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Parking in Waterloo Region
The road is vastly overbuilt, like many in the city.

I would love to see bike lanes.

I fear such a suggestion would not go over well with certain residents.
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It was built with the original plan of extending Benton out past Schneider Creek, which never happened.

Current traffic levels could be handled with two lanes, leaving room for both visitor parking and a dedicated bike lane.
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(04-22-2017, 07:34 PM)tomh009 Wrote: It was built with the original plan of extending Benton out past Schneider Creek, which never happened.

Current traffic levels could be handled with two lanes, leaving room for both visitor parking and a dedicated bike lane.

Yes and no.  Parking on one side + bike lane + two travel lanes would be perfectly sufficient for all needs.

But sacrificing parking, even unused parking, for a bike lane....

Well, it's a cynical day for me today.
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(04-22-2017, 02:38 PM)tomh009 Wrote:
(04-22-2017, 09:19 AM)Pheidippides Wrote: http://calendar.regionofwaterloo.ca/Coun...17#page=38

"Regional staff recently installed signs restricting parking along Benton Street (Regional Road 6) between Courtland Avenue (Regional Road 53) and St. George Street which have caused concerns for nearby area residents. In light of these concerns raised, Regional staff have informed area municipal enforcement staff to refrain from issuing tickets and have “bagged” the recently installed signs until further notice. Regional staff plans to undertake a detailed review of parking along Benton Street and will provide a recommendation to Regional Council in the Summer or Fall of 2017."

They sent mail to (all, I presume) residents of the area informing people of the April 25th meeting and offering the option to attend as a delegation.

Does "Arrow Lofts" have an official/collective view on Benton St parking?  I should think that would pretty much settle things for the city, at least wrt Benton.   The only "problem" I've ever seen is with Downtown workers who occasionally try to park there all day.  The City, however, always seemed pretty vigilant about ticketting.
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(04-22-2017, 07:47 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(04-22-2017, 07:34 PM)tomh009 Wrote: It was built with the original plan of extending Benton out past Schneider Creek, which never happened.

Current traffic levels could be handled with two lanes, leaving room for both visitor parking and a dedicated bike lane.

Yes and no.  Parking on one side + bike lane + two travel lanes would be perfectly sufficient for all needs.

But sacrificing parking, even unused parking, for a bike lane....

Well, it's a cynical day for me today.

Sorry, I don't quite understand.  Are you suggesting that they should keep three lanes of traffic and replace the parking with a bike lane?  And that this option would be unpopular and/or rejected?
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(04-23-2017, 08:31 AM)panamaniac Wrote:
(04-22-2017, 02:38 PM)tomh009 Wrote: They sent mail to (all, I presume) residents of the area informing people of the April 25th meeting and offering the option to attend as a delegation.

Does "Arrow Lofts" have an official/collective view on Benton St parking?  I should think that would pretty much settle things for the city, at least wrt Benton.   The only "problem" I've ever seen is with Downtown workers who occasionally try to park there all day.  The City, however, always seemed pretty vigilant about ticketting.

I don't think there is any "official" view. Smile  But many people in the building have been quite concerned about the parking enforcement.

It is somewhat similar to the situation in the suburbs where people want to keep parking available in the front of their houses.  But on the other hand, it's close to 150 units in the building (and soon probably about 300 total, with the second building) and maybe about 100m of parking space, for maximum of 20 cars. 

The reality is that with intensification we have many more people living in the same amount street frontage, and there is frequently little dedicated visitor parking available within any given building.  In the case of Benton St there isn't really much justification for enforcing the parking ban as the traffic volumes clearly do not require two lanes in each direction.  Now, if the street were redeveloped in the future in a different configuration, the discussion might be very different.
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(04-23-2017, 12:27 PM)tomh009 Wrote:
(04-22-2017, 07:47 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Yes and no.  Parking on one side + bike lane + two travel lanes would be perfectly sufficient for all needs.

But sacrificing parking, even unused parking, for a bike lane....

Well, it's a cynical day for me today.

