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Home My WebLink About2019-06-27 GRAAC Date: Thursday, June 27, 2019 Location: Conestoga Room, City of Kitchener Present: Brenda Robinson (Co-Chair), Councillor Debbie Chapman (City of Kitchener) Lolita Paroski (City of Kitchener/City of Waterloo) Sanjay Govindaraj (Region of Waterloo), Amy Harron (Township of Wellesley), Rob Bender, Paula Saunders, Trevor Tamlin, Ashley Sage (Township of North Dumfries), Keri Cameron (telephone), Councillor Sandra Hanmer, Donna Hartzler, Janis McKenzie (City of Kitchener), Jeff Smith (Township of Woolwich), Tracey Murray (Township of Wilmot), Greg Moore Regrets: Councillor Sue Foxton (Region of Waterloo), Dawn Clelland Absent: Guests: Chris Hodgson, Gene Cartier (City of Waterloo), Trevor Schmidt, Karen Anderson (City of Waterloo), Geoff VanderBaaren, Danny Roth (Township of Wellesley), Sandy Van Solm (Region of Waterloo) Welcome and Introductions Brenda called the meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. Round table introductions Moment of silence for Sharon Giles 2.0 Approval of April and May Minutes Donna motion to accept April and May minutes, Rob seconded 3.0 Declarations of Pecuniary Interests None 4.0 City of Waterloo Transportation Master Plan, Chris Hodgson, Gene Chartier A transportation master plan is a strategic planning document that defines policies, programs, and infrastructure required to meet master plan includes a vision for transportation, existing system performance, future demand forecasts, as well as, action and policies to address walking, rolling, cycling, road, and transit needs. A transportation master plan does not include minor projects, detailed operational issues, or items not affecting long term direction i.e. road reconstructions, traffic control device changes, and location of new bus stops. Study Objectives 1. Ensure transportation network accessible for all ages and abilities 2. 3. Improve road safety for all users through Complete Streets and Vision Zero principles 4. Support Regional TMP and new ION service 5. Phases of Work and Timing of Deliverables Phase 1 State of the transportation system today, February to August 2019 Phase 2 Moving the system forward, May to November 2019 Phase 3 Future Transportation opportunities, September 2019 to April 2020 Committee Feedback: 1. How has moving around Waterloo changed since the last Transportation Master Plan? (in the last 7-8 years) 2. What if anything concerns you about moving around Waterloo? 3. What prevents you from walking/rolling more? 4. What would make it easier for you to walk/roll more? Lolita to send email with questions to committee. Lolita to pass feedback from the committee to Chris Hodgson via email. 5.0 Waterloo Park West Water Play & 4 Active/Action Parks, Trevor Schmidt, Karen Anderson Water Park West Water Play, Trevor Schmidt side of the park for all ages. Conceptual drawings presented. Site for the new splash pad is sandwiched between other land sources. The vision is not to make it a traditional splash pad but more as a water journey in order to keep it timeless. All surfacing is concrete except at transition points. Nothing greater than a 2.5% slope. Still working on the conception of the washroom building which will include universal washroom with a rough in for an adult change table. Water play to be divided into three zones geared toward ages. Cluster seating, accessible picnic tables, and benches to be included. Questions from the committee: Will you be coming back with concrete plans of the washroom? Yes they will bring back to the committee concrete plans. Lolita has forwarded recommendations for accessible washrooms to Trevor. Colour of pathway transitions? Reach out to CNIB for colour contrasts and guiding strips Maintenance of bushes, tree branches hanging to be kept up so persons with disabilities can travel safely. Albert McCormick Community Centre (New Park) Karen Anderson There is a plan to create an outdoor park in place of an existing parking area at the community centre. Started out as a skateboard park and will now include a water park plaza with jets in it, ½ court for basketball with an adjustable basketball net to allow accessibility, and a surface area for a community gathering space. The space to be safe in the evening. Lighting important. Shade shelters to be brought into the space. Would like to come back to GRAAC in September with a site plan. Would like to build it next year, today presenting images and design principles. Design Principles Inclusive space where everyone feels welcome Diversity theme for the new park Gathering opportunities for the community Barrier free surfaces Enhanced pathways that connect Comfortable seating with shade Strengthened connection to the Branch Library Amenities for all ages High-contrast surfaces, logical spaces, wayfinding Buffering from skateboards and basketballs Lighting as a feature element and for night safety CPTED principles throughout Accessible opportunity within each play element Questions/Comments 1. Is there an opportunity for winter play? Looking into opportunities 2. Interlocking stones are not accessible. Flat concrete is accessible for all and is the only surface that is barrier free. 6.0 Built Environment Sub-Committee Update - Paula Saunders 1) Kitchener Market Mural Paula shared drawings of the location with the committee. It is to be fifteen feet by thirty feet and located at least six feet away from doorways and stairs. A clear (1500 mm) path of travel around the mural to the front doors. Only four primary colours chosen, which follows the recommendations set by GRAAC for painted crosswalks. 