General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[panamaniac]

I wish they'd just stop with those faux olde-timey lights, they're not that great at actually lighting up the road and sidewalks. Now they need to enforce the no stopping/parking when people leave their cars in front of the Walper's doors to check in and get the valet service. It seemed ridiculous to me that was allowed at all.

I agree on the old-timey lights. They're not very good lights, and they're not high end enough to actually look historical. At least on Queen St they put them on solid black poles. At King/Victoria we have these brand new old-timey light fixtures mounted on to totally modern poles that hold the light rail OCS, and it looks absurd.

Sorry, does the reconfiguration include a bay in front of the Walper?

There is no bay in front of the Walper now, the curbs go straight through there. However, the sidewalk in front of the Walper is paved with asphalt rather than concrete, right up to the building. Paired with the roll curbs it seems to be a pretty clear indication that people loading/unloading at the Walper are expected to park completely blocking the sidewalk. No idea how that's acceptable, but based on walking by and looking at it that's the only conclusion I can reach. Certainly the fact it looks that way means people will use it that way. I still fail to understand the local obsession with roll curbs, drivers certainly think that they mean they're a place where they can drive, and I fully expect any Uber/taxi called to the new Queen St to pull up on the sidewalk as a result.

Design complaints aside, the section from King to Charles is now open to traffic, and the section from King to Duke is now closed to traffic.

Ahh, I've seen that kind of arrangement before, albeit on a wider sidewalk.  The expectation will be that taxis, or whatever, pull over enough to permit cars to pass while leaving room for a person to get by between the building and the vehicle (hoping not to get "doored" in the process!).  Of course, if a driver is a dolt who doesn't need to open the passenger-side doors, I guess they would be able to fully block the sidewalk.