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HomeMy WebLinkAboutKCTAC Minutes - 2019-03-12 KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 12, 2019 The Kitchener Cycling and Trails Advisory Committee met on Tuesday March 12, 2019, at 4:00 pm in the Conestoga Room. Present: Mr. D. Brotherston, Mr. M. Clark, Mr. B. Forwell, Ms. N. Gursov, Ms. V. Hand, Mr. T. Hannah, Mr. D. Hoshowsky, Ms. S. Powell, Mr. M. Rodrigues, Ms. E. Slofstra, Mr. W. Waganka Staff: Mr. D. Kropf, Active Transportation Planning Project Manager Mr. D. Pimentel, Active Transportation Planning Project Manager Ms. L. Christensen, Multi-Use Pathways & Trails Project Manager Mr. A. McCrimmon-Jones, Manager Transportation Planning Ms. F. Hosseini, Transportation Planning Project Manager 1. 11th Annual Ontario Bike Summit  Mr. M. Rodrigues welcomed two (2) members of the committee who were not at the first meeting in January. Staff and committee members went around the room and introduced themselves.  Mr. D. Pimentel provided an overview of the Ontario Bike Summit including displaying the draft agenda for the event. The ticket for the committee member would include the full event and bike ride, if the member is able to attend.  Four (4) committee members indicated their desire to attend; names were written on a piece of paper and one ballot was selected.  Mr. M. Rodrigues was selected as the committee member to attend. 2. Trails and Mobility Devices  Mr. W. Waganka referred to an article from Streetsblog USA that was titled: “Meet the Cincinnati Wheelchair User Struck Three Times by Drivers”.  The article spoke about the challenges a person with a disability may experience and identified that this specific individual was struck multiple times by vehicles; it was noted that each time the drivers claimed they could not see the individual in their wheelchair. This individual determined that attaching an antenna with an orange flag to their wheelchair, allowed drivers to see him when travelling.  Mr. W. Waganka wanted to ensure that the committee is considering accessibility around trails and to always try and get the perspective of person who is not able bodied  Consideration should always be given to accessibility on our trails; blind, deaf, seniors, mental illness etc when utilizing a trail  In addition, ideas and/or suggestions to enhance the trails to make the more accessible to everyone is welcome, as well as identifying rules or laws that apply to accessibility on the trail system  Committee members noted some concerns that they have experienced with accessing some trails due to lack of winter maintenance and/or how winter maintenance id conducted across the City of Kitchener KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 12, 2019  Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act was noted as standards that municipalities must adhere to  Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee speaks to issues/concerns around accessibility within the Region  It was noted that sidewalks are a separate discussion from the trail system when it comes to maintenance - unless it is a multi-use pathway 3. Iron Horse Trail Update  Ms. L. Christensen made a presentation to the committee on the update to the Iron Horse Trail  The construction of the Iron Horse Trail at the border between Waterllo/Kitchener will match what Waterloo has already completed. There were some ponding concerns where the trails had previously met  Staff will need to get some additional information for the committee on what road crossings will be part of the project as well as how far lighting will extend. Road crossings were presented as a recent public information center regarding the construction of the Iron Horse Trail 4. Cycling Projects Approved in 2019 Budget  Ms. F. Hosseini provided a presentation to the committee with some background information on what was presented and approved by Council at budget discussion o Water St - separated cycling facilities from Joseph St to King St o Queens Blvd - separated cycling facilities from Westheights Dr to Belmont Ave o Belmont Ave - separated cycling facilities from Queens Blvd to Glasgow St o Dutch roundabout - Huron Rd @ Strasburg Rd  The separated cycling facilities will use a combination of flexible bollards/posts and bumper blocks; parking protected bike lanes will also be explored in some sections  Pedestrian cross-walks (potentially combined with bike cross-overs) and refuge islands will be explored at main trail crossings  There will be an Open House to present the plan and design to the public o May 29 3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Victoria Park Pavilion  Questions and discussion occurred after the presentation  Belmont Ave will be completed prior to the construction on the Iron Horse Trail. It is intended to serve as the detour  Belmont Ave between Queens Blvd and Highland Rd will not be separated with any physical elements. They will be painted bike lanes (not a sharrow) due to space constraints.  