Franklin Roundabout Plan Still Makes Sense

I’m not alone on this topic I guess….

January 30, 2010

Road Ahead column by Jeff Outhit

Dear regional councillor:

It’s OK to pause until March, before endorsing 11 roundabouts up and down Franklin Boulevard in Cambridge.

This is a dramatic proposal, costing $53 million. When completed by 2016, it would convert a four-lane travel corridor into a commuter route unlike any other in Ontario.

This conversion would have a bigger impact than the five roundabouts you installed (with more to come) on Ira Needles Boulevard in Kitchener and Waterloo. Ira Needles was built with traffic circles. The public knows what to expect.

So take a deep breath. But really, nothing has changed. Filling Franklin with roundabouts still makes sense.

Critics have complained of high costs, business impacts, pedestrian safety and driver frustration.

Roundabouts need space. Acquiring this space helps explain why roundabouts cost at least $7 million more than widening Franklin to six lanes.

Businesses at busy intersections would be squeezed or stripped of parking spaces. Four properties would have to be purchased outright. A popular beauty salon would be displaced.

In Kitchener, council had to demolish a strip club and relocate an automotive garage to make way for the Bridgeport roundabout.

Impacts such as these stress owners and employees. They are costly and disruptive. They are hard choices, made for the public good. The way forward is to limit impacts through proper design, establish a fair process to take property, and compensate fairly.

Pedestrians will fare better with roundabouts, compared to widening the busy road.

Traffic circles reduce intersection speeds, shorten crossing distances by half, and compel drivers and pedestrians to pay attention. This improves safety more effectively than relying on traffic signals to guide pedestrians across monster intersections.

Drivers will no longer be able to catch a wave of green lights and cruise the road at top speed for long stretches. They will have to slow down and exercise their judgment repeatedly, in circle after circle. This will frustrate some motorists who like the comfort of driving on autopilot. But they will become better drivers for it.

If not roundabouts, what then?

Critics have suggested widening Franklin (to make it like hated Hespeler Road), adding traffic signals (unwarranted and ineffective), improving traffic signals (limited impact), doing nothing (the road is already overwhelmed), and diverting traffic to an east-side bypass route not yet built (an old proposal that’s gone nowhere).

So by all means, think it over. But now is not the time to lose your nerve.

Jeff Outhit can be reached at 519-895-5642 or jouthit@therecord.com

Source: TheRecord.com

Decision Deferred on Franklin Boulevard Roundabouts

So how many car crashes along Franklin Boulevard will it take before council decides that “YES, roundabouts are a good idea for the road.” Another car accident on Wednesday January 27, 2010 sent a young man to hospital.

Regional councilors deferred a decision on whether to install 11 roundabouts on Franklin Boulevard over concerns about safety and property expropriation. Staff recommended a plan that would see roundabouts placed at every major intersection but one on the eight-kilometre stretch of road. The proposal has been in the works for more than a year and has been circulated around the community. It is estimated to cost the region close to $50 million.

There has been a significant amount of concern and opposition. “Ever since I found about this, people have been speaking to me about this and just shaking their heads,” said Councilor Jane Brewer. Some of the worry is that the roundabouts will slow down one of the city’s major thoroughfares. “Franklin Boulevard many years ago became the bypass for Cambridge,” Brewer said. “People have come to expect that (they) can make time on this road. You wouldn’t put roundabouts on the Conestoga Expressway.”

• How can you compare Franklin Boulevard to the Conestoga Expressway?- You Can’t!
• Does the expressway have schools, houses, and businesses fronting onto the the road? – No!
• Does the expressway have hundreds of driveways accessing the road? - No!
• Does Franklin have a speed limit of 90km/h? – No!
• Why should the City of Cambridge increase the speed on a road where there is already an abundance of speed-related accidents?

Maybe its time people slow down and understand that its not a race to the finish line. There is a movement called the Complete Streets Movement (CSM) which means streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abiliti es must be able to safely move along and across
a complete street.

