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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-01-14 CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 14, 2014 CITY OF KITCHENER Cycling Advisory Committee met on this date commencing at 4:11 p.m. Present: Ms. M. Sehl (Chair), Councillor Y. Fernandes, Messrs P. Walberg, P. Dedes, M. Boos, M. Arges, L. Oakey, T. Reiser, T. Boutilier Staff: Messrs. J. Joseph, M. Parris Regrets: Ms. T. Niesen, Messrs. J. Readman, S. Gibson, W. Sleeth 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF DECEMBER 10, 2013 th That the minutes of the December 10, 2013 meeting be approved. Motion by: Mr. M. Arges 2. STAFF AND SUB-COMMITTEE UPDATES Mr. Joseph discussed the cycling budget and provided a general overview of annual budget expenditures for certain projects. $200, 000 per year is allocated for the cycling budget and any extra money in the account is carried over for future years. An additional $200,000 is allocated for the 2014 calendar year. Portions of the budget were spent on Margret Ave, artistic bike racks in downtown Kitchener, the sharrows, signed bike routes, secure bike parking signage and Block Line Road. Mr. Dedes asked if there were any tentative priorities. Mr. Joseph said that the priorities are outlined in the CMP, but they cannot make exact cost estimates at this time. As more projects are implemented, staff will have a better understanding of the actual costs for infrastructure projects. Nyberg St. - draft letter to residents, notifying them of the project. Still need to create detailed technical design, and write a proposal to council. Mr. Joseph will provide updates at a future meeting. Mr. Parris provided the committee with a Trails update. 97%/98% of the Iron Horse and TransCanada trail to the Boardwalk and Homer Watson is complete. There is still the need to complete the pavement, but as soon as the weather permits, the asphalt will be put in. The Spur Line Trail project may have to be pushed back. It was mentioned that the project was to be region led and region built. Mr. Joseph discussed bike tube counters, as the topic came up in council. He will be talking to the committee and other stakeholders to brainstorm about where and when the tubes will be put in place. Staff plans to use 2014 as the year to collect baseline data. The Infrastructure Sub-Committee meets the third Wednesday after the th KCAC meeting, and therefore January 29 will be the next meeting. Mr Dedes mentioned discussion over the signage project and bringing in the CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 14, 2014 CITY OF KITCHENER Region as a partner. Challenges were identified with the pilot project, and therefore the next steps are to capitalize on the success of others. Mr. Joseph commented that as long as the content of the sign is similar within the Region, the design can be unique to Kitchener The Promotions Committee next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, th January 16, but no regular scheduling has been instilled. They are currently working on one smaller project, creating survey questions for the school board, and other initiatives. Mr. Joseph updated the committee on the ThumbsUp Waterloo Region Campaign. All of the marketing material will be reviewed within the next month or two. Mr. Walberg- Sub-Committee each person within the committee has the currently dealing with methodology, and whether or not data is available for staff to collect. Looking also at how grades (A,B,C,D) will translate in report letter value to numerical value. The committee is closing in to get a completed first draft. The committee generally meets on Friday mornings from 8-10 a.m. in the council lounge Mr. Joseph commented on the cycling survey, updating the committee of the infographic document hoping to be released in the spring. Two master students from the University of Waterloo are assisting staff in organizing and managing all the data. The next steps are getting the survey to be representative, with high costs, but more reliable facts. A suggestion was made to work with public health. 3. JANUARY COMMITTEE REPORT AND PRESENTATION CBC interviewed Mr. Joseph, who made a staff report, Mr. Sleeth made a report on multi-use trails. There were two delegates who made a brief presentation (CLIPPED outdoors, and a resident who previously lived in Holland). The committee received approval for the by-law recommendation. Staff must report back to council in 90 days. Clarification on the RCorridor Guidelines: requirements for the developer to include some sort of cycling infrastructure. New developments are required to include trail networks. Mr. Joseph said that whatever is in the CMP must be followed through, but also included that new developments could potentially supplement wayfinding signs. A delegate mentioned that the City of is spending $1/capita on cycling infrastructure, whereas in Holland it is $43/capita. London is spending $6/capita. Ms. Sehl recommended that we include per capita spending as a report card indicator. Mr. Arges reminded committee to choose similar populated cities, to compare the cycling funding to. CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 14, 2014 CITY OF KITCHENER 4. COURTLAND AND STIRLING UPDATE Mr. Joseph met with Regional staff Operations team, PM of project, Parks staff and other internal staff. He presented the ideas, and it seemed as though the ideas and plans were well received. Next steps would be for Kitchener staff to meet again. They are to put together preferred alternatives, and send it back to Region and determine feasibility. The timeline is however tight (April) the Project Manager mentioned that the work could be deferred to the fall. Mr. Joseph will provide updates to the committee as they become available Curb cuts to the Iron Horse Trail and shifting the bus stop back will be addressed in the preferred design, as mentioned by