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Trails
Can you believe that we used to play in (and skate on) the creek back in the day? The "renaturalized" section between Pattandon and Mill is actually across the street from where it was originally - it was shifted when the concrete channel was put in place.
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(11-05-2022, 06:30 PM)Acitta Wrote:
(11-05-2022, 05:12 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: I'm not sure if there are plans for Homer Watson...FWIW...I'd like to see the whole segment North of Ottawa rethought....it doesn't need 4 lanes (it's another freeway artifact, it would have connected to Frederick/Benton eventually, and Lakeside park would be a freeway).

But I'm doubting anything that grand is planned.

The fencing seems gratuitous though...is there something I'm missing from the pictures or are they just doing the usual insane risk aversion thing?

The drop is quite high and would not be safe for children. There is no fence in Shoemaker Park where there is a slope down to the creek rather than the three layers of granite blocks that are everwhere else.

The very first picture you posted (in the first post) with the bridge railing in the foreground and the grey apartment building in the distance shows a fence where there is no drop, just a gradual slope.

That's the fence I'm talking about. 

The fences with the blocks are...IMO unnecessary but not gratuitous.
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(11-06-2022, 02:18 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(11-05-2022, 06:30 PM)Acitta Wrote: The drop is quite high and would not be safe for children. There is no fence in Shoemaker Park where there is a slope down to the creek rather than the three layers of granite blocks that are everwhere else.

The very first picture you posted (in the first post) with the bridge railing in the foreground and the grey apartment building in the distance shows a fence where there is no drop, just a gradual slope.

That's the fence I'm talking about. 

The fences with the blocks are...IMO unnecessary but not gratuitous.

Yes, you are right. That is the section from Homer Watson to Highland. Perhaps they don't want people trampling on the new plants or treating it like a park.
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Even if the fence is a bit overkill, I'm quite OK with it. I'm just really happy to see the "new" creek, and am looking forward to next spring and summer with more plant growth there.
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After a few years of proper renaturalization this should look very nice indeed.
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(09-08-2022, 11:50 AM)tomh009 Wrote: Maybe they will be extended further in the future? One can hope!

I actually reached out to the city about this a while ago (sort of as a sidenote to another discussion), and this is what I was told in Feb 2022:
In terms of cycling access to Cameron Heights, there are bike lanes on Stirling Avenue currently that students can access the school from. Our Cycling and Trails Master Plan suggests these should be upgraded to protected bike lanes in the future, but that is not currently on our prioritized 10 year capital list.

So it's definitely on their radar, but I would guess they're prioritizing getting new MUTs and bike lanes built and the bike/trail grid fleshed out before going back and rebuilding some of the existing painted lanes. We'll probably see major roads get reconstructed over the next 15-20 years and have protected bike lanes installed as part of that work, much like the upcoming Lancaster rebuild. I asked the same thing about River Road, which has some superwide lanes at points and painted bike lanes, and was told that River would be getting separated lanes or MUTs, pending a more detailed analysis, within the next 5-10 years. East Ave is due for reconstruction in 2-3 years, and has already been identified for an upgrade to separated bike lanes.
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(01-13-2023, 12:01 PM)SF22 Wrote:
(09-08-2022, 11:50 AM)tomh009 Wrote: Maybe they will be extended further in the future? One can hope!

I actually reached out to the city about this a while ago (sort of as a sidenote to another discussion), and this is what I was told in Feb 2022:
In terms of cycling access to Cameron Heights, there are bike lanes on Stirling Avenue currently that students can access the school from. Our Cycling and Trails Master Plan suggests these should be upgraded to protected bike lanes in the future, but that is not currently on our prioritized 10 year capital list.

So it's definitely on their radar, but I would guess they're prioritizing getting new MUTs and bike lanes built and the bike/trail grid fleshed out before going back and rebuilding some of the existing painted lanes. We'll probably see major roads get reconstructed over the next 15-20 years and have protected bike lanes installed as part of that work, much like the upcoming Lancaster rebuild. I asked the same thing about River Road, which has some superwide lanes at points and painted bike lanes, and was told that River would be getting separated lanes or MUTs, pending a more detailed analysis, within the next 5-10 years. East Ave is due for reconstruction in 2-3 years, and has already been identified for an upgrade to separated bike lanes.

That's a funny answer given the bike lanes are blocked with parked cars for 100% of the school pickup and dropoff times.

But in that way, it is truly non-unique.
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(01-13-2023, 12:29 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(01-13-2023, 12:01 PM)SF22 Wrote: I actually reached out to the city about this a while ago (sort of as a sidenote to another discussion), and this is what I was told in Feb 2022:
In terms of cycling access to Cameron Heights, there are bike lanes on Stirling Avenue currently that students can access the school from. Our Cycling and Trails Master Plan suggests these should be upgraded to protected bike lanes in the future, but that is not currently on our prioritized 10 year capital list.

So it's definitely on their radar, but I would guess they're prioritizing getting new MUTs and bike lanes built and the bike/trail grid fleshed out before going back and rebuilding some of the existing painted lanes. We'll probably see major roads get reconstructed over the next 15-20 years and have protected bike lanes installed as part of that work, much like the upcoming Lancaster rebuild. I asked the same thing about River Road, which has some superwide lanes at points and painted bike lanes, and was told that River would be getting separated lanes or MUTs, pending a more detailed analysis, within the next 5-10 years. East Ave is due for reconstruction in 2-3 years, and has already been identified for an upgrade to separated bike lanes.