Sorry, I don't quite understand.  Are you suggesting that they should keep three lanes of traffic and replace the parking with a bike lane?  And that this option would be unpopular and/or rejected?

Yes, that is what I am saying.  Mainly I am saying this due to frustration it the complete freak-out that usually follows the suggestion of putting bike lanes in place of one of two parking lanes on a street which never sees 50% utilization.

The same can generally be seen on any road diet though.

I'm just sick and tired of the "right" choice being overruled by fear of change.
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(04-23-2017, 09:23 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: I'm just sick and tired of the "right" choice being overruled by fear of change.

But this fear applies to just about any development that we might discuss on this site, not just road diets.  Momentum is very powerful ...
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Waterloo is looking into the idea of building a new parking garage in Uptown.


http://m.therecord.com/news-story/725982...ark-uptown
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City of Waterloo staff report on parking in the finance agenda (page 38).

1. That CAO2017-027 be approved.
2. That Council approve a zero percent increase (rate freeze) in hourly and permit parking rates for 2018.
3. That Council approve in principle the 2019-2027 hourly parking rate forecast as set out in Tables #3 of report CAO2017-027.
4. That Council approve in principle the 2019-2027 monthly permit rate forecast as set out in Tables #4 of report CAO2017-027.
5. That Council direct staff to include in the 2019 budget process, an annual transfer from the Parking Enterprise to the Tax Base in the amount of $265,000 for Parking’s calculated share of the Corporate Overhead.
6. That Council direct staff to include in the 2019 budget process, an annual transfer from the Tax Base to the Parking Enterprise in the amount of $270,000 to reimburse Parking for the direct cost associated with the provision of ‘no charge’ parking which is a valued Economic Development investment benefiting all Uptown visitors.
7. That Council approve an Electric Vehicle Charging Station user fee of $1/hr.
8. That the Fees & Charges By-law is updated to reflect the Parking rates effective January 1, 2018.


My favourite is #6; I guess free parking does have a cost after all? :-)

If they keep to the scheduled rate increases surface parking rates will match CURRENT GRT cash fare rates by 2022.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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Kitchener parking garage rates remain flat, surface lots up 1.5%, theatre regular rate from $7.50 to $8 and premium from $9 to $10 and electric charging station rates from $0.20/kw to $0.50/kw:

"As presented during the 2017 budget, parking garage rates are recommended to remain flat for 2018 with modest increases of 1.5% on surface lots. The rationale for this change is four fold:
1) The City's parking rates are already the highest in the market;
2) Increasing rates further will only reduce market share as competitor pricing has remained flat;
3) Increasing rates may negatively impact future development in the downtown core; and,
4) Reduction in the supply of parking due to development together with continued demand for surface parking."
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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1) The City's parking rates are already the highest in the market;
2) Increasing rates further will only reduce market share as competitor pricing has remained flat;

There's a waiting list for all city lots in the downtown core and some of them are as long as 2 years. Clearly, the spots are underpriced.
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Mayhap they insist on flat pricing no matter where the parking is?
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(10-28-2017, 09:51 AM)JoeKW Wrote: 1) The City's parking rates are already the highest in the market;
2) Increasing rates further will only reduce market share as competitor pricing has remained flat;

There's a waiting list for all city lots in the downtown core and some of them are as long as 2 years.  Clearly, the spots are underpriced.

So frustrating in the face of continued rate hikes on transit.
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(10-28-2017, 11:09 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(10-28-2017, 09:51 AM)JoeKW Wrote: 1) The City's parking rates are already the highest in the market;
2) Increasing rates further will only reduce market share as competitor pricing has remained flat;

There's a waiting list for all city lots in the downtown core and some of them are as long as 2 years.  Clearly, the spots are underpriced.

So frustrating in the face of continued rate hikes on transit.

Also doesn’t make sense. How can there both be a waiting list and their lots are the most expensive? Wouldn’t their competitors (private businesses) have raised their rates? If it’s true that there is a waiting list they should raise their rates until the waiting list disappears. This is one way in which government actually should operate (more) like a business.
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