Week in review: May 4, 2018

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Consultations, feedback, and events

• JANE’S WALKS: May 4, 5, 6
• CYCLING:
  • Your ideas wanted for a “minimum grid” of protected cycling routes
  • Survey on updating the Ontario Traffic Manual Book 18: Cycling Facilities
• ION: Stage 2 public consultations, May 8, 9, 10, online
• GROWTH: Guidance on the growth plan and intensification targets, due May 7
• KITCHENER:
  • Comprehensive review of the zoning bylaw, May 8
  • Urban design guidelines, feedback due May 15
• WATERLOO: Zoning bylaw review informal public meeting May 7

Transit

• New proposed Ion route into Cambridge bypasses much of Eagle Street (The Record)
  • Leader of “Stop the LRT through Preston” on suggested route through Cambridge: “was a real surprise” (570 NEWS)
  • Editorial: Cambridge’s proposed light rail route appears on track (The Record)
• Cambridge GO trains to be subject of feasibility study (CTV)
• Track improvements in Guelph start April 30 (Guelph)
• Minneapolis figured out the formula for increasing bus ridership (Streetsblog)
• Don’t forget buses: six rules for improving city bus services (The Conversation)
• “If you are very fortunate you are a minority, and the way we transform a city with public transit is not to appeal to minority tastes” (CodeRedTO)

Municipal elections

Nominations for municipal elections are now open! At the time of writing, we’re aware of the following people who have either filed or indicated intent to file nomination papers:

• Waterloo:
  • Dave Jaworsky, mayor (incumbent)
  • Sandra Hanmer, ward 1 councillor
  • Jen Vasic, ward 5 councillor
  • Devon McKenzie, ward 7 councillor
  • Bob Oberholzer, regional councillor (candidate in 2014)
• Kitchener:
  • John Gazzola, ward 3 councillor (incumbent)
  • Christine Michaud, ward 4 councillor
  • Melissa Bowan, ward 9 councillor
  • Debbie Chapman, ward 9 councillor (candidate in 2010)
  • Elizabeth Clarke, regional councillor (incumbent)
• Cambridge:
  • Doug Craig, mayor (incumbent)
  • Karl Kiefer, regional councillor (incumbent)
• You’re no “climate mayor” if you’re not doing these four things (Streetsblog)

Provincial elections

• Transit talk:
  • Ford says PCs would fund all-day 2-way GO but Liberals question how (CBC)
  • Parties try to get on track with voters as transit emerges as campaign issue (CBC)
• Buckle-up your Greenbelts for this wild ride:
  • Doug Ford assured developers he plans to open up Greenbelt to housing development (The Star)
  • Ford abandons proposal for Greenbelt development after blowback (CBC)
  • Wynne vows to expand Greenbelt into Waterloo Region (CTV)
  • Doug Ford’s housing proposal is the right idea for the wrong place (Globe and Mail)

Cycling

• Letter from the Region indicates construction on the Uptown bike lanes will resume May 14 and take 6-8 weeks. It also admits that the “no parking” signs for the bike lanes haven’t been enforced.
• Iron Horse Trail closed for 5 weeks (The Record) How hard would it really be to get a bunch of pylons and make the detour route a cycle track?
• NACTO trip data deflates dockless bikeshare hype (Streetsblog)
• Study: people who bike to work live longer than people who drive (Streetsblog)
• What’s in a name? KPL bike book trailer needs a moniker (The Record)
• Think walking or biking to work would take too long? Think again (New York Times)

https://twitter.com/steveshik/status/991650096197656577

Vision Zero

• Petition leads to crosswalk behind Baden school (The Record)
• Photo radar coming to Toronto school zones this summer (The Star) Sadly, our own Regional traffic engineers don’t seem particularly enthusiastic on safety cameras. Last year staff spoke of developing regulations so that automated speed enforcement would not be “overused” - as if we don’t deserve to have safe speeds on every street. 
• We can’t stop every attacker – but with better roads, we can save lives (The Globe and Mail)
• We must not separate the spike in vehicular terrorism with urban planning that neglects pedestrian safety (The Stranger)

On the next Protested Development…

• Kitchener market wrestles with ongoing parking headaches (The Record) Just charge for parking already!
• Parking garage a stone’s throw from LRT is transit-friendly, city says (The Record) It’s not.
• Brainstorming new life for Electrohome eyesore (The Record)
• Beware ‘smart’ cities (CityLab)