Mr. Joseph. Councillor Fernandes mentioned that Green Valley was of great importance. Kids get off the trail and walk over to the townhouse complex. Mr. Parris mentioned that it is on the agenda Council addressed the issue of opening trail gates to staff, asking them to open as many as possible. The next steps are to find out why more gates are not open, and some are closed Councillor Fernandes mentioned that Jim Witmer will do a study on the variety of trail gates within the city. They are planning to perform a study, to categorize the different importance of various trails and gates. Councillor Fernandes believes that the residents should be part of the classification procedure as well and be asked on their feelings toward specific trails and gates. Mr. Dedes added that the cheaper and less worrisome ones should just be road on this type of trail, use these measure 5. COLDEST RIDE OF THE YEAR Mr. Dedes updated the committee that the Coldest Ride of the Year would th take place on February 7. Hot chocolate would be provided at City Hall, followed by a forty-five minute bike ride at 5:30. CLIPPED outdoors is th doing a Pre-Coldest Ride of the Year this Friday, January 17. Mr. Joseph thought of brainstorming ideas of what to do with the public from 5-5:30 during this event. Some ideas were to hand out brochures, posters and designs. Mr. Dedes hopes to get media on this event, highlighting the perils of winter cycling but also mentioning the importance and possibility of winter cycling. The route has not been figured out up to date, as it may be changed depending on weather, but the start and finish will be at City Hall in Kitchener. Mr. Boos questioned about the organization of the event. Mr. Joseph mentioned that it would be between BikeKitchener and CAC. Mr. Boos mentioned that he would like to promote TriTAG, if possible. CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 14, 2014 CITY OF KITCHENER WPRS will not need to be notified due to the informal nature of the ride 4. ELECTING A NEW CHAIR / VICE-CHAIR Ms. Sehl reminded the committee of the rules in electing a chair. Nominations for Chair -> Mr. Boos nominated Mr. Dedes he was willing to stand Nominations for Vice-Chair > Ms. Sehl nominated M. Boos he was willing to stand Concillor Fernandes made the suggestion to continue on with the sub- committees until the fall. Committees still have the opportunity to meet in October, although councilors cannot. She mentioned how everything was coming to an end of a two year term, and applications must be re- submitted again in the fall. Mr. Joseph mentioned to revisit topic in the fall about sub-committees On a motion by Ms. Sehl - it was resolved and carried: "That Mr. Dedes fills the chair position and Mr. Boos fills the vice-chair position of 4. COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY FOR KCAC th to ipation in the event (i.e. make available bike maps, surveys). She will be open to th suggestions through email before Friday, January 17. Mr. Joseph mentioned a marketing strategy for KCAC, looking at various ways to market the committee. He was thinking of potentially creating a web page of what KCAC does, who it consists of, and information on how to get involved. Mr. Arges mentioned that there should be publicity for the KCAC, pursuing potential online feedback. Mr. Joseph stated that in the CMP, it says that the committee should be putting out these tools TriTAG has created tools to report on issues related to cycling infrastructure.Mr. Boos added that the software for TriTAG is really easy to customize. Right now there is something functional for the public to use and would be happy for the committee to use it. It was recommended that the City partner with TriTag to provide an online reporting tool. Mr. Joseph would need to investigate how the tool could be funded. Mr. Dedes mentioned that City of Toronto has pothole reporting, noting how problem identification does exist. Mr. Arges said that whatever way we go with the problem reporting, it should be done under KCAC. CYCLING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 14, 2014 CITY OF KITCHENER Some members believe there is no need for a branding tool. It was believed that KCAC has built a public profile over the years through reports to council, good research, strong recommendations and events such as the Coldest Ride of the Year. Members would prefer to see the funds directed toward the needs of cyclists. There is currently no outlet for the public to use to contact the committee. Mr. Joseph gets a couple of emails a month from BikeKitchener, but suggested to the committee to look at Best Practices throughout Canada, looking at how other municipalities proceed with making their committees more attainable. The committee was however reminded that everything, including meetings, are open to the public. A more effective communication strategy may need to be the focus. Mr. Joseph will now add content about the committee onto BikeKitchener and post meeting information times and agendas. It was stated that it would be a true way to gauge public interest and to see how the interest for KCAC will be. 8. CITY OF KITCHENER VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION AND DATABASE Mr. Joseph to update at a later date 9. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Dedes read out recommendations 5-10 of the Trails Master Plan. The report on the Multi-Use Trails and Pathways Master Plan recommended . The Council mentioned the importance of hearing the voices of the disabled. No recommendations were made, but suggested to create a Trails and Cycling Advisory Committee. mandate should come back for discussion and be determined no later than May 2014 in order to report to Council by June 9. In relation to bike counters, Mr. Joseph will be having a conversation with another sub-committee 10. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Mr. P. Dedes It was resolved and carried: