Cycling in Waterloo Region

[danbrotherston]

That being said, I don't think the time consuming part is construction. Downtown grid took years of advocacy and planning and public consultation and work. And the delays in construction were largely to do with resistance to the work being done

My hope is that we've built enough infrastructure now that the city has largely established a preferred design, and that the back-and-forth for public consultation largely disappears for projects that are straight-forward. For example, there are new separated bike lanes planned for East Ave between Frederick and Krug next year to replace the current painted lanes, and the full designs are posted on EngageKitchener, but there was no explicit community input sessions for this reconstruction. They have made it possible for people to reach out about the project, but they really aren't asking for input - the design has been chosen and the work is getting done. It's just outside the bounds of the downtown grid (the neighbourhood bikeway on Chapel is part of the grid, which will connect with the East Ave lanes), so wouldn't have been involved in that planning process.

I am not sure what criteria they use to decide when a public consultation is needed.

In the East Ave. case there is already some right of way and buffer space that can add protection without moving any painted lines (that was an...intense...public consultation where those lanes were discussed). I suspect that a public consultation would still be required any time lanes are reconfigured.

[danbrotherston]

My hope is that we've built enough infrastructure now that the city has largely established a preferred design, and that the back-and-forth for public consultation largely disappears for projects that are straight-forward. For example, there are new separated bike lanes planned for East Ave between Frederick and Krug next year to replace the current painted lanes, and the full designs are posted on EngageKitchener, but there was no explicit community input sessions for this reconstruction. They have made it possible for people to reach out about the project, but they really aren't asking for input - the design has been chosen and the work is getting done. It's just outside the bounds of the downtown grid (the neighbourhood bikeway on Chapel is part of the grid, which will connect with the East Ave lanes), so wouldn't have been involved in that planning process.

I am not sure what criteria they use to decide when a public consultation is needed.

In the East Ave. case there is already some right of way and buffer space that can add protection without moving any painted lines (that was an...intense...public consultation where those lanes were discussed). I suspect that a public consultation would still be required any time lanes are reconfigured.

Actually I just took a review of the EngageKitchener site, it is...interesting. I didn't realise it's a full reconstruction. I suspect they're using "virtual consultation" here, I'm sure the homeowners got flyers about it, and that is meeting their requirements (real PICs are expensive...lots of staff overtime).

The scope of work is pretty extensive....much more than I thought, a complete rebuild with protected bike lanes is pretty good, and they're....not terrible. 1.3 meters is too narrow, but I'll forgive it for protected lanes, because honestly that's worth way way more. They do a great job of transitioning the bike infra at Chapel. The turn radii and lanes are still too big but at least they narrow the road at the intersection. The engineers still have no idea what to do about curbs. But the biggest issue I have with it is that it doesn't go far enough. It doesn't integrate well with Krug, which has bike lanes to go under the highway (Krug is already rebuilt so that ship has sailed probably). And they aren't making any changes from Krug to the Aud, and the bike lanes disappear for no good reason there.

I'm guessing there were cost limitations preventing that, and they wanted to make connections from Chapel to Krug and Frederick, which is fair.

Still, it's rather interesting that there was no publicity about this.



I also see they're rebuilding a bunch of other streets as well this year. Lawrence is interesting because I used to ride it daily to take my daughter to daycare. It's ironic they talk about climate management aspects of the project (adding bigger storm drains) but don't make any meaningful changes, like for example narrowing the excessive 8 meter width, or providing any kind of bike connection between the trail behind the plazas, the plazas themselves, and the trail off Highland through lakeside park--which is the most important connection, and also the most dangerous, most badly designed section of the road--which is not to say the rest of the road is safe...I always rode on the sidewalk with my daughter. (This one is probably worth emailing about because there's no excuse for not fixing a trail connection during a full reconstruction).

Wilson Ave is also getting reconstructed, which is interesting, I don't recall it being in that bad of condition. That one is looking to be extremely well designed. The vehicle lanes are still too wide (way too wide in some places), and the bike lanes still too narrow, but other than that, the doc looks like it has raised crossings of strongly narrowed intersections, with parking in bays instead of widening the road (beyond the already too wide travel lanes). It really is a masterclass in the best designs that NA can produce.

What is interesting is that not all the designs are the same...there are still pretty big differences between the three projects I looked at, but certainly an enormous improvement from the past couple years before I left.

Edit: I think a lot of this is driven by the complete streets guide. These kind of documents are incredibly important. It's also funny to hear "the roadway width will be reduced from 9 meters to 7 in line with complete streets guidelines" that's great, but it should be even narrower. In the Netherlands, collectors are often only 5-5.5 meters wide. But even in Canada, the TAC standards they're basing this on permit a 6.3 meters wide road to carry two traffic lanes, and the region will use 3 meter lanes when they want to cram more in (see Westmount Rd.). Still, it's a big step forward.

[SF22]

I am not sure what criteria they use to decide when a public consultation is needed.

In the East Ave. case there is already some right of way and buffer space that can add protection without moving any painted lines (that was an...intense...public consultation where those lanes were discussed). I suspect that a public consultation would still be required any time lanes are reconfigured.

Actually I just took a review of the EngageKitchener site, it is...interesting. I didn't realise it's a full reconstruction. I suspect they're using "virtual consultation" here, I'm sure the homeowners got flyers about it, and that is meeting their requirements (real PICs are expensive...lots of staff overtime).

The scope of work is pretty extensive....much more than I thought, a complete rebuild with protected bike lanes is pretty good, and they're....not terrible. 1.3 meters is too narrow, but I'll forgive it for protected lanes, because honestly that's worth way way more. They do a great job of transitioning the bike infra at Chapel. The turn radii and lanes are still too big but at least they narrow the road at the intersection. The engineers still have no idea what to do about curbs. But the biggest issue I have with it is that it doesn't go far enough. It doesn't integrate well with Krug, which has bike lanes to go under the highway (Krug is already rebuilt so that ship has sailed probably). And they aren't making any changes from Krug to the Aud, and the bike lanes disappear for no good reason there.

I'm guessing there were cost limitations preventing that, and they wanted to make connections from Chapel to Krug and Frederick, which is fair.

Still, it's rather interesting that there was no publicity about this.

...

Edit: I think a lot of this is driven by the complete streets guide. These kind of documents are incredibly important. It's also funny to hear "the roadway width will be reduced from 9 meters to 7 in line with complete streets guidelines" that's great, but it should be even narrower. In the Netherlands, collectors are often only 5-5.5 meters wide. But even in Canada, the TAC standards they're basing this on permit a 6.3 meters wide road to carry two traffic lanes, and the region will use 3 meter lanes when they want to cram more in (see Westmount Rd.). Still, it's a big step forward.

So I live very close to the East Ave segment getting redone (not on East itself, but just one street over), and we didn't get a flyer about it. So if they did any consultation, it was definitely just for the homes that are going to be directed affected. They're also prepping it for a connection to Chapel on the north side, which (I don't think) is not a neighbourhood bikeway yet, but is earmarked to be one, and will eventually meet up with a proposed MUT on Edna/Dumfries. I am REALLY glad that they are separating the lanes out properly, because people are constantly drifting their cars well into the bike lane on East Ave. A lot of people seem to think it's an extra-wide vehicle lane, the way they treat it.

I believe they aren't extending the work past Krug because the utilities underneath aren't in such rough shape (only the watermain needs replacing, according to an email I received from the city rep), so they must have chosen to delay any reworking of the existing painted lanes from Krug to Eugene George Way to keep costs down.

But yeah, I totally agree that the guidelines that have been put into place are doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. Presumably the argument is that they did the majority of their public inquiries on the general master plans, and now only need a small amount of feedback on each individual project moving forward.

[dtkvictim]

Actually I just took a review of the EngageKitchener site

Links for anyone else interested

Wilson Avenue: https://www.engagewr.ca/wilsonavenue
East Avenue: https://www.engagewr.ca/eastavenue
Road Reconstruction Projects: https://www.engagewr.ca/roadreconstruction

[dtkvictim]

Some good looking projects. One thing I don't know how to tell from the drawings is how greenery will be applied, but I think it's really important. I hate when existing grass boulevards get replaced with those ugly faux-brick stamped concrete ones. When that change goes in alongside cycling infrastructure is makes people thinks that cycling infrastructure makes their neighbourhood uglier, when it should be the opposite. Planting something native that's free to grow a little more wild would be even better (though somehow the average person has convinced themselves this is ugly and unkempt).

[SF22]

Some good looking projects. One thing I don't know how to tell from the drawings is how greenery will be applied, but I think it's really important. I hate when existing grass boulevards get replaced with those ugly faux-brick stamped concrete ones. When that change goes in alongside cycling infrastructure is makes people thinks that cycling infrastructure makes their neighbourhood uglier, when it should be the opposite. Planting something native that's free to grow a little more wild would be even better (though somehow the average person has convinced themselves this is ugly and unkempt).