The following definition was extracted from my thesis project: “Creating complete streets means transportation agencies must change their orientation toward building primarily for cars. Instituting a complete streets policy ensures that transportation agencies routinely design and operate the entire right of way to enable safe access for all users. Places with complete streets policies are making sure that their streets and roads work for drivers, transit users, pedestrians, and bicyclists, as well as for older people, children, and people with disabilities.”

Another movement entitled, Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS), is defined by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration as, “a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders to develop a transportation facility that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic and environmental resources, while maintaining safety and mobility. CSS is an approach that considers the total context within which a transportation improvement project will exist.”

Roundabout models have worked for decades in Europe, so why should it take so long for Canadians to understand their simplicity?  The deferral was supported unanimously and the matter will come back in March. If the plan is approved then, construction would begin in 2013.

Source: CambridgeTimes.ca and CambridgeTimes.ca

Who Killed the Merger?

Waterloo did… and the amalgamation debate is dead once again.

In a 5-3 vote on Monday, Waterloo city council rejected a request from a group headed by local high-tech leaders to put the question of merging Kitchener and Waterloo on the ballot in the next municipal election.

The group wanted the city to ask the provincial minister of municipal affairs and housing to put a question on the ballot that read, “Would you support members of council engaging in a dialogue about the merits of merging the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo? Yes or No.”
Kitchener council had already supported the motion.

But Waterloo didn’t follow suit, following a series of delegations asking the city to drop the issue.

Source: CambridgeTimes.ca

Solar Farm to be Built on Prime Agricultural Lands?

There is an open house set for this coming Wednesday in Belmont, and neighbours near the proposed site fear prime farmland will be lost.

Neighbours of a proposed solar farm just east of London are gearing up for a red-hot public meeting about the project Wednesday in Belmont.

The First Solar Canada farm would have as many as 330,000 panels converting energy from the sun into enough electricity to power 3,000 homes.

But some neighbours say it may be the right project in the wrong location. Barry Weaver, whose farm abuts the property, said productive land would be lost to farming for years. “The part that ticks me right off about it is it’s prime agricultural land,” he said. “I’m not in argument with building solar panels and wind farms, but they should be in their proper places.”

Peter Carrie, vice-president of the company, said Wednesday’s open house is not intended to be a company presentation but is designed so neighbours can ask questions of staff in a less formal setting. Carrie said the flyer neighbours sent out to 1,200 homes raises “a number of good questions and issues” — and those that aren’t already answered in the project report or in the supporting documents will be covered at the meeting and in greater detail in a subsequent report.

But the biggest question, some say, is whether the application falls under old provincial energy policies or under newer ones that suggest agricultural lands shouldn’t be taken out of production for renewable energy projects.

Source: LFPress.com

SURPRISE, SURPRISE! Bus Ridership Down in London…

London transit ridership dropped by more than two million in 2009, a loss of fare revenue worth about $3.1 million, a report to the transit commission states.

London Transit Commission head Larry Ducharme is making his pitch for the transit operating budget on the heels of a 29-day strike that dealt a big blow to revenues.

But the return of buses to the streets of London after the strike hasn’t translated into more riders — about 40,000 less people are using the bus in the first two weeks of January 2010 than were using the bus in the first two weeks of 2009.

Although ridership was going up in in 2008 and 2009, it fell, mainly because of the strike and because of the faltering economy, the report, which the commission will discuss on Wednesday, says.

Among the other findings in the report, which looks at the 2009 operating year:

• Total annual ridership was 10% lower than predicted. That’s about 2.1 million less riders.
• Between January and October, ridership exceeded projections by 1.5%
• In November and December, the period of the strike, ridership was down by 2.4 million — mainly because buses weren’t running.
• The loss of 2.1 million riders translates into a fare revenue loss of $3.1 million
• The loss of 2.1 million riders means a loss of between $800,000 and $900,000 in provincial gas tax money for 2010-2011.
• In the first two weeks of January, about 40,000 less people were riding the bus — a 10% drop — over the same period last year.

Source: LFPress.com

Overpass and Roundabout a GO-GO at Hale & Trafalgar Intersection

Board of control unanimously recommended Wednesday morning the proposed construction of an overpass at the Hale-Trafalgar intersection, a project that could start within weeks.

