HomeMy WebLinkAboutINS-20-018 - Winter Maintenance of Gravel Parking Lots and Streets without SidewalksREPORT TO: CommunityandInfrastructureServicesCommittee
DATE OF MEETING:November 2,2020
SUBMITTED BY: NiallLobley, Director- Parks& Cemeteries(519)741-2600 x4518
RoslynLusk, Director– Operations, Roads& Traffic(519)741-2600
x4599
PREPARED BY:Mara Engel, OperationsTechnologist, (519)741-2600x4185
WARD (S) INVOLVED:AllWards
DATE OF REPORT:October 15,2020
REPORT NO.: INS-20-018
SUBJECT: Winter MaintenanceofGravelParking Lots and Streetswithout
Sidewalks
___________________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION: For Information
REPORT:
The City’s winter maintenance program has been extensively reviewed over the past few years
through the Comprehensive Winter Maintenance Review and the Winter Sidewalk Maintenance
Pilot Program Evaluations. In addition to these reviews, staff were requested at the December
11,2019 Council meeting to report back with information on two issues:
winter maintenance of gravel parking lots and,
winter maintenance of streets without sidewalks.
This report provides follow up information on those two items
Winter Maintenance ofGravel Parking Lots
The City has 8 trail head gravel parking lots which historically have not had dedicated resources
to provide winter maintenance. Maintenance provided would occur when resources responsible
for maintaining paved lots at community centers, arenas, operational facilities,and major parks
were available. The winter maintenance was limited to plowing since gravel parking lots cannot
be treated with salt. Freeze point suppressant materials such as salt not only cause the ice to
melt but will also cause the surface gravel to thaw resulting in significant rutting and ponding
water. As a result, these lots could not be relied upon by the public to be cleared of snow and
have traditionally experienced long periods of icy conditions each winter.
Due to lack of dedicated resources, the City has not providedmaintenance of gravel parking lots
for the last twowinter seasons. In the fall of 2019, thegravellots were barricaded to prevent
access, recognizing the risk to users by leaving the parking lot open with no maintenance.
However, in response to a public complaint, at the December 2019 Council meeting, staff were
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requested to remove the barricades and to report back to Council withinformation on winter
maintenance for gravel parking lotsservicing trails.Access was restored to trail head parking
lots and signs were installed at entrance points indicating no winter maintenance, use at own
risk.
In response to the access concern raised, the gravel lots in question were reviewed and
assessed based on size, ownership, purpose, Source Water Protection considerations and
alternate uses. Through this process the lots were separated into 2 categories (Appendix A).
The following is a summary of each categories key assessments and associated winter access
considerations.
Category 1: Trail Access within engineered flood plain
These are typically smaller gravel parking facilities at trail heads with limited parking. They
access gravel surfaced trails along waterways which are not winter maintained. As a result,
they all fall within engineered floodplain limits and have source water protection
considerations. These lots remain accessible through winter with signs stating there is no
winter maintenance and to use at own risk.
Category 2: Trail Access
There are 3 additional parking facilities at trail heads that are not within flood plain limits but do
have source water protection considerations. The trails are accessible but not winter
maintained. Further review of these facilities over coming years, by the Parks Team will occur
to look for opportunities associated with park enhancements, to upgrade the facilities to provide
year-round access to the trail network. While this review is completed it is proposed that these
parking lots remain accessible and not winter maintained. This includes the entrance parking
area at Steckle Woods.
Winter Maintenance of Streets without Sidewalks
In 2018, Ontario Regulation 239 Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways
(MMS) changed to establish standards for winter maintenance of sidewalks. The City of
Kitchener recently evaluated the level of service and city’s involvement related to winter
maintenance of sidewalks through a series of pilots. Through those discussions, another issue
emerged related to determining a level of winter maintenance service that should be provided
on city streets where no sidewalks exist.
In December 2019, Council requested staff to report back with information on winter
maintenance of roads without sidewalks.
The Cityof Kitchener’s winter maintenance program for roads is prioritized based on the MMS.
The MMS usestraffic volumes and speed limit to classify roads from 1 to 5.Road classifications
establish when a municipality must respond based on snow accumulation and icy conditions as
well as the timeframe in which the response must be completed. The City complies with
requirements under the MMS for winter maintenance on roadsthrough three levels of
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prioritization based on vehicularvolumes and other features; such as, whether the road serves
as a bus route, proximity toschools, or the presence ofcurves and/or hills.
