HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-04-09 CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES APRIL 9, 2013 CITY OF KITCHENER The Cycling Advisory Committee met on this date commencing at 4:07 p.m. Present: Ms. M. Sehl (Chair), Councillor Y. Fernandes, Ms. M. Generoux, Ms. T. Niesen and Messrs. M. Arges, M. Boos, T. Boutilier, P. Dedes, S. Gibson, L. Oakey, T. Reiser and P. Walberg (Vice-Chair). Staff: Messrs. J. Joseph, W. Sleeth, and D. Pimentel (minutes) Regrets: M. Parris APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 12, 2013 MEETING 1. That the minutes of the March 12, 2013 meeting be approved: Motioned by: Mr. P. Walberg REMINDERS Ms. M. Sehl (chair) 2.  Cycling Advisory Committee meetings are open to the public st  Agendas need to be out 1 week prior to meeting (1 Tuesday of the month); sub- st committees need to provide their agendas to Mr. J. Joseph 1 week prior to the 1 Tuesday of the month  Presentations are 5 minutes in duration, with a question answer period to follow; what do the presenters require from the CAC?  A seconder is not required for motions; motions are worded as a recommendation to Council  When voting is required, a tie vote is considered a lost vote LIESURE FACILITIES MASTER PLAN UPDATE - Mr. Dan Ritz 3.  June 19, 2013 is a community workshop and all committee members are invited to attend; for more information search leisure master plan on City’s website  included in the master plan are all types of leisure activities, which includes cycling  Mr. D. Ritz is here to inform committee of the master plan and are in the process of seeking comments from agencies; update is scheduled to be complete by August 2013 SOUTH KITCHENER DISTRICT PARK MASTER PLAN - Mr. Tim O’Brien 4.  Multi-year project in the Fischer Hallman & Huron area  Need for the plan was identified through the Leisure Master Plan  Currently in the process of creating a preliminary master plan; consultant has been selected and is currently gathering input from agencies CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES APRIL 9, 2013 - - CITY OF KITCHENER 2  Public meeting scheduled for Wednesday April 17 and the invite is open to all CAC members  Mr. T O’Brien is looking for feedback/comments on preliminary plan from the CAC TRANSPORTATION MASTER PLAN UPDATE (TMP) - 5. Mr. Ken Carmichael (City of Kitchener) Mr. Don Drakley (IBI Group)  Mr. K Carmichael expressed the anticipated approval form Council to take place in 2013 summer  Mr. D. Drakley - first TMP for the City of Kitchener and incorporates many other master plans including: Cycling Master Plan (CMP), Multi-Use Master Plan and the Pedestrian Charter, with a 20 year horizon  Walking - sidewalk infilling, sidewalk replacement program (annually), implement a more attractive streetscape, establish greater pedestrian movement, encourage active travel to schools, year round maintenance program  Cycling - implement CMP, develop plan, integrate cycling in any future works  It was expressed that with all the master plans presented, the CAC would struggle with understanding each one; it was suggested to appoint each member with a plan and defer all questions regarding a said plan to the appointed member WORKING CENTRE BIKESHARE UPDATE - Mr. Joe Mancini 6.  As a result of a 2011 leaf grant, a pilot project was created consisting of 35 bikes and 7 stations, resulted in 400 riders  Will be expanding to include 100 bikes with 12 stations; key boxes will be provided which will be linked to a database ($40 membership is anticipated)  June 2013 is targeted for launch and the working centre will raise the required $100,000 to fund the program  Bike Ambassadors will educate the public on the program along with provide any maintenance on the bikes; this will include training for all ambassadors  Many questions were brought forward by the committee including, but not limited to; helmet requirements, legal conforming bikes, cyclists be trained on how to properly operate a bike, tourist pricing, comparison with Grand River BikeShare UPDATE ON CYCLING PRIORITIES, PROJECTS AND BUDGET 7. Mr. J. Joseph indicated that an update on cycling priorities, projects and budgets will be a standing item on the agenda and that he will provide a PowerPoint presentation at every meeting. Mr. J. Joseph provided a breakdown of the budget; $200,000 annually with approximately $133,000 for this year’s projects. Currently beginning the implementation stage of the CMP and greater detail will follow in relation to costs as events re-occur year after year. CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES APRIL 9, 2013 - - CITY OF KITCHENER 3 Past and current cycling priorities have been identified and of particular note were the following items;  New signage from the Iron Horse Trail to Fairview Park show street and bike signs only, no directional signs. J. Joseph noted that all directional signage will be installed at a later date; it was noted that funding will come from trails predominately, with funding from the TDM budget taking care of any on-road networks.  Margaret Avenue bike lanes are complete but will require repainting this summer and it was suggested to remove the old bike lines prior to repainting.  Attention should be given to Guelph and Blucher Streets and Mr. M. Boos will follow-up with an email to J. Joseph.  Nyberg Street Contra-flow Bike Lane – J. Joseph is still in conversation with parties and, therefore, too early to have any concrete information but Toronto has received information from the MTO which would be beneficial to Kitchener and help other municipalities. Mr J. Joseph has a conference call upcoming with MTO to discuss this application. It was suggested that a decision be made as soon as possible as this item has been outstanding for quit sometime  Landscape portion of Iron Horse Trail is good to go for 2013. KCAC SUB-COMMITTEE UPDATES 8. Mr. M. Arges raised concern regarding concentrating and implementing projects in the downtown which is not good for the remainder of the wards. Ms. M. Sehl noted that sub- committees were charged with tasks to review, discuss and then bring back their recommendations to this committee for approval. Councillor Fernandes suggested that strategies in the downtown may work elsewhere as well and could be transferable and become a larger marketing strategy. Promotions – M. Arges This sub-committee has had two meetings and discussions were around a safety item and the Cycling Survey. The group passed and is proposing a safety item by-law amendment pertaining to e-scooters on trails and the Cycling Survey will be addressed in Item 7 on the agenda. Technical Infrastructure – P. Dedes This sub-committee meets the third Wednesday following the KCAC meeting. The Mayor and Councillor’s Bike Ride route has been finalized and is doable in one and one/half hours. Along with the Mayor and Councillors it was decided that invitations should be limited to five to ten additional attendees. Also discussed at the sub-committee meeting was the installation of super-sharrows on King Street and the need for pre and post data collection volunteers. Further information will be addressed in item 4 on the agenda. Planning, Evaluation, and Governance – P. Walberg CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES APRIL 9, 2013 - - CITY OF KITCHENER 4 This sub-committee has not formalized a chairperson and Mr. Walberg was speaking on behalf of the group. This group focussed on the evaluation tool and where to go with it. Also, they are coordinating a strategy which is a “work in progress”. The general consensus of the sub-committee was to utilize the report card but noted that perhaps the outputs are disproportionate or too subjective. The report card should look at the impact on the community by getting more people cycling and safety. They agreed to look back at the CMP, policies, status and cycling network to evaluate and also look at potential partners. J. Joseph commented that the sub-committees are working really well and it was suggested by Mr. T. Boutilier to integrate the new members into these sub-committees. BICYCLE FRIENDLY DOWNTOWN PRIORITIES 9. th The report will be going to Council on April 8 containing information on the BikeKitchener cycling engagement strategy, sharrows, artistic bike racks, bicycle map, cyclist survey, and BikeFest. Community and Infrastructure Service Committee approved the aforementioned report. It is anticipated that the sharrows will be installed in time for Bike fest and the ordering will take place once final approval at Council occurs. Mr. J Joseph has pre-marked all locations will the sharrows will be implemented. Two key questions to be addressed are 1) will sharrows attract more cyclists to King Street, and, 2) how will sharrows affect cycling behaviour? The plan is to do a study before and after the new infrastructure has been installed to evaluate. The study will entail taking a count of the number of cyclists travelling in each direction and their travel pattern. The best time to do the study is during rush hour around 7 to 8 a.m. and the locations should be far enough apart to control the screenline. It would be best to do the count three times, 1) early in May before the sharrows are installed, 2) mid-December, and 3) repeat the same day and week a year later in May. Three suggested study locations would be King Street at City Hall, uptown King Street and the Iron Horse Trail. The study parameters to include resources and volunteers and members were asked if they could volunteer in May prior to the long weekend. T. Boutilier suggested using the intersection counters from Transportation Services to assist in the count. Cycling study will take place over two days in May during the morning and afternoon peak hours. The Region of Waterloo has provided two pedestrian and cyclist counters. Mr. J Joseph has the CAC who would like to volunteer to assist with the study. Bike Fest Any thoughts or additional ideas should be forwarded to J. Joseph. The events already suggested are listed below;  Bike Fundraiser  Skills Training – CanBike  Bicycle Tune-up and Repair CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES APRIL 9, 2013 - - CITY OF KITCHENER 5  Bike Polo  Scavenger Hunt /Group Cycle Rides  Food and live music It was suggested by Mr. J. Joseph that members of the CAC take part in the various stations during the event, in order to interact with the public and cycling community. The event will take place on May 26, 2013. KITCHENER BIKE MAP 10. It is anticipated to be complete by Bike Fest on May 26, 2013 and is currently being developed. MAYOR AND COUNCILOR’S BICYCLE RIDE 11. A discussion occurred regarding the public’s involvement with this year’s ride. Some options included:  Opening it up to members of the Bike to Work Challenge  Conduct a lottery type system with participants of the Bike to Work Challenge; first five selected have priority to participate  Discussing the options of shortening the ride or expanding to other wards within the City  A decision was not reached at April’s meeting regarding the Councillor’s ride as Council’s availability has yet to be determined.  Will a parade permit be required? ACTION: Brainstorm ideas of how and who to get involved from the public and provide recommendations in time for the May meeting. CYCLIST SURVEY 12. Comments on the survey to be sent to J. Joseph. J. Joseph commented that the Region of Waterloo has shown a key interest in the survey and went on to say that the survey will be finalized and available for BikeFest and, after discussion among members, the survey will continue to be available for up to two months for distribution at other major events. The survey will be available both on-line and in paper copy form and will be used as a perception and attitude tool for ridership. It will have approximately ten very well thought out, balanced questions and plans are to provide the same survey a year later for comparison. ACTION: J. Joseph will send committee members a draft copy of the survey questions. OTHER BUSINESS 13. Mr. P. Dedes mentioned that he maintains the Kitchener Cycles facebook page which normally gets 35 to 130 hits per day but this past weekend it received 20,000 hits due to the greater LA CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES APRIL 9, 2013 - - CITY OF KITCHENER 6 image of a bus with the caption of “every lane is a bike lane” and he suggested it would be a great idea to tie it in with the sharrows promotion and may be something KCAC should endorse. ACTION: P. Dedes to send the image to J. Joseph to forward to Communications. Both M. Sehl and J. Joseph asked that committee members invite as many cyclists as possible to attend the April 8, 2013 Council meeting. ADJOURNMENT 14. On motion, the meeting adjourned at 6:08 p.m.