Waterloo Region Connected
Winter Walking and Cycling - Printable Version

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RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - tomh009 - 05-10-2018

The city is listening (well, at least Kitchener):
https://www.therecord.com/news-story/8599119-kitchener-mulls-sidewalk-snow-clearing-test/


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - danbrotherston - 05-10-2018

@tomh009 . That is big news, although the pilot is likely to be limited in scope....2 more years of uncleared sidewalks.

Still, I'm very happy to see progress. City of Waterloo is on notice.


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - tomh009 - 05-10-2018

(05-10-2018, 09:57 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: @tomh009 . That is big news, although the pilot is likely to be limited in scope....2 more years of uncleared sidewalks.

Still, I'm very happy to see progress.  City of Waterloo is on notice.

I realize it will be slow. But slow movement is much, much better than no movement at all.

They recognize the problem, and they accept that they need a solution. That's the first step, isn't it? Wink


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - Pheidippides - 05-12-2018

The new minimum maintenance standards for municipal highways are out.

It looks as if bike lanes are no longer allowed to be used as snow storage. There are new requirements for sidewalks. I don't think MUTs would be covered. So all those new MUTs that have been installed along side roads don’t need to be cleared (as they are not sidewalk, or road, or bicycle lane).


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - danbrotherston - 05-12-2018

(05-12-2018, 08:30 AM)Pheidippides Wrote: The new minimum maintenance standards for municipal highways are out.

It looks as if bike lanes are no longer allowed to be used as snow storage. There are new requirements for sidewalks. I don't think MUTs would be covered. So all those new MUTs that have been installed along side roads don’t need to be cleared (as they are not sidewalk, or road, or bicycle lane).

To be honest, I don't expect any change WRT bike lanes.  The city already claims that they plow bike lanes, even though they in no way do.  But between the narrow width of many bike lanes, potholes and other surface issues, it really is pretty impractical to plow them.  I think cities will continue to "pretend" like they do, without making any actual changes.


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - Pheidippides - 05-12-2018

I think the municipality would have to declare and sign the bicycle lanes as officially closed to avoid being held accountable/liable.

The sidewalk standard is still a bit of a joke, but it is a start:
a) to reduce the snow to a depth less than or equal to 8 centimetres within 48 hours; and
b) to provide a minimum sidewalk width of 1 metre. O. Reg. 366/18, s. 15.

The bicycle lanes standards (note that, for classes 1,2,3 the time to clear is double the amount allowed for the motor vehicle lane):
Adjacent/on Class 1 roads 2.5 cm accumulation cleared within 8 hours
Adjacent/on Class 2 roads 5.0 cm accumulation cleared within 12 hours
Adjacent/on Class 3 roads 8.0 cm accumulation cleared within 24 hours
Adjacent/on Class 4 roads 8.0 cm accumulation cleared within 24 hours
Adjacent/on Class 5 roads 10.0 cm accumulation cleared within 24 hours


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - Pheidippides - 06-08-2018

The city of Kitchener's report on winter sidewalk maintenance is now available.
   


Component A:
   

Component B:
   

Component C:
   

Component D:
   

Component E:
Grants and partnerships

Have I mentioned how much I dislike Kitchener's new council agenda format? Impossible to get text to copy and paste properly.


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - danbrotherston - 06-08-2018

(06-08-2018, 10:37 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: The city of Kitchener's report on winter sidewalk maintenance is now available.



Component A:


Component B:


Component C:


Component D:


Component E:
Grants and partnerships

Have I mentioned how much I dislike Kitchener's new council agenda format? Impossible to get text to copy and paste properly.

None of these seem to make any distinction between minor routes and major routes. 

This is one of the biggest key points I see missing from the current program, is that there isn't a prioritization of routes.  Sidewalk plows should be out on major pedestrian routes and bus routes during the storm, then cover the minor streets--just like we do for road plowing.


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - Pheidippides - 06-09-2018

Still clinging to this metric:
   

The next steps:
   


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - danbrotherston - 06-18-2018

This is going to Committee today,

Frankly, I'm not that excited about it.

After a second read through, I now see two problems.

First, as I said, there doesn't seem to be any prioritization of snow clearing on major routes vs. side streets.

Second, and this is surprising, all of these seem to be seeking to achieve the LOS guaranteed by the existing bylaw, which is, to put it honestly, trash.

Am I reading this wrong?


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - panamaniac - 06-18-2018

(06-18-2018, 09:42 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: This is going to Committee today,

Frankly, I'm not that excited about it.

After a second read through, I now see two problems.

First, as I said, there doesn't seem to be any prioritization of snow clearing on major routes vs. side streets.

Second, and this is surprising, all of these seem to be seeking to achieve the LOS guaranteed by the existing bylaw, which is, to put it honestly, trash.


Am I reading this wrong?

I believe that you are correct on both counts.  Re the first, however, the lack of prioritization seems logical (from a bureaucratic point of view) if the idea is to eventually implement 100% coverage - they need to gather data on all types/locations of sidewalks to provide a basis for full implementation.

My concern, identified by the City, is the increase in salt usage that will result from this.


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - danbrotherston - 06-18-2018

(06-18-2018, 10:19 AM)panamaniac Wrote:
(06-18-2018, 09:42 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: This is going to Committee today,

Frankly, I'm not that excited about it.

After a second read through, I now see two problems.

First, as I said, there doesn't seem to be any prioritization of snow clearing on major routes vs. side streets.

Second, and this is surprising, all of these seem to be seeking to achieve the LOS guaranteed by the existing bylaw, which is, to put it honestly, trash.


Am I reading this wrong?

I believe that you are correct on both counts.  Re the first, however, the lack of prioritization seems logical (from a bureaucratic point of view) if the idea is to eventually implement 100% coverage - they need to gather data on all types/locations of sidewalks to provide a basis for full implementation.

My concern, identified by the City, is the increase in salt usage that will result from this.

For prioritization, you bring up a good point, they could also do a study where only major, and/or curb faced sidewalks are cleared, they aren't doing that.

But I actually meant simply that major routes should be cleared with a higher priority, instead of apparently equally here, not in lieu of 100% clearing--basically implement the same clearing policy for sidewalks, as they already do for roads (I mean, how complicated is that?)

This is important because one key questions to be answered here is how people respond to it.  If they aren't prioritizing, people are going to be less happy with the service.


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - MidTowner - 06-18-2018

(06-18-2018, 10:19 AM)panamaniac Wrote: I believe that you are correct on both counts.  Re the first, however, the lack of prioritization seems logical (from a bureaucratic point of view) if the idea is to eventually implement 100% coverage - they need to gather data on all types/locations of sidewalks to provide a basis for full implementation.

My concern, identified by the City, is the increase in salt usage that will result from this.

How much salt could possibly be used in comparison with what's used on the roads? Logically, it would only be a small fraction. When it's brought up by the City and others, it seems like a red herring. Yes, reducing salt usage should be a consideration. Should it be the primary consideration? It obviously hasn't been in practice when it comes to keeping roads and parking lots clear.


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - danbrotherston - 06-18-2018

(06-18-2018, 12:58 PM)MidTowner Wrote:
(06-18-2018, 10:19 AM)panamaniac Wrote: I believe that you are correct on both counts.  Re the first, however, the lack of prioritization seems logical (from a bureaucratic point of view) if the idea is to eventually implement 100% coverage - they need to gather data on all types/locations of sidewalks to provide a basis for full implementation.

My concern, identified by the City, is the increase in salt usage that will result from this.

How much salt could possibly be used in comparison with what's used on the roads? Logically, it would only be a small fraction. When it's brought up by the City and others, it seems like a red herring. Yes, reducing salt usage should be a consideration. Should it be the primary consideration? It obviously hasn't been in practice when it comes to keeping roads and parking lots clear.

Moreover, property owners may already salt the sidewalks, it's entirely possible that the city doing it more consistently would reduce salt usage, but it's pretty hard to know for sure.


RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - timc - 06-18-2018

I find it very difficult to keep the sidewalk cleared down to bare concrete without using salt.