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+--- Thread: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours (/showthread.php?tid=8)
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RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - jgsz - 03-25-2016
Sorry if this has been asked before, but does anyone know if there are any plans for this property on Benton Street? It used to have rather unattractive row-houses 20 or 30 years ago but it has been empty for way too long.
https://goo.gl/maps/JXAANV6NZBL2
It's across the street from the Arrow Lofts.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - ijmorlan - 03-25-2016
(03-25-2016, 11:59 AM)jgsz Wrote: Sorry if this has been asked before, but does anyone know if there are any plans for this property on Benton Street? It used to have rather unattractive row-houses 20 or 30 years ago but it has been empty for way too long.
https://goo.gl/maps/JXAANV6NZBL2
It's across the street from the Arrow Lofts.
I don’t know anything about the property, but I do know the city would be improved by reducing the street to two lanes in that area. There would be plenty of space for bicycle lanes and some space between the sidewalks and the road.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Skita - 03-26-2016
(03-22-2016, 05:14 PM)panamaniac Wrote: I can't swear to it, but I don't think so. It would only be the drive-thru portion/façade that would be of interest in that regard - as far as I know there is nothing unique about the rest of the building, although I have never been inside. I think it could be an interesting location for a restaurant or brew pub.Aye...have a look inside here: http://ssstudio.ca/2016/01/04/stylin-in-the-innovation-district/
A restaurant tenant is preferred for the street front portion of the fit-out. Unique cool climate potential in the former fur storage area (computers?)
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - jgsz - 03-26-2016
(03-26-2016, 01:08 PM)Skita Wrote:(03-22-2016, 05:14 PM)panamaniac Wrote: I can't swear to it, but I don't think so. It would only be the drive-thru portion/façade that would be of interest in that regard - as far as I know there is nothing unique about the rest of the building, although I have never been inside. I think it could be an interesting location for a restaurant or brew pub.Aye...have a look inside here: http://ssstudio.ca/2016/01/04/stylin-in-the-innovation-district/
A restaurant tenant is preferred for the street front portion of the fit-out. Unique cool climate potential in the former fur storage area (computers?)
Wow! I had no idea it was so large. It sure would be a great spot for a unique diner or restaurant.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-26-2016
(03-25-2016, 11:59 AM)jgsz Wrote: Sorry if this has been asked before, but does anyone know if there are any plans for this property on Benton Street? It used to have rather unattractive row-houses 20 or 30 years ago but it has been empty for way too long.
https://goo.gl/maps/JXAANV6NZBL2
It's across the street from the Arrow Lofts.
It's owned by Auburn, the developer of Arrow Lofts. Given that Auburn also owns the bit of empty land between Arrow Lofts and the rowhouses on Courtland, I wouldn't expect the property across the street to get developed in the near term (though I would be very happy to be proven wrong).
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-26-2016
(03-25-2016, 01:08 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: I don’t know anything about the property, but I do know the city would be improved by reducing the street to two lanes in that area. There would be plenty of space for bicycle lanes and some space between the sidewalks and the road.
There is space, but it's really a short stretch (Charles to Courtland, only three blocks) and it doesn't connect with any other bicycle routes -- although the last bit of Benton (which is two lanes only) ends not too far from the Iron Horse Trail.
Not saying it's a bad idea, but by itself it wouldn't achieve much, it would need to be part of a bigger plan.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - ijmorlan - 03-26-2016
(03-26-2016, 02:53 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(03-25-2016, 01:08 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: I don’t know anything about the property, but I do know the city would be improved by reducing the street to two lanes in that area. There would be plenty of space for bicycle lanes and some space between the sidewalks and the road.
There is space, but it's really a short stretch (Charles to Courtland, only three blocks) and it doesn't connect with any other bicycle routes -- although the last bit of Benton (which is two lanes only) ends not too far from the Iron Horse Trail.
Not saying it's a bad idea, but by itself it wouldn't achieve much, it would need to be part of a bigger plan.
I don’t view bicycle lanes as something that needs to be part of a bigger plan. Every street has lanes for cars, without discussion; why is the same courtesy not extended to bicycles? One of the things I found the most disgusting about the discussion in Toronto about the Jarvis St. bicycle lanes was the idea that “bikes already have Sherbourne St.” (or whichever street it was), so “why do they need Jarvis too?”. Nobody would suggest that car drivers should jog over a block to continue their journey, or that car lanes every fifth street would be enough.
Really however my point is more about the dominance of the space by cars. Of the space between the buildings, almost all of it is devoted to four lanes of traffic. My point is that reducing this to a single lane in each direction would free up an enormous amount of space for other uses and allow improvement of the character of the street.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-26-2016
You have a valid argument, even if I don't entirely agree with you.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - creative - 03-27-2016
This has been hinted at going back to 2010 but no action so far. http://www.therecord.com/sports-story/2559167-four-lane-street-a-leftover-from-old-plans/
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - KevinL - 03-27-2016
I think any plans for Benton have been put on hold during LRT construction. We may well see work soon after that is done.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-27-2016
(03-27-2016, 04:17 PM)KevinL Wrote: I think any plans for Benton have been put on hold during LRT construction. We may well see work soon after that is done.
Maybe in the next update to the official plan ...
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - panamaniac - 03-27-2016
If they ever do re-design Benton, I hope that it,s not as mundane as the post above would suggest.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - MidTowner - 03-28-2016
There's a lot of space there to work with- that little drawing lacked a lot of details. Quotes in the article mentioned a boulevard with trees, which seems like it would be easy to include.
This is another street where the traffic counts don't come close to justifying the lanes there- according to the Region's traffic counts, it's not even 12,000 vehicles east of Weber, and barely 8000 between Weber and Duke. There is no need for the four lanes, and making Frederick/Benton more friendly to people on foot and bike would be easy and very beneficial.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-28-2016
Easy and beneficial, yes. Free, no. So the city will need to consider and plan this also in the context of other road improvements and bicycle/pedestrian-friendly changes. And as I said earlier in the thread, it makes sense to consider this in conjunction with at least a connection to the Iron Horse Trail.
Also, they will need to figure out how to make the boulevard/bicycle path flow with the LRT split-off already constructed at Charles.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - MidTowner - 03-28-2016
(03-28-2016, 12:11 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Easy and beneficial, yes. Free, no.
Actually, it'll pay for itself, and probably won't take too long to do it. Sidewalks and bike lanes are a lot cheaper to maintain than car lanes: removing two lanes frees up maintenance funds on an ongoing basis.
I don't think a project like this should be assessed principally on costs, but if it were, reducing the traffic lanes would be a no-brainer.