That's a funny answer given the bike lanes are blocked with parked cars for 100% of the school pickup and dropoff times.

But in that way, it is truly non-unique.

I live on Stirling and regularly ride those lanes. I don't recall ever seeing parked cars on the lanes along the bus parking area. While I occasionally come across a parked car or delivery vehicle on the bike lanes on Stirling, the traffic on that street is low enough that I don't feel that there is any need for protected bike lanes over the current painted ones. There are places in the city with much more urgent need for new cycling infrastructure.
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(01-13-2023, 01:45 PM)Acitta Wrote:
(01-13-2023, 12:29 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: That's a funny answer given the bike lanes are blocked with parked cars for 100% of the school pickup and dropoff times.

But in that way, it is truly non-unique.

I live on Stirling and regularly ride those lanes. I don't recall ever seeing parked cars on the lanes along the bus parking area. While I occasionally come across a parked car or delivery vehicle on the bike lanes on Stirling, the traffic on that street is low enough that I don't feel that there is any need for protected bike lanes over the current painted ones. There are places in the city with much more urgent need for new cycling infrastructure.

Have you ridden there during school pickup and dropoff times? The bike lanes are usually pretty good (there's tons of parking around) but during school pickup and dropoff ... that half an hour or less, it's a disaster....which is also the exact time when kids would be cycling to or from school.

I'm not saying anything about priorities, just about the pessimal claim of "kids can cycle to school" given that school is the one time that it isn't safe to cycle there.
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(01-13-2023, 02:09 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(01-13-2023, 01:45 PM)Acitta Wrote: I live on Stirling and regularly ride those lanes. I don't recall ever seeing parked cars on the lanes along the bus parking area. While I occasionally come across a parked car or delivery vehicle on the bike lanes on Stirling, the traffic on that street is low enough that I don't feel that there is any need for protected bike lanes over the current painted ones. There are places in the city with much more urgent need for new cycling infrastructure.

Have you ridden there during school pickup and dropoff times? The bike lanes are usually pretty good (there's tons of parking around) but during school pickup and dropoff ... that half an hour or less, it's a disaster....which is also the exact time when kids would be cycling to or from school.

I'm not saying anything about priorities, just about the pessimal claim of "kids can cycle to school" given that school is the one time that it isn't safe to cycle there.

I guess that I haven't recently.
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(01-13-2023, 02:26 PM)Acitta Wrote:
(01-13-2023, 02:09 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Have you ridden there during school pickup and dropoff times? The bike lanes are usually pretty good (there's tons of parking around) but during school pickup and dropoff ... that half an hour or less, it's a disaster....which is also the exact time when kids would be cycling to or from school.

I'm not saying anything about priorities, just about the pessimal claim of "kids can cycle to school" given that school is the one time that it isn't safe to cycle there.

I guess that I haven't recently.

I mean, admitted I haven't either, but like all schools, the pickup/dropoff is an utter shitshow.
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(01-13-2023, 02:37 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(01-13-2023, 02:26 PM)Acitta Wrote: I guess that I haven't recently.

I mean, admitted I haven't either, but like all schools, the pickup/dropoff is an utter shitshow.

OK, so the conclusion is that it might be bad, but no one here really knows ...
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Checked out Joseph St and Stewart St today, and utility poles have still not been moved. The trail portion next to the Google parking garage looks finished. Found an update on EngageWR saying construction won't resume until summer 2023; a completely ridiculous timeline for this project.

Quote:Construction on pause until summer 2023

The road reconstruction on Joseph Street and Stewart Street is on pause until the summer of 2023. This is to allow for Hydro and Bell relocation as well as the end of construction at the University of Waterloo's project at 280 Joseph Street.
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(02-19-2023, 10:15 PM)dtkvictim Wrote: Checked out Joseph St and Stewart St today, and utility poles have still not been moved. The trail portion next to the Google parking garage looks finished. Found an update on EngageWR saying construction won't resume until summer 2023; a completely ridiculous timeline for this project.

Quote:Construction on pause until summer 2023

The road reconstruction on Joseph Street and Stewart Street is on pause until the summer of 2023. This is to allow for Hydro and Bell relocation as well as the end of construction at the University of Waterloo's project at 280 Joseph Street.

Complete guess but the latter point sounds like the construction around the new incubator is going to encroach on the new MUT. Itching to have it done as well but if it saves the newly paved infra from getting busted up by construction I think its liveable. Not sure why Stewart St. couldn't get done in the mean time though...
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(02-20-2023, 12:26 PM)cherrypark Wrote:
(02-19-2023, 10:15 PM)dtkvictim Wrote: Checked out Joseph St and Stewart St today, and utility poles have still not been moved. The trail portion next to the Google parking garage looks finished. Found an update on EngageWR saying construction won't resume until summer 2023; a completely ridiculous timeline for this project.

Complete guess but the latter point sounds like the construction around the new incubator is going to encroach on the new MUT. Itching to have it done as well but if it saves the newly paved infra from getting busted up by construction I think its liveable. Not sure why Stewart St. couldn't get done in the mean time though...

AFAIK the project is actually the responsibility of the incubator developer.
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