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Home My WebLink AboutINS-15-065 - Union St Bicycle Lane Implementation Staff Rport I r rc'.�► t .R Infrastructure Services Department wmkitchener.ca REPORT TO: Community and Infrastructure Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: September 21, 2015 SUBMITTED BY: Justin Readman, Director of Transportation Services 519-741-2200 x7038 PREPARED BY: Danny Pimentel, TDM Coordinator 519-741-2200 x7371 WARD(S) INVOLVED: Ward 10 DATE OF REPORT: September 10, 2015 REPORT NO.: INS-15-065 SUBJECT: Union Street Bicycle Lane Implementation RECOMMENDATION: That parking be prohibited on Union Street, as outlined in Appendix `A' of Infrastructure Services Department report INS-15-065; and further, That on-street bicycle lanes be installed on both sides of Union Street from Breithaupt Park to Lancaster Street and sharrows be installed on both sides of Union Street between Breithaupt Park and Margaret Avenue; and further, That the Uniform Traffic Bylaw be amended accordingly BACKGROUND: The City of Kitchener's Cycling Master Plan (CMP) was approved in 2010. This plan recommends the strategic implementation of bicycle lanes and other dedicated bicycle infrastructure throughout the city to create a more bike-friendly environment. Union Street has been identified within the CMP as a recommended on-road bikeway (bicycle lanes) as part of the priority network. It should be noted that the CMP also recommended the completion of the priority network within 7 years of approval of the CMP. City staff has also been reviewing traffic operating conditions on Union Street based on citizen concerns related to vehicle speeds and general traffic safety. Based on these two related issues and mandates, the City of Kitchener is proposing that bicycle lanes be installed on both sides of Union Street between Lancaster Street and Breithaupt Park, with sharrows between Breithaupt Park and Margaret Avenue due to pavement width constraints. In order to accommodate bicycle lanes on Union Street ***This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. 7 - 1 parking will need to be restricted to one side of the roadway, similar to the recently installed bicycle lanes on East Avenue. REPORT: Union Street is designated as a minor collector roadway as defined by the City of Kitchener's Official Plan. Minor collector roadways generally connect local streets within individual neighbourhoods to major community collector streets, and move people and goods primarily within their respective neighbourhoods. Minor Neighbourhood Collector Streets typically serve as conventional transit service routes, as is the case with Union Street. Union Street has a speed limit of 50 km/h for the majority of the roadway, and is reduced through Breithaupt Park to a speed limit of 30 km/h in recognition of the significant change in roadway geometry. Union Street is identified as part of the priority network within the CMP. The combination of vehicle volume, vehicle speed and roadway designation warrant on street bike lanes in this case. Bicycle lanes provide adequate separation between cyclists and motorists on roadways with the traffic volumes and speeds similar to that of Union Street. The proposed bicycle lanes would directly connect to the existing bicycle lanes on Margaret Avenue, the bicycle lanes under construction on Union Street from Lancaster Street to Maple Avenue as well as connecting to future bicycle lanes (proposed in 2022) on Lancaster Street from Union Street to Bridgeport Road, as outlined in the Region of Waterloo Active Transportation Master Plan. In addition, bicycle lanes on Union Street are being planned to provide citizens whom choose to travel by bicycle dedicated space to be able to connect with important destinations in the area. These include the Breithaupt Centre, a number of schools, trail connections, homes and local businesses. Union Street Typical Cross-Section Union Street Parking Buffer Bike Lane Bike Lane Travel Lane EL ' b ■I � 111 2 2 n3 Z" n?i 1 n lira "air I O n^G 2.2 m 18 n?G 2 On-Road Cycling Data As part of the City's traffic counting program, traffic data was collected in early May which includes on-road cyclist data. It should be noted that due to the restrictions of the data equipment used, the cycling data included within this report does not include sidewalk cycling, which has been noted to occur. Weekend Total number Location Count Weekday Count Count of on-road Date (total