Cycling in Waterloo Region - Printable Version +- Waterloo Region Connected (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com) +-- Forum: Waterloo Region Works (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=14) +--- Forum: Transportation and Infrastructure (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=25) +--- Thread: Cycling in Waterloo Region (/showthread.php?tid=186) Pages:
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RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ac3r - 01-28-2024 You guys will like this one. Waterloo residents take aim at bicycle lanes, climate funding in budget survey: https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/waterloo-residents-take-aim-at-bicycle-lanes-climate-funding-in-budget-survey/article_97571c43-f7c7-5142-b176-62c06cbdb57a.html RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - bravado - 01-28-2024 There's nothing more delightfully municipal than 443 random cranks in a poll getting a local news headline RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - cherrypark - 01-29-2024 "The survey has no margin of error as it does not rely on a statistically valid representative sample" - yet still more datapoints than the average Outhit piece. Interestingly I think that people's personal vehicles are "unnecessary, underutilized and a waste of property taxes income" and yet they continue to own 2-3 per household and pay for an inefficiently large amount of linear infrastructure to use them... RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ijmorlan - 01-29-2024 (01-29-2024, 10:47 AM)cherrypark Wrote: "The survey has no margin of error as it does not rely on a statistically valid representative sample" - yet still more datapoints than the average Outhit piece. Yes, it’s completely asinine to complain about property taxes spent on bike lanes when we spend so much on space for motor vehicles to drive. You could probably fund a better bike network than any active transportation group has ever proposed by just value engineering road construction: only build 4 lanes where truly justified by the traffic, build neighbourhood streets narrower, etc. Drivers wouldn’t even have to notice the difference. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ac3r - 02-05-2024 Waterloo's bike lanes finally see some use: https://www.instagram.com/waterloowildin/p/C2-dND8JdM1/ RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Acitta - 02-06-2024 CTV: Cyclist dead after crash in Kitchener RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Bytor - 02-07-2024 (02-05-2024, 08:11 PM)ac3r Wrote: Waterloo's bike lanes finally see some use: https://www.instagram.com/waterloowildin/p/C2-dND8JdM1/ Because the bike counter a few blocks south is still a zero since installation, and most especially doesn't show any winter riders, ever. Why always the shameless misinformation with you on bike lanes and transit? RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ac3r - 02-07-2024 I just think it's funny to troll sometimes. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - the_conestoga_guy - 03-15-2024 It appears that the active transportation expansion for Duke Street in DTK is no longer going being recommended by council (page 18 of link below). Staff are instead recommending separate facilities between Victoria and Water that would provide a connection between the Water St facilities and the future underpass at the new transit hub. https://pub-regionofwaterloo.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=7153 Quote:Having some progress is certainly better than none, but I hope our planners are taking this as an opportunity to evaluate other options to move people safely through this area. I hope that this can be used as a chance to advocate for finally closing King St through downtown to cars so that the local residents have a safe space to move through their neighbourhood. I know it's an unpopular idea politically for suburbanites who don't want their Uber Eats drivers to lose access to parking in front of restaurants, but I think it's an idea worth exploring sometime in the next 10 years. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 03-15-2024 (03-15-2024, 10:54 AM)the_conestoga_guy Wrote: It appears that the active transportation expansion for Duke Street in DTK is no longer going being recommended by council (page 18 of link below). Staff are instead recommending separate facilities between Victoria and Water that would provide a connection between the Water St facilities and the future underpass at the new transit hub. I mean, I called this... They had better also recommend removing the word "network" from the name. I know I'm an absolutely cynical asshole, but there is zero chance there will be a cycling connection in this area in the next 10 years. Duke is out (despite there being enough room, but the idea of running busses on the LRT ROW is something they're unwilling to consider) and Weber is obviously out (cars will NEVER be impeded). King is possible, but I'd rather see it become a pedestrian plaza, and while the Dutch can mix bikes and peds, I don't think people in Canada can do that...but either way, I don't see it happening either. So frankly, the downtown cycling grid is effectively dead...and people think people like me leaving are wrong and that there's great hope and progress in North America. Gimme a f***ing break. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - the_conestoga_guy - 03-15-2024 (03-15-2024, 11:01 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:I'm certainly disappointed, but I don't want to let it completely crush my hopes for this city. I don't plan on moving, so the best I can hope for is to continue advocating for a better future for everyone. Progress may feel glacial, especially with the city sprawling faster than it can build active transportation facilities.(03-15-2024, 10:54 AM)the_conestoga_guy Wrote: It appears that the active transportation expansion for Duke Street in DTK is no longer going being recommended by council (page 18 of link below). Staff are instead recommending separate facilities between Victoria and Water that would provide a connection between the Water St facilities and the future underpass at the new transit hub. KW is lucky to be insulated from most of the effects of climate change, so it's harder to push for real progress on climate-resilient infrastructure here. Obviously compared to the Netherlands, where they're basically sinking into the sea, the political climate is very different. I actually think this is something that differs between departments within the City and Region, which reflects terribly on upper leadership. On one hand, we're permitting sprawl and everything that comes with that. But on the other hand, the city is spending ten of millions to make Region infrastructure resilient to the increased flood risks along GRCA areas. It just feels like we're lacking real leadership overall, not just with bike lanes. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 03-15-2024 (03-15-2024, 03:59 PM)the_conestoga_guy Wrote:(03-15-2024, 11:01 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: I mean, I called this...I'm certainly disappointed, but I don't want to let it completely crush my hopes for this city. I don't plan on moving, so the best I can hope for is to continue advocating for a better future for everyone. Progress may feel glacial, especially with the city sprawling faster than it can build active transportation facilities. I'm definitely not saying everyone must or even should move. I stayed and advocated for a decade and a half. But we change and our lives progress. Leaving aside advocacy burnout...I also had a daughter, and I want her to grow up with certain freedoms and safety which are unavailable in Kitchener (or basically all of Canada for that matter). That was a large part of why we decided to move. But the downtown grid was the one thing that made me feel as though transformative change might be possible. Even then, it would be a generation before the city is meaningfully transformed. As for climate change risk, yeah, the Dutch have a few serious threats...the rising sea levels are definitely one, but that's something they know how to deal with. IMO the much bigger threat is the cessation of the AMOC...which could transform our climate from balmy and rainy to the frozen tundra of Northern Ontario. It would be absolutely devastating, agriculture is like our biggest export. I really don't think there's any preparing for that...or that such preparations are even possible. For Waterloo, you guys are pretty well isolated...the worst thing that will happen will be vastly more freezing rain...which is like...no big deal. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - KevinL - 03-15-2024 (03-15-2024, 04:59 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: the worst thing that will happen will be vastly more freezing rain...which is like...no big deal. So long as they finally get the Ion working during it... RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - tomh009 - 03-16-2024 (03-15-2024, 04:59 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: As for climate change risk, yeah, the Dutch have a few serious threats...the rising sea levels are definitely one, but that's something they know how to deal with. IMO the much bigger threat is the cessation of the AMOC...which could transform our climate from balmy and rainy to the frozen tundra of Northern Ontario. It would be absolutely devastating, agriculture is like our biggest export. I really don't think there's any preparing for that...or that such preparations are even possible. Indeed, the impact of the end--or reversal--of AMOC (Atlantic Mid-Ocean Current, including the Gulf Stream) would be massive in Europe. Some scientists are predicting this is imminent but the consensus seems to be that it's not likely in the short term. No one really knows for sure whether this will happen, though, or exactly how severe the consequences would be. The Netherlands and the UK would be some of the worst-hit countries, though. |