Public input sought on temporary bike lane plan

WATERLOO REGION — Temporary new bike lanes are being proposed for select roads and the Region of Waterloo is seeking feedback from the public on the plan.

Council discussed at Tuesday’s committee meeting the staff recommendation for a rapid reallocation of six stretches of four-lane regional roads in Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. The reallocation would create temporary dedicated bike lanes that would provide more space for active transportation and also physical distancing on trails and sidewalks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Concerns expressed by some councillors about the lack of community input on recommendations in the staff report, which was released publicly only the day before, and a tied vote on a motion to defer the decision for a public consultation plan led to it being pushed to next Wednesday’s full council meeting.

In the meantime, the region created a short survey to get feedback on the proposal.

“We’ll see what the survey shows,” said Coun. Tom Galloway, chair of the committee of the whole. “The survey, I’m sure, will have quite a bit of response.”

He’s not sure if the abbreviated and expedited consultation will be enough to satisfy the reservations expressed by several councillors. A number of delegations are also expected to share their views at Wednesday’s meeting.

Galloway, and other councillors at the Tuesday meeting, stressed that there is urgency to get the bike lanes in as soon as possible, while an extensive public consultation could cause a lengthy delay.

“People have been calling for this for some time,” Galloway said. “Originally we were not wanting to do this because people were supposed to stay home … But now that people are being encouraged to get out, we need to respond.”

Traffic volumes on area roads are down about a third during the pandemic, with a recent increase from a low of about 50 per cent as more businesses open and people begin returning to work.

Regional staff recommended the closure of curb lanes on: King Street/Coronation Boulevard/Dundas Street from Bishop Street to Beverly Street, Cambridge; Westmount Road from Queen’s Boulevard to University Avenue, Kitchener and Waterloo; Frederick Street from Weber Street to Lancaster Street, Kitchener; Erb Street from Westmount Road to Caroline Street, Waterloo; Erb from Peppler Street to Margaret Avenue (one lane only), Waterloo; Bridgeport Road, King Street to Margaret Avenue (one lane only), Waterloo. Find the survey at www.engagewr.ca/rapid-real location-road-space-covid19.

The plan sparked Zeitspace to create a web-based app to help people in the region easily contact their elected regional councillors. Active transportation is an issue the Waterloo-based software consultancy cares about, and the proposal for the new temporary bike lanes is the focus for the app hosted at covid.zeitspace.com that launched Friday.

People just fill in their information and then can quickly send a letter of support to all regional councillors.

“Press a button and boom, it’s off to council,” said Zeitspace partner Jeff Fedor. “We just wanted to make it easy for everyone.”