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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-04-12 KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 1 - April 12, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER Kitchener Cycling and Trails Advisory Committee met on this date commencing at 4:07 p.m. Councillor Y. Fernandes, Present: Ms. K. Fox, Ms. P. Rodriguez, Messrs. M. Boos (Chair), T. Boutilier, C. Branton, P. Dedes, M. Drasdo, L. Chandler, G. Evans, D. Hoshowsky and D. Kropf. Staff: Mr. D. Pimentel, Active Transportation Planning Project Manager Mr. M. Parris, Landscape Architect Mr. K. Carmichael, Interim Director of Transportation Services Mr. B. Cronkite, Interim Manager Transportation .Planning. Ms. M. Bird, Active Transportation Student 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF MARCH 8, 2016 Following items are to be corrected for the March 8, 2016 minutes:  Correct spelling of February on page 1  Waterloo County Wanderers spelling on page 2  Correct spelling of medians on page 3 Mr., Boutilier - On a motion by It was resolved and carried: meeting “That the minutes of the March 8, 2016 be approved.” 2. NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK To celebrate National Volunteer Week (April 10 – April 16, 2016), a country wide event, and City of Kitchener staff presented a thank you card and notepad to each committee member. These small gestures represent the city’s gratitude towards volunteers and their efforts. 3. 2016 TRAIL PROJECT PLAN Mr. Parris presented to the committee the upcoming projects in the trails division. Referring to a comprehensive plan, Mr. Parris highlighted the most relevant projects to the committee. The following items summarize his presentation:  MUP 1 - Kolb Greenway: Linked to storm water infrastructure improvement. Paving has been done on the roadway; however, the portion through the natural area is yet to be done.  MUP 2 - Balzer Greenway: Staff received backlash to install the greenway. 6 years later, there is a push for a greenway from Country Hills to Trans- Canada Trail\underpass at Homer Watson Boulevard. KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 2 - April 12, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER  MUP 3 - Trans-Canada Trail to Courtland Avenue: Province has provided a grant program, allocating $325,000 to the just which the City of Kitchener will match. Confirmation in late February 2016 and a media release at the end of March 2016 in Cambridge. Nearly 1 million dollars was dedicated by the province for cycling improvements in the Waterloo Region province will match up. Highlighted project is the underpass at Courtland Avenue that requires a safe and permanent solution. Mr. Boos reports poor conditioned pavement Courtland Avenue off ramp from Conestoga Parkway towards Hayward Avenue – Mr. Parris informed the committee that the south is the ION – LRT link and construction would be deferred until the Block Line Station is complete and installation will not take place until 2017. A design is not completed yet but it will include a fully separated trail that is cycling centric trail. Additional funding would allow further exploration of possible solutions but the City of Kitchener is limited. There were conversations pertaining to the work being done on the expressway. Mr. Parris commented that Ministry of Transportation (in charge of the expressway construction work) approved the plan under the expressway; thus Mr. Parris imagines that the timelines do not conflict. The provincial funding limits and restricts the infrastructure construction as billing must be done by March 31st, 2018. The committee expressed worry over the prioritization of the project as $325,000+ will be spent on 1 kilometer. This project will fill a current gap in the cycling network.  MUP 4 - Glencairn Public School Trails: Partnership between Waterloo Regional School Board and the City of Kitchener to reduce the number of cars around schools. This was a pilot project brought to council in 2015 and is targeted for launch in 2016. Construction includes paving existing trails.  MUP 5 - Topper Woods: Located in the Doon South area, currently a walk way is in place that leads nowhere. Stormwater pond is a conceptual connection between the two. Grand River Conservation Authority has been notified and the intent is to design the project next year in 2017.  MUP 6 - Laurentian Trail: Plan is to widen and pave the current trail where the pavement ends. This will help service the park and population around it.  MUP 7 - Sandrock Green: A small, bridge project to connect Westheights Drive and Hillbrook Crescent. It is a straight forward connection leading to stormwater channel. Connects the two with the bicycle lanes and is a tie in with the sign bicycle route.  MUP 8 - Queens Mount Park: Area was expanded and new pavement installed. During this process a fence was installed right across the trail. Plans will be put in place to restore the trail to its original intent.  