The City’s winter maintenance program for roads currently considers vehicular traffic onlyand
not pedestrian traffic. On many city streets there are no sidewalks. These roadwaysmay be
considered a shared transportation network for pedestrians, bikes and vehicles.
Staff evaluated an enhanced service level (from a service level of a Priority3 road to a Priority
2 road) with consideration ofenvironmental impact, financial impact,and ability to achieve the
MMS. Key evaluation outcomes include:
The levels of service established in the MMS for all priorities of roadway exceed the level
of service for sidewalks as defined in the MMS.
Increasing the level of winter maintenance on roadways without sidewalks will have an
estimated overall operatingbudget increase of $430,000 and one-time capital impact of
$840K.
From an environmental standpoint, including roadways without sidewalks into a higher
priority winter maintenance service level would result in an overall annual increase of
approximately 1110 COEquivalent Green House Gas(GHG)Emissions and an
increased annual salt usage on roadways of an estimated 13% or 1,200 tonnes.
In addition, the sidewalk infill policy provides a mechanism to address and prioritize the
installation of sidewalks on roadways that does not currently have this infrastructure. The
following sidewalk infill policy was approved by Council in May 2015: “In order to address
concerns related to sidewalk infill, staff have developed a sidewalkinfill policy that identifies
processes and establishes a priority ranking system. Theprimary goal in the development of this
policy is to improve the sidewalk infill process asa whole, while creating a sustainable and
accessible transportation network within theCity of Kitchener.”
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
The information provided in thisreport supports the achievement of the city’s strategic vision
through the delivery of core service.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM – This report has been posted to the City’s website with the agenda in advance of the
council / committee meeting.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Denise McGoldrick, –General Manager, Infrastructure Services
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AppendixAGravelParkingLots
Available
TotalArea
ParkingOwnershipAlternateParking
sq.m.
SiteAddressSpecialConsiderations
Spaces
CATEGORY1TRAILACCESS(trailnotwintermaintained)WITHINENGINEEREDFLOODPLAIN
KolbPark235CentennialCrt.CityofKitchenerWithinGRCAEngineeredRegulationFloodplainlimit.OnCuldesac,centennial
5005to8
SourceWaterProtectionWHPA,IntrinsicVulnerabiltiy(L)court
M.RGood650OtterbeinRd.RegionofWaterlooWithinGRCAEngineeredRegulationFloodplainlimit.OnRoad,OtterbeinRd.
70010to15
SourceWaterProtectionWHPA,IntrinsicVulnerabiltiy(L)
LancasterBusiness508RiverbendDrCityofKitchenerWithinGRCAEngineeredRegulationFloodplainlimit.None
90015to20
Greenway(adjacentto)SourceWaterProtectionWHPA,IntrinsicVulnerabilty(L)
SchneiderPark3595KingSt.ECityofKitchenerWithinGRCAEngineeredRegulationFloodplainlimit.None
80010to15
SourceWaterProtectionIntrinsicVulnerabiltiy(M)
StanleyParkOptimists2500ShirleyDrCityofKitchenerWithinGRCAEngineeredRegulationFloodplainlimit.None
90015to20
NaturalAreaSourceWaterProtectionWHPA,IntrinsicVulnerabiltiy
MargueriteOrmston2200HomerWatsonBlvdRegionofWaterlooWithinGRCAEngineeredRegulationFloodplainlimit.Noalternativeparking.
1,80030to40
(acrossfrom)SourceWaterProtectionIntrinsicVulnerabiltiy(M)
CATEGORY2TRAILACCESS(trailnotwintermaintained)
KuntzPark290LookoutLaneCityofKitchenerUsedasturnaroundforroadplow.OnRoad,JosephSchoerg
1,00015to20
SourceWaterProtectionSGRA(4),IntrinsicVulerabilityCres.
SteckleWoodsBleamsRdEntranceLotCityofKitchenerSourceWaterProtectionWHPA(6),IntrinsicVulderabiltyNone
2505
(M)
SteckleWoodsBleamsRdSecondaryLotCityofKitchenerSourceWaterProtectionWHPA(4),IntrinsicVulderabiltyNone
1,20010to15
(M)
Notes:
Totalareaincludes
accessdrives.
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