About 23,000 vehicles cross the intersection of Hale and Trafalgar streets each day, according to the city. The multimillion-dollar project will include a roundabout, a first for a major London intersection. The city is building the $16.3-million overpass to ease traffic tie-ups where the two streets meet the CN tracks. It will feature a traffic roundabout, a first for a major London road.

That report recommends the city award the construction job to London company McKay-Cocker, which came in at the lowest of four bids — about $10 million for its part of the project. Most of the rest of the project’s costs are for engineering and land purchases.

If council approves the contract at its meeting Feb. 1, construction could start as early as Feb. 15. Pat McNally, the city engineer, said he expects the project to be completed by March 31, 2011.

Stage 1, from February to roughly June:

• Hale north and south closed at the CN crossing.
• Hale and Trafalgar on south side of tracks closed.
• Trafalgar eastbound closed to Hale.
• Trafalgar westbound to Hale northbound changed from one way to two-way to allow traffic.

Stage 2, from June to roughly end of November.

• Link from both Hale and Trafalgar on north side will also be closed to all but local traffic; westbound traffic on Trafalgar will be redirected south on Clarke Rd. to Highbury Ave.

The city wants the asphalt laid by November so the project is completed by the March 2011 deadline for federal infrastructure money.

About 30 property owners had to sell their property for the overpass to be built. All but two have agreed, with those two going through expropriation.

It’s about time this extremely confusing intersection gets a roundabout! It was a ripe candidate.

Source: LFPress.com and LFPress.com

Sally Ann Park Doomed Before it Even Starts?

A city proposal to turn a core-area London road into park space for Salvation Army clients has alarmed a nearby non-profit children’s centre already unnerved by neighbouring drug use and squatters.

Boys’ and Girls’ Club of London boss Don Donner says he’s worried turning the road running along the Centre of Hope into an enclosed park — in part to ease loitering at the busy Wellington-Horton intersection — may bring more trouble to their doorstep.

Council’s environment and transportation committee this week gave city staff the go-ahead to further explore closing a portion of Bathurst St. and a Wellington St. offshoot, leasing them to the Salvation Army as an enclosed recreational green space.

Besides easing the troublesome Horton-Wellington loitering, the proposal is designed to give Centre of Hope clients and their friends a safe, supervised place where trouble, such as drug dealers, can’t get to them.

The park proposal is tied to a $1.5 million public works stimulus fund project to replace sewers along Bathurst. Its surface could be left in a state that would allow a park, rather than a roadway.

Source: LFPress.com

New City of Kitchener Official Plan

The City of Kitchener is updating its Official Plan. An Official Plan is a document that contains objectives and policies to manage a city’s growth and change, advise how land can be used, protect the natural environment and ensure the timely provision and adequacy of services. An Official Plan is typically directed at land use and physical development of the city. In the last several years, the province and region have approved new planning policies and direction that require local municipalities to update their Official Plans.

A public meeting will be held to obtain preliminary ideas or suggestions to be considered in drafting the new Kitchener Official Plan. This will be the first in a series of public consultation sessions that will be announced throughout the process. The meeting will take place during the Development and Technical Services Committee meeting on:

MONDAY, MARCH 8th, 2010 at 7:00 P.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 2nd FLOOR, CITY HALL
200 KING STREET WEST, KITCHENER.

Source: City of Kitchener

Waterloo Region Transportation Master Plan – Moving Forward 2031

In early 2010, the Regional Transportation Master Plan team will be proposing a series of strategies to reduce travel demand and increase infrastructure to support more transit, bicycle, and walking combined with strategic road improvements. Be sure to join the conversation and have your say about the future of transportation in Waterloo Region.

Source: Moving Forward 2031

Hespeler Road and the Canadian Pacific Railway Grade Seperation Project

In late 2010, construction will begin to replace and depress the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) track that crosses Hespeler Road in Cambridge between the “Delta” intersection and Avenue Road/Jaffray Street. Hespeler Road will be partially elevated and a bridge constructed to cross the depressed rail track. This will bring an end to the lengthy delays caused by extensive train crossings on busy Hespeler Road. The project is estimated to be completed in late 2012 with a price tag of $33 million.