3.0m will be the minimum width of the two-way left turn lane KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 12, 2019  1.8m will be the minimum width of the separated bike lanes to accommodate maintenance vehicles  All existing paint will be removed and new paint placed for pavement marking changes. Staff will do their best to ensure ruts are not present where old paint was removed  The dutch roundabout will include a car pocket, but only for one (1) vehicle  Bike lanes will not be coloured but bike boxes will be used along sections, which will be coloured green  Design for the dutch roundabout is still be completed and consideration will be given to maintaining a level surface for cyclists (through the islands and not going over curbs) and the geometry of the entry/exit of the roundabout to reduce speed of vehicles  Through the Iron Horse Trail reconstruction there will be a 3.0m multi-use trail constructed on Glasgow St from the Iron Horse Trail to the intersection of Belmont/Glasgow, including intersection modifications to accommodate cyclists.  Gaps may need to be left to accommodate transit service and stops. Additional work will be completed to determine the best way to make the bike lanes integrate with the bus stop. Consideration may be given to testing out floating bus bays; City of Winnipeg has done some work on these as part of their separated bike project  Communication and enforcement of the bike lanes will be critical to the success of the project  Wayfinding is not part of the project and/or scope but will be something to consider at a later time when assessing the budget. This will include cycling/bike route signage  Council has completed approval of the projects but updates may be required in the future.  All projects identified were not included within the existing Cycling Master Plan. City staff identified them as key locations in time for last years budget  Staff will be collecting data throughout the life of the pilot project in order to evaluate the success. Currently conducting manual visual counts and will be installing tubes, once the weather allows, counting cars and bikes  Will also be determining if there is any delay to vehicle traffic. This is still in the works but will use Google to collect this information  Surveys will also be conducted to evaluate user experience in addition to collision analysis along the routes  Bike boxes will be placed at signalized intersections o Committee member suggested to also consider two stage left-turns and incorporating them with the bike boxes. Combining them allows for cyclists to turn left at red and green lights  Staff are looking at ways to incorporate trail crossings into the separated cycling facilities, in addition to queuing of bikes in the bike lanes  Cyclists will not have the right-of-way at the dutch roundabout, due to the Highway Traffic Act. However staff are working with the OTM Book 18 committee KITCHENER CYCLING AND TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES March 12, 2019 to have this roundabout identified as a pilot location to test out altering right-of- way. Cyclists will be able to ride their bike across the roundabout and not have to dismount.  Staff will be going to Council late in 2019 to identify quick wins for 2020, prior to approval of the Cycling and Trails Master Plan  Due to budget constraints, other types of separation (i.e. planters) are not being considered at this time  Water St - consideration should be given to brining the bike lanes to Weber St to connect to the multi-use trail on Weber  Bike boxes at each end of Water St - staff will investigate if anything can be done in the middle where there is no bike box  Staff will work towards providing a design for the committee in April 5. Cycling and Trails Master Plan Update  Ms. L. Christensen made a presentation to the committee on the update to the Cycling and Trails Master Plan  Two committee members indicated their desire to join the Community Working Group. Mr. T. Hannah was the determined as the rep from the KCTAC.  Key deliverables of the plan will come to the committee for their input and feedback but Mr. T. Hannah will be the main conduit between the Community Working Group and this committee  Staff provided some additional details to the Cycling and Trails Master Plan o previous Cycling Master Plan was approved in 2010 o previous Trails Master Plan was approved in 2012 o Often times projects support eachother but each plan had their priorities that did not align with eachother o this is an opportunity to align the plans and allow for gaps to be connected as well as consider the impacts LRT may have 6. Committee Brainstorming Session - Development of Workplan  Mr. D. Pimentel provided an overview to the committee on how to proceed with this exercise as well as some items previous committees worked on  Two smaller groups were formed where members wrote down their ideas on a sticky note that was placed on some larger easel paper  The two groups shared their notes and were then asked to place dots (each member was given 3) on items they felt the strongest about  Staff will summarize the notes and dots and provide that summary to the committee at next meeting, in hopes of developing a workplan for the group. On a motion by Mr. M. Rodrigues -  it was resolved: “The meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m”