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Home My WebLink AboutINS-16-093 - Zeller Drive Bike Lane Implentation REPORT TO: Community and Infrastructure Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: December 5, 2016 SUBMITTED BY: Ken Carmichael, Interim Director of Transportation Services, 519-741-2200, ext. 7372 PREPARED BY: Steven Ryder, Traffic Technologist, 519-741-2200, ext. 7152 WARD(S) INVOLVED: Ward 2 DATE OF REPORT: October 28. 2016 REPORT NO.: INS-16-093 SUBJECT:Zeller Drive Bike Lane Implementation ___________________________________________________________________________ RECOMMENDATIONS: That on-street bicycle lanes be installed on both sides of Zeller Drive from Pebblecreek Drive to Wild Meadow Street and sharrows be installed on both sides of Zeller Drive between Wild Meadow Street and Lackner Boulevard; and further, That on-street parking be prohibited on the west side of Zeller Drive between Wild Meadow Street and Pebblecreek Drive; and further, That on-street parking be prohibited on the west side of Zeller Drive between Lackner Boulevard and a point 90 metres north thereof; and further, That the Uniform Traffic Bylaw be amended accordingly BACKGROUND: The approved City of Kitchener Cycling Master Plan outlines a plan of implementing 114 kilometres of bikeways over 20 years. Included in this plan is the recommended implementation of on-road cycling facilities for Zeller Drive from Lackner Boulevard to Pebblecreek Drive. Additionally, Zeller Drive has been initiated for traffic calming. As part of the 2014 Traffic Calming Policy, ‘If a roadway has been identified in the Cycling Master Plan for the inclusion of cycling facilities, then cycling facilities should be incorporated as part of the overall traffic calming plan.’ City staff has been reviewing Zeller Drive with the interest of providing a roadway corridor that will be safer for all road users. *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. 10 - 1 REPORT: Zeller Drive is designated as a major collector roadway in the City of Kitchener Official Plan. It links several community neighbourhoods and serves as a north/south connection between Lackner Boulevard and Pebblecreek Drive. The function of this roadway is to collect traffic from the local and minor collector roads and distribute it out to various destinations and arterial class roadways. Zeller Drive is a two lane road with a pavement width ranging from 7 meters at its narrowest point between Wild Meadow Drive and Janet Court to 12 meters through its remainder. The speed limit on Zeller Drive is 50 km/h as per the Uniform Traffic By-law with the exception of a 40 km/h school zone between Wild Meadow Street and Janet Court. Initially, Zeller Drive was designed through the development process to incorporate bike lanes on both sides of the street. They were implemented when the street was built, however were not maintained and have faded completely, though bike lane signs still exist. Based on the current parking regulations along Zeller Drive, there are approximately 102 on-street parking spaces between Pebblecreek Drive and Lackner Boulevard. Through input received from area residents, parking has been identified as a necessity through the portion of Zeller drive between Wild Meadow Street and Lackner Boulevard. Staff has revised the initial plan, which was to prohibit parking on both sides of the road to allow for the implementation of marked on-street bike lanes. The recommended design plan moving forward would eliminate on-street parking on the south (odd-numbered) side of Zeller Drive between Wild Meadow Street and Pebblecreek Drive. Implementation of the recommendations in this report would allow for 74 on-street parking spaces to remain. Parking Conditions City staff conducted a number of parking studies that counted the number of vehicles parked along both sides of Zeller Drive. The results are as follows: Date Time Number of Cars Parked th Sunday March 27, 2016 2:00 P.M 30 (Easter) th Wednesday March 30,10:00 P.M. 8 2016 th Sunday April 10, 2016 2:00 P.M. 8 th Thursday April 14, 2016 6:00 P.M. 6 th Sunday May 8, 2016 5:00 P.M. 41 As you can see from the table on the previous page, Transportation Services’ plan for Zeller Drive includes more than enough on-street parking to accommodate on-street parking on Zeller Drive on an average day, and on holidays. *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. 