MUP 9 - Hearth Green: South of Highland Road there is a gap in trail network. A trail here will service a commercial area. The current infrastructure exits into a driveway Butler Lane. KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 3 - April 12, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER  IHT 1 - Victoria Park Rail Crossing: Detailed design is done and City of Kitchener is waiting for a permit. This will provide a nice connection to the back end of Victoria Park and the Iron Horse Trail. Attempts are being made to normalize the path as a popular trail such as looking into how cyclists can navigate over the crossing without locking wheels. Plans are in effect to attract more desirables such as increasing traffic and surveillance.  IHT 2 – Central Improvements: Approved masterplan from 2015 and funding received in February 2016 this year. Area includes Victoria St. to Queen Street including Victoria West intersection. The roadway is out of control and there must be improvements to the interior of Victoria West. There are plans to widen the trail to 3.6m with connections to the west.  PB 1 - Old Carriage Road: Bridge is in good standing but the undercut by the creek is of concern due to helical heels and the portion will be closed.  PB 3 - Meltitzer Creek Bridge: Creek study underway by stormwater managers. The bridge is sound but the foundations are eroding. This problem will be solved in 2016.  PB 4 - Idlewood Creek Pedestrian Bridge : Stormwater management will cause impact to Walter Bean Trail and pedestrian pathways.  PB 5 - Lynn Valley Trail Bridge: A previous bus pad was used a bridge; thus, a formal bridge will be constructed.  PB 6 - Stanley Park Trail Bridge: Work is being done on a trail bridge; however, research has not been conducted to indicate if the cold creek will have an effect on the stones.  PB 7 - Tilts Bush Boardwalk: Boardwalk has been in disrepair for some time due to flooding and caving in with the plank. An engineering study is necessary to see needs to be done to structural improve this.  VP 1 - Victoria Park Access: Mill Street between gardens will be a formalized link to Schneider House from Victoria Park.  HNA 3 - Huron Natural Area Trail Access: Project includes the completion of a trail that the City of Kitchener did not originally own. The city acquired the trail and now can construct infrastructure. Mr. Parris opened the discussion to the committee:  Mr. Dedes asked why wood is poor yet bridges seem expensive and are not being installed elsewhere. Mr. Parris explained that bridge work is selected on a needs basis. Wood based bridges last 25-30 years and steel beams last 50-70 years. KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 4 - April 12, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER  Mr. Kropf asked if the projects are reflective of the Trails Master Plan. Mr. Parris explained that there is not objectively measure but we are keeping pace.  Mr. Hoshowsky spoke to the lack of connectivity and that there are too many gap. He would like to know when connections will be put into place. Mr. Parris explained that they must wait until LRT is done to allow room to make changes.  Mr. Hoshowsky asked about challenges for cyclists. Fencing such as that at Fairview Mall makes it difficult for the business to get extra money.  Mr., Drasdo suggested that there should be an annual sit down to over long-term plans with other partnerships such as the Waterloo Region. City of Kitchener staff appreciated this and will consider reaching out to others.  Ms. Rodriguez asked about the social components related to the Iron Horse Trail. There may be a presentation on the post-improvements. Presentation and maps presented during this meeting are attached. 4. CYCLE ON PROJECT Cycle-ON Project is a total of 1 million dollars between the tri-cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. TransCanada Trail at Courtland Avenue was identified as a critical project as this will be a crucial connection to the cycling network. The project is just starting and public along with committee input will be involved in some way. 5. WATERLOO REGIONAL POLICE SERVICES MEETING DEBRIEF Notes from Wednesday, April 6, 2016 Waterloo Regional Public Services (WRPS) meeting will be distributed to the committee members. Concerns were voiced among the committee, particularly the issues of adequately measuring 1-meter when passing a motor vehicle. The committee wants there to be more proactively enforcement and better ways to show physical evidence of drivers breaking the 1- meter rule. Potential technology could aid in this mission. Going forward the committee is interested in having an annual meeting with the WRPS to speak on specific projects and outline responsibilities. 6. CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE UPDATE Zeller Drive On Tuesday, April 5, 2016 Transportation Staff held a Public Information Centre for the residents of Zeller Drive. Staff presented the proposed design and the general feedback from the meeting. The proposed design included bicycle lanes and sharrows, removing parking from one side towards Pebblecreek Drive and all parking near Lackner Boulevard. These cycling facilities were proposed instead of traffic calming measures as it is easier to retrofit for traffic calming from cycling facilities KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 5 - April 12, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER than vice-versa. There was pushback from the community due to the loss of parking. The following alternatives were presented to the committee:  Sharrows instead of bicycle lanes through Zeller Drive from Susan Crescent to Lackner Boulevard  Sharrows on Zeller Drive from Susan Crescent to Lackner Boulevard with a signed route down Susan Crescent Mr. Dedes mentioned that sharrows are ineffective and that they confuse drivers and cyclists. Mr. Cronkite suggested that a signed route is possible instead, but that the sharrows are good source of wayfinding. Mr. Carmichael mentioned that sharrows are relatively new to the Kitchener area and that he would like to give drivers some time to learn the infrastructure and see if it is a good source of share the road communications. Mr. Cronkite reiterated that safety is the primary concern. Committee members suggested widen the road to allow for both parking and bicycle lanes; however, there are hydro poles on one boulevard and mature trees on the opposite. Another option suggested was a multi-use pathway through the natural area between Lackner Woods Public School and Saint John Paul II School. Committee members suggested other alternatives such as speed limit reductions to 40 km/hr. The committee disagrees with moving the cyclists off of Zeller Drive as two left turns are more dangerous than no infrastructure. On a motion by Mr. L. Chandler - It was resolved and carried: “ The committee strongly urges the community to be willing to make compromise of losing parking on the one side of the road for bicycle lanes to create greater variance for users and better markings for users and restore the original bicycle lanes in the newer sections of Zeller Drive [from Susan Crescent to Lackner Boulevard].” Wilson Avenue Transportation staff is holding a public information centre for the neighbourhood bound by Connaught Street, Greenfield Avenue, Franklin Street South, Traynor Wednesday, May 4, 2016 Avenue and Wilson Avenue on at Howard Robertson Public School from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The intent is to improve connectivity to the mall from Wilson Park and connect to the Downtown signed route network. Wilson Avenue neighbourhood is steadily increasing in population. There are several driveways along Wilson Avenue; however, stopping and parking is already restricted due to the school zone. Mr. Boos expressed concern with the school bus loading and bicycle lanes. Mr. Cronkite told the committee that we cannot cut into the parking bays due to the property lines. The overall intent is to connect Wilson Avenue to the Fairway Mall and eventually to the park to Homer Watson Park. Discussions were made about cycling facilities on Fairway Road and the dangers associated with the high speed and traffic roadway. All committee members are welcome to attend. The design will be presented to the committee and a motion will be made. KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES - 6 - April 12, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER 7. Subcommittee Updates and Work Plan Transitions - Education, Safety and Promotion The subcommittee has 3 new members, Ms. Fox, Ms. Rodriguez and Mr. o Branton. Work is still being done on the ‘Lock Your Bike’ video and could o potentially be filmed at BikeFest. Plans are underway to promote and market cycling events this summer. o - Infrastructure and Technical None at this time. o - Planning, Evaluation and Governance New member to the subcommittee, Mr. Evans. o Progress report underway. o 8. QUESTIONS AND OTHER ITEMS Mr. Boutilier suggests that a subcommittee be formed to tackle the project of a stolen bike registry. He will be taking the lead on the project and contacting the group about potential partnerships and brainstorming outside of the scheduled meetings. Councillor Fernandes suggested that some ideas be ready for BikeFest to gauge public opinion. The committee will be preparing a booth at BikeFest to engage the public on the work and existence of the committee. A possible survey could be developed as suggested by Mr. Dedes as their target demographic will be attending the event. Mr. Dedes also mentioned that Jane’s Walk and instructed the group to visit janeswalk.org for more information. 9. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Mr. P. Dedes - It was resolved and carried: 6:07pm “The meeting adjourned at .”