of 4 days) (total of 2 cyclists over 6 days) days Union Street between May Oxford Street & Edwin 015 273 83 356 Street Union Street between May Maplewood Place & St 015 339 104 443 Leger Street On-Street Parking One of the primary concerns when installing on street cycling facilities is the loss of on-street parking. Based on the current parking regulations along Union Street within the study area, there are approximately 93 on-street vehicular parking spaces. The recommended design would eliminate on-street parking on one side of Union Street, resulting in approximately 45 on-street parking spaces remaining. The recommended design would result in a loss of approximately 48 on-street parking spaces. However, there are also a number of side streets in the area that accommodate on-street parking. City staff conducted a number of parking studies that counted the number of vehicles parked along both sides of Union Street. The results are as follows: Date Time Number of Cars Parked Thursday February 19, 2015 3:00 p.m. 6 Thursday February 26, 2015 8:45 a.m. 3 Tuesday March 10, 2015 3:20 p.m. 4 Monday April 13, 2015 8:00 p.m. 10 Wednesday May 6, 2015 3:00 p.m. 12 Parking studies indicate that the existing parking demand can easily be accommodated within 45 spaces, though some citizen convenience may be lost, as they may no longer be able to park where they typically parked in the past. 7 - 3 Traffic Volumes and Speeds Below are the results of a six (6) day study which captured traffic speed and volume data on Union Street: 85 Percentile AADT Location Date t AADT* Combined Speed (km/h)** Union Street between May Northbound: 1482 Oxford Street & Edwin 2015 Southbound: 1602 3084 56 Street Union Street between May Northbound: 1273 Maplewood Place & St 2015 Southbound: 1591 2864 57 Leger Street *Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT); **85% of vehicles are traveling at or below this speed (85th percentile speed). Other bicycle lane installations within the City of Kitchener have resulted in and average 85th percentile speed reductions of 5.2 km/h. Collision Experience A three year collision history was completed for Union Street which shows a total of 12 reported collisions. The following is a summary of the combined collisions by initial impact type: Initial Impact Type Year Angle SMV SMV Rear Approaching Turning Other Total other End Movement 2012 3 1 1 0 0 2 0 7 2013 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 4 2014 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Total 4 3 1 1 1 2 0 12 The collision history for Union Street shows a variety of collision types have occurred in this area. However, the 12 collisions are sporadic in nature and as such do not indicate a preventable collision trend. 7 - 4 Citizen Input Transportation Services staff held a drop-in format public information centre on April 16, 2015 at Prueter Public School. Affected citizens attended to review and comment on the proposed traffic and pavement marking plan. The meeting was attended by approximately 50 citizens, which included one (1) member of the Kitchener Cycling and Trails Advisory Committee. There were a total of fifteen (15) comment forms received. Below is a summary of the comments received (note that some comment forms contained more than one type of comment/concern): • 12 comment forms indicated speed as a major concern • 5 comments forms indicated the lack of transit service as a major concern • 5 comment forms indicated opposition to the proposed plan and/or did not see a benefit to the residents • 4 comment forms indicated on-street parking as a major concern • 3 comment forms indicated their support of the proposed plan • 1 comment form indicated there were no issues with the existing conditions In order to address citizen concerns, Transportation Services staff went above and beyond the typical public outreach for such projects and went door-to-door to each house fronting Union Street. Each household was visited on one occasion and allowed residents to dialogue with City staff as well as giving staff the opportunity to better understand concerns. A total of 76 properties were visited by city staff and 29 citizens were available to talk about the proposed plan. Any locations where the citizen did not answer the door were left with an information brochure outlining the proposed plan and background data as well as a card indicating when staff visited as well as contact information should they wish to follow up. The