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Home My WebLink About2020-10-22 GRAAC GRAND RIVER ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY GRAACCOMMITTEE Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee Date: Thursday, October 22, 2020 Location: Zoom Meeting Present: Donna Hartzler, Janis McKenzie (City of Kitchener), Dawn Clelland (Co-Chair), Carrie Speers, Councillor Sandra Hanmer (City of Waterloo), Heather Clark-Harris, Tracey Murray (Township of Wilmot), Rob Bender, Jeff Smith (Township of Woolwich), Trevor Tamlin, Andrena Lockley-Brown, , Ashley Sage (Township of North Dumfries), Amy Harron (Township of Wellesley), LoriAnn Palubeski, (City of Kitchener/City of Waterloo), Brenda Robinson (Co-Chair), Councillor Debbie Chapman (City of Kitchener), Greg Moore, Berny Wesselink, Jolene MacDonald, Sanjay Govindaraj (Region of Waterloo), Mamie Sealey-Baker, Councillor Sue Foxton (Region of Waterloo), Regrets Lolita Paroski (City of Kitchener/City of Waterloo), Paula Saunders, Tamara Bell, 1. Welcome and Introductions 2. Approval of September minutes and October Agenda Berny motioned to approve September minutes. Carrie seconded. All in favour. Donna motioned to approve the October agenda. Andrena seconded. All in favour. 3. Declarations of Pecuniary Interests None 4. Zoom Meeting Housekeeping Protocol set out to the committee regarding Zoom meetings. 5. Downtown Cycling Grid, Darren Kropf, Active Transportation The City of Kitchener's strategic plan includes the construction of a continuous and protected cycling network that connects adjacent neighbourhoods to the downtown. Following consultation of more than 4,000 people, the grid is designed to target all ages and abilities of people who would like to bike more often but currently don't due to safety concerns. The grid connects to popular trails like the Spur Line Trail, Iron Horse Trail and the Great Trail, providing a new, safe and convenient way for people on bikes to access all that downtown has to offer. Comments/Feedback • Shared trail with bikes and people — bushes should be at least a foot away from the trail giving lots of operating space around the trail. • Speed limits for bikes on mixed trails is an issue especially E-bike are a concern, city bylaws will apply. • How does one find and get to a floating bus stop if they are a person with a visual disability? This will need to be reviewed with GRT. Tactile Guide strips could be useful in this case. • Cyclists need to be trained on how to use the trail. Recommend a Cyclist Education Campaign. • How far up Cedar street will the trail go? Up the hill to Church Street to connect to Joseph Street. • How wide are the lanes? Three metres wide is the minimum, each lane would be 1&1/2 metres wide. 1&1/2 metres does not seem to be wide enough for both pedestrians and bikes. • Seems to favour the cyclist not the walker or those with mobility issues. • ACTION: The committee would like Darren to come back to the committee for resolution. Feedback can still be done online. Link to be sent via email to the committee. Break (15 mins) 6. Laurel Greenway Feasibility Study, John Griffin Tabled until November 7. Service Animal Fare Card, Sandy Roberts Tabled until November 8. Wayfinding —Grand River Transit's Light Rail Transit Stations, Kevan Marshall, Dr. John Lewis (Region of Waterloo, 25 minutes) in collaboration with GRT and the University of Waterloo to audit various Light Rail Transit Stations. Fairway Station to be addressed during phase 1 due to issues with persons having visual disabilities. Blockline and Northfield stations to be audited in the future as well. Timeline would be a six-day commitment from January to June. Paula to be appraised of the situation as Built Environment Chair. The committee recommended that the staff working group review the intensive audits that were already completed by GRAAC for the ION stations. ACTION: Berny and Carrie would be interested in getting involved. Kevin to send an email to the committee with details. Sanjay to follow up with Paula and share the completed Audit report to Kevan 9. Committee updates (15 mins) • Built Environment — Paula o McKay Crescent —staff looking for feedback on the installation of a sidewalk. The concept was supported by Build Environment as long as the sidewalk meets all regulatory and legislative requirements. ACTION: Engagement survey link to be sent via email to the committee. o Longfellow Street in the City of Waterloo sidewalk installation. Residents are opposing the installation of sidewalks. As per City of Waterloo's policy, GRAAC strongly recommends the installation of sidewalks on both side of the street to ensure safe and barrier free paths of travel and crossing. Councillor Hanmer will look into when this item is expected at Council and GRAAC will consider registering as a delegation if required. ACTION: Engagement survey link to be sent via email to the committee and staff to report back with further project details. • Mayor's Task force Equity diversity & Inclusion - Brenda Robinson o Divided into working groups o Identifying the work and goals for each subcommittee o Paid staff has been approved by Council to further the work of the committee • Active Transportation — Dawn o GRT starting transit rides to Breslau on a call-in basis only o Any feedback from the committee regarding transportation pass onto Dawn to take back to the committee 10. Councillor Reports (10 mins) Councillor Sandra Hanmer (City of Waterloo) No report Councillor Sue Foxton (Region of Waterloo) No report Councillor Debbie Chapman (City of Kitchener) A report was approved by Council that advances the City's work on equity, anti-racism and Indigenous initiatives, as well as other social justice issues (e.g. homelessness), through the creation of a dedicated staff team which will provide senior level leadership and internal staff expertise in these areas. ACTION: Report will be sent to the committee via email. Mayor Berry Vrbanovic surprised the committee +n to say thank you for all their hard work. 11. Co-chair/Staff Reports Jeff Smith(Woolwich Township) • Accessible website coming in January 2021 • Capital budgets Sanjay Govindaraj (Region of Waterloo) • Accessible websites being updated • Staff training modules to be updated • Anti-Racism and Inclusion hiring strategies to be looked at for staff • ASL can be utilized in Zoom should it be necessary Ashley Sage (Township of North Dumfries) • Accessible websites LoriAnn Palubeski (City of Kitchener/City of Waterloo) • Lolita may not be back until December • GRAAC application deadline extended to October 30, 2020 • Clerks has stated any GRAAC terms ending December 31, 2020 can be extended one more year due to the pandemic. Dawn Clelland (Co-Chair) Outdoor installation of tactile guide strips to take people to the bathrooms being installed in Waterloo... The committee discussed the use of Zoom for meetings. While it was agreed that members do miss in person connections, the tool is working well. Indicating you wish to speak continues to be a challenge. Berny motioned to adjourn; Heather seconded. All in favour. Please send regrets to Janis McKenzie — ianis.mckenziep_kitchener.ca Next Regular Meeting —Thursday, November 26, 2020 at 1:30pm, Zoom Meeting