNTOWN ACTION & ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
April 25, 2013 City of Kitchener
The Downtown Action & Advisory Committee met this date, Chaired by Shannon Weber with
the following members in attendance: Melissa Bowman, Andrea Cassidy, Cory Crossman,
Councillor Frank Etherington, Amina Gilani, Councillor Dan Glenn-Graham, Eric Johnson,
Lawrence McNaught, Lisa Polonoski, and Brad Watson
City staff in attendance:
Hilary Abel, Cory Bluhm, Sandy Curzon, Chris Farrell and Monika
Grau
1. New Business
1.1 Transportation Master Plan
Ken Carmichael, Interim Director Transportation Services and Don Drackley, IBI
Group presented an overview of the City of Kitchener Transportation Master Plan
(TMP). The TMP, which is expected to go before City Council in June, is a 20 year
strategic-level management and operational improvement plan for the City of
Kitchener’s transportation system, it will be reviewed every 5 years.
There has been an industry shift over the past 20 years, where the TMP emphasis
was on cars, transit, bikes and walking. The shift now is putting pedestrians first,
then bikes and transit.
TMP has been under review for 2 years, and is the first transportation master plan for
the city. The Region will continue to be responsible for major routes such as Charles,
Duke, Weber, Frederick & Victoria streets in the downtown, however through the
TMP, the City will make decisions on their own roadways, walking & cycling trails
ensuring they are in maintained and upgraded when needed.
It is recognized that the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system will have an impact in a very
positive way on vehicle and pedestrian traffic movement. A new direction for cycling
in the downtown will see the use of sharrow lanes. Implementation of these lanes will
be through an education process to ensure cyclist and vehicles are aware of how to
use, share and respect the lanes accordingly.
During the question and answer period, the following points were made:
Most major corridors off King Street should have bike lanes
Vehicle parking spaces in the downtown are adequate, keeping in mind that some
locations are more well used than others
Staff are currently in the process of making parking signs more visible
There are older roadways, such as Queen South, that have no room for bike
lanes, a possible solution would be to use sharrows similar to what is being
introduced to King Street
On Motion by Cory Crossman
Downtown Action & Advisory Committee April 25, 2013
“The Downtown Action Advisory Committee support the implementation of
Transportation Master Plan (TMP) as presented.”
Seconded by Brad Watson
Carried.
Action: Transportation Services staff will be advised, to ensure that this motion will
be identified in their upcoming staff report to City Council.
1.2
Rapid Transit
Kim Moser, Manager Rapid Transit Community Relations for the Region of Waterloo
provided an update of the Rapid Transit system.
Priorities for 2013 include:
Giving the LRT a name – 523 names were suggested, 20 were short listed and 2
th
have been chosen for consideration - on April 26 ION was unveiled
Purchasing LRT vehicles
Public consultation
Continue utility installation
During the question and answer period, the following points were made:
LRT cars will accommodate bikes and wheelchairs
One fare system whereby you can transfer from aBRT, LRT and GRT
Tracks for downtown will be embedded into the roadway
It is expected that the LRT will create 80,000 new jobs by 2031
For emergency vehicles, provisions have been made
RT staff will return to DAAC when design concepts are presented – June 2013
As the project roles out there will be test runs
Public art is being considered at each major stop and constant changes will be
considered
2. Minutes & Committee Updates
2.1 Approval of Minutes
The Downtown Action & Advisory committee minutes of March 28, 2013:
Approved by:
Cory Crossman
Seconded by:
Andrea Cassidy
Carried
3. Standing Items/Business Arising
3.1 Kitchener Studio Project (KSP) – 44 Gaukel
Conestoga College will lease 10,000 sq.ft. of space from the City over five years.
This pilot project will see Conestoga College collaborating with the University of
Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University as well as private sector partners such as
Downtown Action & Advisory Committee April 25, 2013
Electronic Arts, Communitech, etc. The outcome of this project is expected to be a
viable showcase of art and design talent in Kitchener.
4. Downtown Annual Report
4.1 Downtown Annual Report
The City of Kitchener and BIA collaborated on the five year Downtown Kitchener
Action Plan 2012-2016. The 2012 Downtown Annual report tells a story of what is
happening downtown using pictures and stories what made Kitchener Awesome. It
showcases the accomplishments of the business community.
Four core areas of the report
1. An Amazing King Street Experience
2. New Urban Neighbourhoods
3. An Innovation District
4. Foster a Collaborative Community
By using a form of indexing, a gathering of stats from various sources provided a
base in which to compare and analyse over the next four years. The results would
indicate whether or not improvements have to be made. The indexing will become
more meaningful when we can compare one year to the next.
Discussion and Comments:
Great marketing piece!
Will be distributed to Committees, BIA Board, Investors
Branding is strong and data is valuable, should be showcased in a big way
Hilary Abel will present the Annual Report at the Downtown Neighbourhood
th
Association annual meeting on Saturday, April 4.
it was suggested that other ways of marketing and presenting the Downtown
Annual Report be explored
The Committee was provided with a hard copy of the Economic Development
Updates
On motion by Brad Watson
Seconded by Cory Crossman
The meeting adjourned at 6:05 pm.
Downtown Action & Advisory Committee April 25, 2013