The drawings for East Ave suggest that about a quarter of the existing trees will be taken down, which isn't great, but hopefully they will replace some of them where possible (the info package doesn't clarify whether they will). And it seems like they will leave the grass boulevard between the sidewalk and bike lane, but then have 1ft (0.3m) of the stamped concrete between the bike lane and street curb. So, definitely not perfect, but I think that 'perfect' truly is an impossible target to reach when you're talking about working around existing homes and trees.

Here's me going off to email the city rep about whether any trees are earmarked for replacement.

[cherrypark]

Some good looking projects. One thing I don't know how to tell from the drawings is how greenery will be applied, but I think it's really important. I hate when existing grass boulevards get replaced with those ugly faux-brick stamped concrete ones. When that change goes in alongside cycling infrastructure is makes people thinks that cycling infrastructure makes their neighbourhood uglier, when it should be the opposite. Planting something native that's free to grow a little more wild would be even better (though somehow the average person has convinced themselves this is ugly and unkempt).

Which, regrettably, doesn't have to be that and also has just as much to do with the new cycling facilities as that the vehicular right of way is the sacred cow that can't be compromised.

[dtkvictim]

The drawings for East Ave suggest that about a quarter of the existing trees will be taken down, which isn't great, but hopefully they will replace some of them where possible (the info package doesn't clarify whether they will). And it seems like they will leave the grass boulevard between the sidewalk and bike lane, but then have 1ft (0.3m) of the stamped concrete between the bike lane and street curb. So, definitely not perfect, but I think that 'perfect' truly is an impossible target to reach when you're talking about working around existing homes and trees.

Here's me going off to email the city rep about whether any trees are earmarked for replacement.

I didn't even check the trees, but that's annoying too. Obviously safety is my first priority so protected lanes are more important to me, but shade (and general comfort) is probably up next when I'm choosing my cycling route.

But I just hate the stamped concrete thing they do everywhere... I think it looks so bad.

Which, regrettably, doesn't have to be that and also has just as much to do with the new cycling facilities as that the vehicular right of way is the sacred cow that can't be compromised.

Definitely. There are examples of doing more with less, but it starts with narrower lanes. I think it also has to do aesthetic design choices (or lack thereof). I'm sure the proposed layout could be made into an attractive place by the right people, but I don't think it will be by using our existing patterns, materials, etc.

[SF22]

Here's me going off to email the city rep about whether any trees are earmarked for replacement.

UPDATE!
Thanks for your interest in the reconstruction of East Avenue scheduled for 2024. We will be looking for every opportunity to plant trees on public property as part of this project, especially in boulevard spaces where trees may be removed. City Council passed a tree canopy coverage target in 2022 that is 30% coverage in each Ward by 2050, and 33% across the city by 2070. Ward 10, which contains the project area, has canopy coverage of approximately 26%, so we certainly want to replace canopy lost through the project and enhance it, where possible.

The Forestry department will develop a planting plan later in the project planning phase, likely this fall or winter.

[ac3r]

33% by 2070 seems like it leaves a lot to be desired.

[SF22]

33% by 2070 seems like it leaves a lot to be desired.

Trees are one of those things you can't force to grow any faster than they will. I also wouldn't be surprised if this plan gets revisited in 15 years and the targets pushed up higher at that point, if the tree planting program is going well.

[plam]

33% by 2070 seems like it leaves a lot to be desired.

Trees are one of those things you can't force to grow any faster than they will. I also wouldn't be surprised if this plan gets revisited in 15 years and the targets pushed up higher at that point, if the tree planting program is going well.

You can start with bigger trees, which helps a bit (but also read about red palm weevils), but yeah, they just need to grow.

[ac3r]

33% by 2070 seems like it leaves a lot to be desired.

Trees are one of those things you can't force to grow any faster than they will. I also wouldn't be surprised if this plan gets revisited in 15 years and the targets pushed up higher at that point, if the tree planting program is going well.

That's true, but I am more talking about the percentage of coverage. Plant more trees starting now and you'd have a greater percentage of tree canopy (once it has grown, of course) by 2070.

[nms]

I wonder how close they would be to their goal if every cycling route, MUT or sidewalk had enough trees planted along them to provided a shaded walk most of the day? Seeing tiny twigs planted 30 feet apart on along a sidewalk, and knowing that only one or two of them will survive to grow up, doesn't make it easy to see a treed sidewalk in the future.

[creative]

The city of Kitchener doesn’t plant those twigs anymore. I had a chat with the person in charge at the city and they indicated that they are only planting larger trees now. They also have a crew that goes around and waters these trees.