Fairway Road Extension and New Bridge Over The Grand River

Construction is planned for 2010 to extend Fairway Road from Zeller Drive in Kitchener to Fountain Street and Kossuth Road in Cambridge. The new four lane road will have two lanes of traffic in each direction, bicycle lanes,  and sidewalks on both sides. There will also be roundabouts placed at either end. In addtion, a four-span bridge, with no piers in the water, will be built over the Grand River. It will feature scenic lookouts, custom architectural details, and connections to the Walter Bean Trail. Construction is expected to be completed in 2012 to the tune of approximately $54 million.

$54 million? I wonder what the cost per kilometre would work out to be…??

Source: Region News

Waterloo Region History Museum’s Glass Facade Coming Along

Artist rendering of the Region's new History Museum

The words of Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier will be featured on the colourful glass facade of the Waterloo Region History Museum, located just off of Homer Watson Boulevard in Kitchener. There are 16 colours of glass which have been turned into a hexadecimal computer code, allowing a various pattern of glass panels to represent the 26 letters of the alphabet. You won’t be able to stand back and read Laurier’s words, as they will be presented in the layout of the colourful glass panels.

Laurier’s words reflect the themes of several exhibits to be featured at the new museum:

“We do not want, that any individuals should forget the land of the origin or their ancestors. Let them look to the past, but let them also look to the future; let them look to the land of their ancestors, but let them look also to the land of their children.”

Construction of the museum is scheduled to be completed in 2010, and exhibits will be opened in 2011.

Source: Region News

A Rejuvenated Downtown Galt Streetscaping Plan

On Wednesday January  13, 2010, Downtown Cambridge Business Improvement (BIA) Association meeting, unveiled streetscaping plans were to make Main Street more attractive for investors and pedestrians.

In an interview, city planning commissioner Janet Babcock said Cambridge has submitted a $750,000 funding application to the Southern Ontario Development Agency (SODA). The agency has been provided with $1 billion over five years from FedDev Ontario – part of the federal government’s economic stimulus package.

Should the city’s application be approved, the project has to be completed by March 2011. The city will also split the cost of the project with the federal government.

Hopefully we will see a resurgence much like that of Kitchener and Waterloo’s vibrant downtowns. We need some exciting nightlife in the downtown core. PLEASE!

Source: CambridgeTimes.ca

An Electrified Parkhill Dam in Cambridge

Parkhill Dam with the old Riverbank Mill in the background.

Parkhill Dam can generate about $1 million a year in electricity, but it could take five years to get all the approvals in place to build a dynamo there.

he idea of building a power house at the west end of the dam has been kicked around for years, including a formal feasibility study was done in 1999 by the Grand River Conservation Authority and Cambidge-North Dumfries Hydro. It didn’t make financial sense then, but provincial electricity pricing contracts announced in October have changed the power play.

“Construction would cost about $4.8 million, so it’s a five-to-seven year payback period. It’s a nice payback period,” said Joe Farwell, the authority’s engineer and assistant chief administrative officer.

The dam was built in 1837 just north of Queen Street—now Parkhill Road—to store water that was later released down a Mill Race channel to power grist, flour and woollen mills along the east bank of the river. The original mill stills stands today at Parkhill and Water Street.

Other water-powered factories that lined the river are now gone, replaced with flood walls, earthen berms and Mill Race Park.

The authority already runs electrical generating stations at three dams upstream of Parkhill dam, generating $450,000 a year in revenue from electricity sales.

A Parkhill dynamo would double the power generated by the conservation authority. But because of sweeter provincial power purchase prices approved in October, it would triple the annual revenue.

Source: CambridgeReporter.com

Cambridge’s Population Rises

The estimated population of Cambridge is 131,000 people living in 50,000 households.

The figures, put together by the city’s planning department, are determined by multiplying the number of new housing units created over the last year by an average household size of 2.64 people per household.

That number was then added to the 2006 census figure. Population growth is on track with the forecast in Ontario’s Places to Grow report.

Source: CambridgeTimes.ca