results of the door-to-door engagement highlighted that there was concern with visibility when reversing out of driveways flanked by retaining walls on the north side of the street and providing only parking on that side of the street. This resulted in staff revising the plan and relocating a portion of on-street parking to the south side of the street. As a result of the proposed change to the plan a letter was circulated to all properties within the study area on August 24, 2015 outlining the proposed change. Staff received nine responses from that letter. Of the comments received seven were opposed to any changes to the street, one requested parking be relocated to the opposite side of the street between Oxford and Edna and one indicated support for the project. 7 - 5 In addition to the formal public consultation process City Staff received 25 emails supporting the installation of cycling infrastructure within the City of Kitchener including the proposed project for Union Street. ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN: Strategic Priority: Safe and Thriving Neighbourhoods Strategy: 3.2 - Create safer streets in our neighbourhood through new approaches to traffic calming Strategic Action: 94 - Development of alternative (low cost) traffic calming options FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The proposed pavement marking changes and on-street parking changes will be funded from the cycling capital budget, with an approximate cost of$20,000. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: INFORM — This report has been posted to the City's website with the agenda in advance of the council / committee meeting. CONSULT — a public information centre was held in April 2015, which saw approximately 50 area residents attend. From the public information centre, fifteen (15) comments forms were received and comments incorporated into this report. Additionally, staff went door-to-door to communicate the intent of the plan as well as to better understand citizens' concerns. A letter was distributed to all properties fronting Union Street. Staff received nine responses from that letter. CONCLUSION: Transportation Services staff are recommending that bike lanes be installed on both sides of Union Street between Lancaster Street and Breithaupt Park, which results in the loss of on-street parking on one side of the roadway, as outlined in Appendix A. Furthermore, it is recommended that sharrows be installed on Union Street from Margaret Avenue through Breithaupt Park ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Dev Tyagi, Deputy CAO of Infrastructure Services Attach: • Appendix A - Proposed pavement marking design 7 - 6 Appendix A - Union Street Pavement Marking Design Union Street between Lancaster Street and Union Lane VIII �i dl dIQ 111111 l%� ioioiy�gl�; I I �' II l % ` 1 gas ' for Stre 7 - 7 Appendix A - Union Street Pavement Marking Design Union Street between Bond Street and Oxford Street IN 1 Oxford ,r � Street / r 1 11 t�5 f reet 1 7 - 8 Appendix A - Union Street Pavement Marking Design Union Street between Oxford Street and Edwin Street Edwin Street 111�11�ti�1�61�IV�@�"t��wl @@ 5111@!� W�@ VIIIN��Iu�,NI� S�U�i@ y1��11�?�1111�Y '�m�I11V1 @ @kb��titi'�!� ��i u r , Oxford Str , eet 7 - 9 Appendix A - Union Street Pavement Marking Design Union Street between Edwin Street and Boehmer Street l � u�� IIIIIIIIIIIUIIIII�� I��I�I ��IIIIIUIIIIIIIIII '° ��- E f � � dwin Street; eet � 1 7 - 10 Appendix A - Union Street Pavement Marking Design Union Street between Boehmer Street and St Leger Street �lGG�6�i�il�lY�( 'wa�uti�w��w�unrma ' r f�P� '11i�l�P9 " i �ItlnlUrlll l�Yl��h�'VM a �mmur t�dtm�uumuYra�mma�p�h�+� Ailll�192��UUiP�l111�%>I�l �q�u .tlOmoo��liiilll� �,WJimitl'�� ANm�,IIY� Y ��ry olM�bY�4nlWBXI(FI6N!&fIININ��w �I1!'ik 1XfN(d muw'mw iuummUmmMimi I>wb��n a�s� ��lia'b ur ...Street VIW PUU �! B °ehmer et St Leger 7 - 11 Appendix A - Union Street Pavement Marking Design Union Street between St Leger Street and Sunset Place j r a I�l�� I��nl�l�ll�lll�� II ' Union Street �; 11 St Leger Street Sunset Place r 7 - 12 Appendix A - Union Street Pavement Marking Design Union Street between Sunset Place and Breithaupt Park d \ io �ou4�n4ba� Il I � JIYRW� Mb 111011�rlmmllk�r�iv� na u�d yAn r i I"py�� 1 1„.?ilflll Puce Union Street 1 f Breithaupt Park 7 - 13 Appendix A - Union Street Pavement Marking Design Union Street between Breithaupt Park and Margaret Avenue Union Street rt Mac9ac e�P 7 - 14