10 - 2 Volume and Speed Below are the results of a six (6) day study which captured traffic speed and volume data on Zeller Drive: th CountAADT85Percentile LocationAADT* DateCombinedSpeed(km/h)** ZellerDrivebetweenJuneEastbound:2109 419455 JanetCourt&ZellerCourt2015Westbound:2085 ZellerDrivebetween JuneEastbound:1942 SusanCrescent&449853 2016Westbound:2556 WildMeadowStreet ZellerDrivebetween JuneEastbound:1322 WildMeadowStreet&269159 2015Westbound:1370 BridgemillRoad ZellerDrivebetween JuneEastbound:1018 ZellerCrescent&194560 2016Westbound:926 PebblecreekDrive ZellerDrivebetweenSusanJuneEastbound:2444 503657 Crescent&ZellerCourt2016Westbound:2592 *Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT); **85% of vehicles are traveling at or below this speed th (85 percentile speed). Collision History A three (3) year collision history was completed for Zeller Drive which shows a total of 12 reported motor vehicle collisions. The table below summarizes these collisions by initial impact type and year of occurrence: InitialImpactType YearTotal SMV*RearTurning AngleSMV*ApproachingOther otherEndMovement 201311000103 201401311006 201500111003 Total124221012 Zeller Drive is part of the priority network of the Cycling Master Plan. Zeller Drive is classified as a major collector roadway, resulting in bicycle lanes/sharrows being *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. 10 - 3 recommended as the most appropriate cycling facility in this case. Cycling facilities provide adequate separation between cyclists and motorists on a roadway with traffic volumes and speeds such as those on Zeller Drive. The proposed plan would link with the existing bicycle lanes on Lackner Boulevard to Zeller Drive while still accommodating the residents parking needs. By providing cycling facilities on Zeller Drive it is anticipated that a decrease in speeds would result, while providing a safe place for cyclists to ride alongside vehicles in a connected network. Public Input Transportation Services staff held a drop-in format public information centre on April 5, 2016 at Howard Robertson Public School. Affected citizens attended to review and comment on the proposed traffic and pavement marking plan. The meeting was attended by approximately 18 citizens. There were a total of 36 comment forms received. Below is a summary of the comments received: 33 residents responded from Zeller Drive, 1 in favour, 32 opposed. 2 residents responded from Janet Court, both were opposed 3 residents responded from Susan Crescent, all three opposed 27 of the responses received all mentioned the removal of on-street parking as the main reason they are opposed. As a result of the input gathered from the first public information centre, the proposed cycling design was revised to accommodate a majority of the on-street parking available, while still prohibiting parking in areas addressed as a concern from the constituents of Zeller Drive. For the area which residents identified as having the largest demand for on-street parking, it has been identified that sharrows are the preferred infrastructure to service the roadway for both cycling facilities and on-street parking. Transportation Services received a petition from the residents of Zeller Drive in opposition of the implementation of on-street cycling between Pebblecreek Drive and Lackner Boulevard. There were 139 signatures in the petition. Transportation Services held two (2) pop up public information centres where staff set- up a tent on the boulevard outside Lackner Woods Public School equipped with information packages to hand out and a printed out design. These meetings took th place on Saturday September 24, 2016 between 1:00 P.M and 3:00 P.M. and th, Thursday September 29 2016 between 6:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M. This meeting was attended by approximately 35 citizens. There were a total of six (6) comment cards after received after the pop up public meetings. All seven (7) response were from residents on Zeller Drive, three (3) in favour, four (4) opposed. *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. 10 - 4 ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN: Strategic Priority:Sustainable environment and infrastructure. Strategy:Develop a safe, comfortable and linked pedestrian and cycling facilities and improve year-round maintenance on priority routes. Strategic Action: SE13 Implement the Cycling Master Plan FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The proposed pavement marking changes and on-street parking changes will come 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. Residents were notified regarding this report to recommend the implementation of cycling facilities. CONSULT – One drop in format public information centre was held in April 2016 at Howard Robertson Public School. Additionally, two pop up public meetings were held September 2016 on-street along Zeller Drive to better communicate the proposed design to the residents. Any and all information gathered through these public meetings has been incorporated into the report. CONCLUSION: Transportation Services staff are recommending that bike lanes be installed on Zeller Drive between Pebblecreek Drive and Wild Meadow Street and that sharrows be implemented on both sides of the roadway between Wild Meadow Street and Zeller Drive in accordance with the City of Kitchener Cycling Master Plan. ACKNOWLEDGED BY:Justin Readman, Interim Executive Director Infrastructure Services Department Attach: AppendixAΑZellerDriveCyclingDesignProposal *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. 10 - 5 AppendixA ZellerDriveCyclingDesignProposal BetweenWildMeadowStreetandPebblecreekDrive BetweenWildMeadowStreetandLacknerBoulevard *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. 10 - 6