Waterloo Region Connected
Cycling in Waterloo Region - Printable Version

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RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 12-04-2017

City of Waterloo says:

Quote:Our bylaw officers typically deal with any non-moving vehicle enforcement (ie, parked cars). We're waiting to hear back from our bylaw director as to how we're going to proceed with King St until the lanes are better marked. Stay tuned

This is not really a decision that needs to be made. There is no choice, and this isn’t up to bylaw to decide. They’re bike lanes. They’re ours.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Viewfromthe42 - 12-04-2017

I mean, Waterloo sets a great precedent with how they deal with people using painted lanes as parking, or leaf/snow dumping grounds elsewhere in the city, so I'm sure this won't have any issue being corrected.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 12-04-2017

(12-04-2017, 03:04 PM)Coke6pk Wrote: dan, while I get your passion, I fully side with s.31.

If there is a double wide parking space, why can't I park in it?  I don't know the city plans on coming next week and installing a Disabled Persons sign and painting the spot blue.  Would it be fair for someone to vandalize my car for that reason?  

Two wrongs don't make a right....

Maybe read my follow up response, I interpreted S.31s statement differently than he intended it.

Quote:I assumed he was suggesting cyclists have a bad attitude (i.e., are upset about things/don't follow the rules) because they have to deal with things like this.  I literally argued with a bike lane parker, told him, he was endangering my life, said he didn't care, so I decided to call the police, and he moved off, a $25 ticket holds more sway than my safety = bad attitude.

That's what I took his response to be, and that's how I framed my response...but I could be wrong too.

I'm not condoning vandalism, especially not in this case, I didn't think s.31 was referring to that at all.

But I do disagree on one point, this is not an issue of people not knowing, this is an issue of people not caring.  If they bothered to think and look, they'd realize this is not a parking space, and is a bike lane, but they can't even be bothered to do that.  This is the pervasive assumption in our society that everything is for cars.  This can be seen in the vehicles which drive up things which are obviously trails.  Yes, some do it on purpose, but many also do it because they don't even have the concept of a space that isn't for cars.

Generally though, given this start, I have no doubt that the bike lanes won't really be available for use until next spring at the very earliest, which is a crying shame since I'd been hoping to use them to get to work this winter.  I hope signs will have some effect, but given their effectiveness with painted lines, I am not holding my breath.  I did say during the design that using a roll curb would make bike lane parking a problem.  We need barrier curbs...and if that fails, bollards, if that fails, tire destruction devices.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - creative - 12-04-2017

To those trying to explain something or show in any way another side, save your time and move onto another thread. You are only setting yourself up for a barrage of attacks. I'm a longtime avid cyclists as well but I must be one of the evil ones because I drive a car as well and in no way could understand what it is like to ride on streets. "Cue the barrage of attacks".


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 12-04-2017

I’m an evil one too, we have 2 cars and I’m the only one in our household who drives, and we put on between 50-80,000 km a year. I just happen to need one car for relibility, and another one for fun. Sort of like my 2 bikes. Smile

Just thinking of how the city might spin this; “We haven’t actually designated these as bike lanes yet, as they’re not complete. So, we get to say if cars can park here for now.”


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Pheidippides - 12-04-2017

Do we know what projects these funds might be used for?

Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program (OMCC) Recipients
Cambridge $459,300
Kitchener $865,091
Waterloo $520,573
Waterloo Region (Upper Tier) $2,166,663
Wilmot $107,338


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 12-05-2017

OOOooo, that’s a lot! That could make a lot of new MUT!


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Viewfromthe42 - 12-05-2017

Those monies are for non-cycling projects, effectively, as they are assigned to designated cycling projects already budgeted for, and with the recipients not proposing any unplanned cycling initiatives with the money freed up, the funds effectively go to general revenues or tax cuts.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 12-05-2017

Huh???


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Viewfromthe42 - 12-05-2017

The recipients of those funds budgeted $X for cycling infrastructure as part of normal annual capital expenditures. The province gave them some amount $Y for those projects. The recipients are now spending the same $X on cycling infrastructure, but will take the $Y they received and apply it to something non-cycling-related. I mean, technically they will say that they are now spending $(X-Y) in combination with the province's $Y to create $X of cycling infrastructure, but the $Y will wind up as a net addition elsewhere in the budget, either lowering roadwork maintenance backlogs, or going towards tax increase reductions.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - KevinL - 12-05-2017

So this money, designated for *cycling projects*, can only do so if said project is already budgeted; and the province would rather the money go to something not cycling-related rather than the city budgeting a new cycling initiative? That sounds bizarre.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 12-05-2017

(12-05-2017, 10:09 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: The recipients of those funds budgeted $X for cycling infrastructure as part of normal annual capital expenditures. The province gave them some amount $Y for those projects. The recipients are now spending the same $X on cycling infrastructure, but will take the $Y they received and apply it to something non-cycling-related. I mean, technically they will say that they are now spending $(X-Y) in combination with the province's $Y to create $X of cycling infrastructure, but the $Y will wind up as a net addition elsewhere in the budget, either lowering roadwork maintenance backlogs, or going towards tax increase reductions.

This is probably true in some cases, but in others, our city being a prime example, there was no money budgeted for those projects or it was budgeted very far in the future so we will get more infra sooner here.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Viewfromthe42 - 12-05-2017

Per article in The Record

Quote:For the Region of Waterloo, the funding will help offset the cost of the more than $7 million in cycling infrastructure projects it has planned.

"It's a big help, that's for sure," said Steve van De Keere, director of transportation for the region. "We'll be able to use $2 million worth of funds that we would have allocated to this project, to other projects in the capital program."

...

Kitchener projects include more bike racks and separated bike lanes, but Pimentel said the city will have to go through the list again and potentially revise some projects in light of the funding received.

For the City of Waterloo, which sees many students use its cycling infrastructure, the funding will be used to increase bike share stations, add more bike racks, and improve and add cycling trails, said Phil Hewitson, the city's manager of active transportation and LRT.

So depending on the level of government, and how much you believe, some amount between $0 and less than the full amount of money will actually be added to programs for cycling infrastructure.


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 12-05-2017

Waitwaitwait. “increase bike share stations”

Please tell me we are not dumping more money into that useless “system” we pretend has more than 52 members? Why are we not investing in a system that works for everyone, like SoBi?


RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - MidTowner - 12-05-2017

I still don't see that as being incremental. The work was planned in absence of that funding. The province SHOULD require the money be spent on projects that otherwise would not have proceeded.

The City could argue that the timeline was accelerated, but that's not a very strong argument. It could also argue that it had planned on those projects on paper, but wasn't actually going to do them. I don't know what you would call that.