Cycling in Waterloo Region

[jamincan]

KITCHENER — A fatal collision near Elmira has led to an unusual outcome, with no jail for a 19-year-old driver who killed cyclist Lewis Martin, 18, and then drove off after calling 911.

The driver, forgiven by the victim’s family, will perform 200 hours of community service while on probation for two years.

Kudos for Jeff Outhit, for actually saying the driver killed the cyclist.

In this case, it seems like the outcome is with the blessing of the family of the victim, and the driver seems truly remorseful. He definitely deserves far more than he got, but I would be sad if there was no room for forgiveness and mercy in our justice system.

[EdM]

Cyclist killed in Toronto in a location that had repeated complaints over the last couple of days about unsafe construction diversion, heartbreaking and infuriating.

https://twitter.com/DaveLikesBikes/statu...3814888448

[timc]

Why does that bike lane have sharrows?

[danbrotherston]

[catarctica]

Could I ask how the downtown grid is coming along? I was passing by the Market district last week and haven’t seen constructions started

[dtkvictim]

Could I ask how the downtown grid is coming along? I was passing by the Market district last week and haven’t seen constructions started

Joseph St seemed to start off quickly, but still isn't done. It's been moving at a frustratingly slow pace. The center curb has been in place for ages, some of the intersections are painted, a very small portion of the lane is painted, I think most signs are in, lights were removed and re-installed at Water St (might be an unrelated project?). There is still a chunk of the bike lane and sidewalk completely missing around Water St though. I think there must be a utilities/hydro project taking place at Joseph/Water that is preventing this lane from wrapping up.

I'm not aware of any other parts of the grid that are under way aside from random streets with sharrows (which as far as I'm concerned, isn't part of the grid, because it's not infrastructure...).

I can try and grab photos soon.

[taylortbb]

I think Joseph St and Water St are the only parts of the cycling grid that are supposed to be done this year, and Cafe Pyrus got the Water St section deferred until the fall.

[dtkvictim]

Some photo updates (sorry, didn't go all the way to Victoria, but from what I saw the other day everything that direction is still missing lane markings, and the Victoria St intersection is still partially unfinished).

Joseph & Water


Gaukel St


Section with lane markings, near Queen St.

[ac3r]

I see you passed Anita, or whatever her name is.

I was surprised to see that section at Water Street not done yet. I thought it was all finished, save for some touching up on the asphalt but then when I got to Water Street there was that entire section missing.

[clasher]

It's kinda frustrating how long it takes these contractors to do this work... like the bridge replacement in Victoria Park has been dragging on for months, probably been less than 2 weeks of actual work on it since the spring.

[jamincan]

On the other hand, work on the 401 in Cambridge and Milton has been proceeding at a blistering pace.

[dtkvictim]

It's kinda frustrating how long it takes these contractors to do this work... like the bridge replacement in Victoria Park has been dragging on for months, probably been less than 2 weeks of actual work on it since the spring.

Agreed. I'm upset about how slow this is moving, because I just want to use it. But more importantly, both of these projects have created accessibility problems. All four corners of Joseph/Water have been without pedestrian access for ages now. The Victoria park bridge replacement has left that section of the path closed, forcing people over a grass hill that is likely too steep for certain people (at the very least, annoying). There doesn't seem to be any concern about prolonging these issues, if any consideration was even given to them in the first place.

[tomh009]

It's kinda frustrating how long it takes these contractors to do this work... like the bridge replacement in Victoria Park has been dragging on for months, probably been less than 2 weeks of actual work on it since the spring.

Agreed. I'm upset about how slow this is moving, because I just want to use it. But more importantly, both of these projects have created accessibility problems. All four corners of Joseph/Water have been without pedestrian access for ages now. The Victoria park bridge replacement has left that section of the path closed, forcing people over a grass hill that is likely too steep for certain people (at the very least, annoying). There doesn't seem to be any concern about prolonging these issues, if any consideration was even given to them in the first place.

The Joseph St project is particularly puzzling as it seems they'll do half a day of work, and then nothing for a week or so. The MUT is still AWOL at Water St, and much of the lane markings are missing. It's surely not a lot of work remaining. Are they doing this as a "spare time" project or something, with super low priority?

The Victoria Park bridge was waiting for a contractor for maybe two or three weeks, but they have now poured the concrete footings for the new bridge so I am (against all odds) optimistic that the pace will pick up soon.

[danbrotherston]

Agreed. I'm upset about how slow this is moving, because I just want to use it. But more importantly, both of these projects have created accessibility problems. All four corners of Joseph/Water have been without pedestrian access for ages now. The Victoria park bridge replacement has left that section of the path closed, forcing people over a grass hill that is likely too steep for certain people (at the very least, annoying). There doesn't seem to be any concern about prolonging these issues, if any consideration was even given to them in the first place.

The Joseph St project is particularly puzzling as it seems they'll do half a day of work, and then nothing for a week or so. The MUT is still AWOL at Water St, and much of the lane markings are missing. It's surely not a lot of work remaining. Are they doing this as a "spare time" project or something, with super low priority?

The Victoria Park bridge was waiting for a contractor for maybe two or three weeks, but they have now poured the concrete footings for the new bridge so I am (against all odds) optimistic that the pace will pick up soon.

I don't know the details, but at Joseph and Water, steed and Evans (the contractor for the grid) is waiting on the hydro utility to do underground work. I have no idea what that underground work is, it doesn't even seem entirely related to the grid.  But they don't seem to be in a hurry about it.

The MUT and other parts may be left till another year, and Water St itself has been deferred until after patio season.

[catarctica]

That looks great. Thank you so much!