2) Painted Sidewalks Paula shared that City of Kitchener and City of Waterloo staff are inquiring regarding accessibility recommendations for painted sidewalk projects. City of Kitchener staff provided sketches to GRAAC of possible drawings on a sidewalk/trail located in between two apartment buildings used as a short cut to a main street. A project through Love my Hood and lead by a resident neighbourhood group. City of Waterloo does not have projects initiated by neighbourhood groups yet. Currently staff is working on a tool kit for resident led projects and would like to include accessibility recommendations. Waterloo staff sent photos to share with GRAAC of painted Waterloo sidewalks that have in bright yellow text and images (Region of the sidewalk. Paula shared that Lolita contacted the CNIB and spoke to an orientation and mobility specialist. Learned that a fully painted sidewalk will cause confusion for persons with low vision as are constantly looking down when walking. The Orientation and Mobility Specialist suggested to have ½ of the sidewalk with no markings used as a clear path of travel. A bright yellow line (directional) painted to divide the painted side and the clear side. This bright yellow line will act as a guiding strip for a person with low vision. Comments from the committee; - The ½ clear path of travel will allow a person using a mobility device to travel the sidewalk without asking children to move while they play on the painted side of the sidewalk. - Comment made that if text used to choose inclusive words. For example; use the a child using a mobility device. - (lengthwise) and have a bright yellow painted to divide the clear path from the painted path. - ACTION: Paula and Lolita to work on a draft recommendations sheet for painted sidewalks over the summer. Paula to bring to GRAAC for review in Fall 2019. 3) Idelwood Creek Trail and Canoe launch Paula and Lolita met City of Kitchener staff on site at Idelwood Creek renovated trail and future canoe launch location. Trail = this project never came to GRAAC for consultation. Staff took Paula and Lolita on the trail. Paula commented that the slope looks a little steep when entering the trail, staff confirmed that it is under the 10% max. There are some points during the trail that exceed the 10% max due to no land to do a switch back. Paula commented that the trail head signage will need to indicate steep slope as per Design Of Public Spaces legislation. Canoe Launch = site plans were shared with Paula and Lolita of this future canoe launch. No construction yet and hoping to start in Fall 2019. One section of the path leading to the launch is at a 12 % slope. Paula asked staff to take this back to Stantec to ask to rework to get to 10% or less as that is what is legislated. Signage needed for the slope so that a person knows how steep the slope is. Break 15 minutes 7.0 Township of Wellesley Multi-Use Trail, Geoff VanderBaaren, Danny Roth Three years ago township purchased thirty acres of land with the long term to develop this property into a town park. First phase is to build trails on this land. Proposing to put in an entrance and a small parking area. This is just a small start to getting residents on the property. Approximately 300 metres long (1000 feet). Fully accessible, mulch type trail that most people can use but understand that potentially not all people with mobility issues can access. Questions/Suggestions Any grade issues Reasonably flat with no significant grade change. Engineers will be getting back with a grade plan Clarification on parking area, how many cars? Twenty eight designates accessible spots closest to the trail. Will there be benches? A lot of the details have not been finalized. Benches to be included. There should be a space around the benches for a wheelchair Lolita will send Amy and all the other township staff representatives the GRAAC Recreational Trails accessibility document. 8.0 Region of Waterloo Emergency Alert, Sandy Van Solm Alert waterloo region was implemented in March of this year. This is an emergency notification System. This is a self-registry that the user would need to sign up for it via phone/email/text Form to subscribe can be found online www.alertwr.ca. Signing up using email or text is a much faster way to get warnings rather than phone numbers. Question from the committee How do we get the word out for more people to sign up? Social media campaigns, newspaper articles etc. 9.0 Active Transportation committee, Brenda Robinson Sanjay spoke with the committee about AODA and the committee would be interested in similar training. Accessible Taxi, Donna Hartzler No update 10.0 Councillor Reports Councillor Debbie Chapman (City of Kitchener) Kitchener city council along with other municipalities have declared a climate emergency Which means any council decisions moving forward will need to be made with that in front of mind. Kitchener City council on break until the fall. Councillor Sandra Hanmer (City of Waterloo) City of Waterloo plan strategic plan has been approved. The focus of the plan are accessibility and taking down barriers around equity and inclusiveness. Please fill out the online surveys regarding all the projects talked about in the meeting today. Another skateboard park is in development Iron Horse trail now under construction and there will be road closures. 11.0 Co-chair/Staff Rep Reports Brenda attended the ION opening and enjoyed the experience except there was no place to sit with her and her walker. Greg was chosen as one of twelve citizens on the Roundtable Committee. Low income housing was talked about at the first meeting and Greg made mention that accessible lower income housing is even harder to get than simply low cost housing. No updates from Wilmot No updates from Woolwich No updates from North Dumfries No Updates from Wellesley Region of Waterloo Sanjay shared with the committee that support from GRAAC helped identify and reduce the number of accessibility issues. However now that the trains are running we have received a number of complaints that we are tracking and working towards rectifying. Given the scale of this project this was anticipated. , Greg Moore and Jolene MacDonald will represent on behalf of GRAAC. Motion to adjourn by Paula, seconded by Donna and carried. Next meeting will be on Thursday September 26, 2019 City of Kitchener, 200 King St West, Conestoga Room Please send regrets to: Janis McKenzie at janis.mckenzie@kitchener.ca or call 519-741-2200 Ext. 7225