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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-03-08 KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 1 - March 8, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER Kitchener Cycling and Trails Advisory Committee met on this date commencing at 4:05 p.m. Councillor Y. Fernandes, Present: Ms. K. Fox, Ms. M. Generoux, Ms. P. Rodriguez, Messrs. M. Boos (Chair), T. Boutilier, C. Branton L. Chandler, G. Evans, D. Hoshowsky and D. Kropf. Staff: Mr. D. Pimentel, Traffic Project Coordinator Ms. M. Bird, Active Transportation Student 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF FEBURARY 9, 2016 Following items are to be corrected for the February 9, 2016 minutes: - Ms. T. Boutilier was the chair - Motion by Mr. D. Kropf concerning the Book-Mo-Bike presentation was corrected and strengthened - Grammar errors corrected Councillor Y. Fernandes On a motion by It was resolved and carried: meeting “That the minutes of the February 9, 2016 be approved.” 2. NEW COMMITTEE MEMBER INTRODUCTION AND ORIENTATION Each member of the committee introduced themselves in a roundtable setting. New committee members, Ms. K. Fox, Ms. P. Rodriguez, Messrs. C. Branton and G. Evans were given orientation packages including an accessibility pamphlet and a USB stick including numerous relevant materials. 3. BIKE FEST DISCUSSION AND UPDATE Mr. D. Pimentel gave a brief overview of BikeFest to the new committee members and the committee’s role in the event. The committee will be assisting City of Kitchener staff in the planning of BikeFest 2016. Committee members will be helping to distribute vendor applications to gain more support from other organizations. Mr. D. Pimentel advised the committee that they are welcome to create a booth for BikeFest to promote the committee. Bike Kitchener will be hosting Bike Valets at various events this summer. If the valet expands staff might approach the committee to help run these valets. Work is underway to organize the program through contact with both Toronto and Vancouver Bike Valets. For this year’s BikeFest the following items are complete or ongoing: - Cycle for Angels will be a partner in the event holding their ride close to City Hall at Lot 15 by Joseph St. and Gaukel St. - Carl Zehr Square, Conestoga Room and the Rotunda at City Hall are booked for the event KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 2 - March 8, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER - Efforts are being made to have King St. closed from Gaukel St to College St. as Queen St and Water St will be the only access to King St. during LRT construction 4. POLICE MEETING DISCUSSIONS As part of an actionable item on the 2015 Bike Kitchener Report Card provided by the Kitchener Cycling and Trails Advisory Committee, Mr. D. Pimentel has organized a meeting with the Waterloo Regional Police Service for Wednesday, April 6, 2016 at 7:00pm – 9:00pm at Kitchener City Hall (200 King St W) – Conestoga Room (Ground Floor). The meeting will likely not be open to the public as the advisory committee will be the liaisons between the police and the public. The information gathered at the meeting will l be compiled and submitted in a public forum. The subcommittee “Education, Safety and Promotion” was given the task to compile a series of questions to bring forth to the meeting. Questions from all municipalities’ advisory committees need to be submitted to Mr. D. Pimentel by Tuesday, March 22, 2016. Committee discussed the questions and decided on the following in priority order: 1. What are the barriers preventing the WRPS from having a bike registry for the Region? 2. Do the police on bicycles have formal training on cycling? What rules do they follow when enforcing cycling rules/laws/regulations? 3. What do you see as the main motivator for bike thefts and are there areas of that Region where bike thefts are more prevalent? 4. What do the police suggest as the best form of bicycle security measures for cyclists in the Region (i.e. style of locks, secure bike cages or bike lockers)? 5. CAN BIKE TRAINING DISCUSSION Mr. D. Pimentel attended a CAN Bike meeting with Phil Martin and ‘Cycling into the Future’ to discuss upcoming courses scheduled for the summer. Discussion at this meeting included subsidizing the cost of the courses for participants and providing the location of the courses. Courses include, ‘Adult Learn to Ride’, ‘Cycling Freedom for Women’ and ‘Commuter Cycling Skills’. City staff will be discussing grant opportunities through MTO as a part of the new road safety legislation. These courses will improve safety and help to create a better bicycle culture in Kitchener. Ms. M. Generoux suggested city staff contact local clubs such as ‘Waterloo County Wanders’ and ‘Easy Riders’ about potential CAN Bike courses. Mr. D. Pimentel will also be contacting City of Cambridge to seek advice on running similar events. Mr. D. Pimentel has been assigned the duty of setting up locations for the CAN Bike courses along with promoting the program. Staff will be reaching out to city volunteers as this demographic might be interested in attending the event. Additional KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 3 - March 8, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER interested groups may be new comers that are using the KW-Multicultural Centre. Mr. D. Pimentel will contact Ms. K. Fox about possible cross-promotion. Additionally, some participants might need a bike as some courses are for people whom have never ridden before. Staff will connect with CAB (Community Access Bikeshare) to get bikes at the events. Mr. D. Pimentel will contact Ms. P. Rodriguez about CAB and Bike Kitchener collaborating for the event. 6. INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING OVERVIEW Mr. M. Parris was absent requiring the discussion of trail infrastructure to be postponed. Mr. D. Pimentel discussed the following items as current and ongoing cycling infrastructure and transportation demand management projects: - Pioneer Dr.: Bicycle lanes will be redone when the road medium is reinstalled. Super sharrows will be implemented at conflict points as early as possible pending operational staffing issues. Green thermoplastic lines will be implemented at conflict points. Sharrows will make drivers more aware of cyclists. Suggestions were made about organizing an educational opportunity at the community center after this is done to educate drivers and cyclists of the use of sharrows - Union St.: Parking to be removed going into this year - Westheights Dr.: Correctional work to be done, fixing the chevrons at intersections - Queen St. (Courtland Ave – King St): Super sharrows and latter crossings to be installed after LRT construction - Nyberg St: Contraflow symbols will be painted - Margaret Ave: Resurfacing will be done later this year with bicycle lanes redesigned and cleaned up. These details will be reviewed with the ‘Infrastructure and Technical subcommittee’. Staff will look into the church on Margaret Ave. that Mr. M. Boos brought up concerning bicycle lanes and on- street parking - Wilson Ave – Connaught St. – Traynor Ave.: Cycling Master Plan suggests on- road cycling facilities for this area. A Public Information Centre will be hosted in April. An Environmental Assessment will be done for Wilson Ave from Fairway Rd S to Wabanaki Rd as a part of an off-road cycling facility plan - Zeller Dr.: Bicycle lanes will be implement, Public Information Center will be hosted in April - Rittenhouse: Project on hold until a new project manager is hired - Traffic Calming: Following projects for this year: Doon Mills Dr., Sims Estate Dr. , David Bergey Dr KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 4 - March 8, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER - Sharrows v. Super Sharrows: The placement of the sharrows marking tells the cyclist where to ride. Super sharrows allow cyclists to take the lane and sharrows cyclists ride curb side. A driver is allowed to pass cyclists if it’s safe to do so and no sign indicates single file. Education is needed to improve the use of the sharrows. A possible sharrows study has been considered by city staff. Information from the public meetings will be vetted through the committee before or after depending on the timing. 7. UPCOMING PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMING Ontario Bike Summit will be held April 19 – 20, 2016 in Toronto. City staff will be attending the event and have invited committee members to come along. Unfortunately due to budget constraints and committee regulations it is not possible for the City of Kitchener to cover the costs of committee members to attend. 8. SUBCOMMITTEE INTRODUCTIONS AND UPDATES Mr. D. Pimentel brought forth to the committee a possible extension for the Conestoga Room until 6:30pm for each meeting to allow subcommittees to meet. This extension would be optional. The committee considered the idea. A transition plan was discussed to have each committee comply yearly goals. Each new committee member will pick a subcommittee to join. Each committee introduced themselves and explain the subcommittee: - Education, Safety and Promotion The mandate of this subcommittee was to have a specific focus on o improving cyclist safety and education through a variety of promotional nts, activities and initiatives eve - Infrastructure and Technical The mandate of this subcommittee was to have a specific focus on o cycling and trail infrastructure projects and other initiatives that require more technical expertise - Planning, Evaluation and Governance The mandate of this subcommittee was to have a specific focus on short o and long-range planning, evaluation, and governance of current and future cycling initiatives, including the development of a coordination strategy for the priority cycling and trail networks. Mr. L. Chandler from ‘Planning, Evaluation and Governance ‘ handed out a Draft Cycling Master Plan Report to the committee for review. . KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 5 - March 8, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER 9. QUESTIONS AND OTHER ITEMS None at this time. 10. ADJOURNMENT Councillor Y. Fernandes - On a motion by It was resolved and carried: 5:38pm “The meeting adjourned at .”