03-15-2024, 11:01 AM
(03-15-2024, 10:54 AM)the_conestoga_guy Wrote: It appears that the active transportation expansion for Duke Street in DTK is no longer going being recommended by council (page 18 of link below). Staff are instead recommending separate facilities between Victoria and Water that would provide a connection between the Water St facilities and the future underpass at the new transit hub.
https://pub-regionofwaterloo.escribemeet...entId=7153
Quote:Having some progress is certainly better than none, but I hope our planners are taking this as an opportunity to evaluate other options to move people safely through this area.
- Previous plans envisioned a AAA cycling facility along Duke Street between Frederick Street and Water Street. After the detailed review of the alternative designs, corridor constraints, and long term multimodal transportation objectives, it was concluded that the section between Frederick Street and Water Street should be removed from the Downtown Kitchener AAA cycling network at this time.
- The main reasons for removing this section of Duke Street from the AAA network is that the available corridor space between Frederick Street and Young Street is not wide enough to accommodate two- directional bus service, a two-directional separated cycling facility, and a sidewalk
I hope that this can be used as a chance to advocate for finally closing King St through downtown to cars so that the local residents have a safe space to move through their neighbourhood. I know it's an unpopular idea politically for suburbanites who don't want their Uber Eats drivers to lose access to parking in front of restaurants, but I think it's an idea worth exploring sometime in the next 10 years.
I mean, I called this...
They had better also recommend removing the word "network" from the name.
I know I'm an absolutely cynical asshole, but there is zero chance there will be a cycling connection in this area in the next 10 years.
Duke is out (despite there being enough room, but the idea of running busses on the LRT ROW is something they're unwilling to consider) and Weber is obviously out (cars will NEVER be impeded).
King is possible, but I'd rather see it become a pedestrian plaza, and while the Dutch can mix bikes and peds, I don't think people in Canada can do that...but either way, I don't see it happening either.
So frankly, the downtown cycling grid is effectively dead...and people think people like me leaving are wrong and that there's great hope and progress in North America. Gimme a f***ing break.