April 2015 - AT-Network - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

Peer to peer bike share
by tjzdan50＠gmail.com 06 Apr '15

06 Apr '15

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More traffic congestion in Kingston? Bring it on, say transportation experts
by Beth McKechnie 01 Apr '15

01 Apr '15

More traffic congestion in Kingston? Bring it on, say transportation expertsKingston Heritage By Bill Hutchins <http://www.kingstonregion.com/news-story/5535536-more-traffic-congestion-in…> http://www.kingstonregion.com/news-story/5535536-more-traffic-congestion-in… News – If you think some Kingston roads are congested now, you’d better get used to it. The city is in the process of updating its Transportation Master Plan (TMP), and one of the strategies is to allow traffic congestion to get worse. “It’s not nice to drive if the capacity of that road is virtually reached,” explained Valerie McGirr with AECOM, the consulting firm hired to help the city map out its long-term transportation needs. Experts told council that extending local road capacity to its maximum design is more likely to persuade automobile users to consider alternate transportation means such as car-pooling, public transit and cycling. “This is how we further help people make that choice,” McGirr told council March 24. The TMP’s first update since 2009 sets new long-term goals to promote active transportation while reducing reliance on car travel. In 2004, automobile use was the dominant form of transportation, representing an 82 per cent share of all commuters in Kingston. By 2009, the automobile mode share was down to 76 per cent. Experts believe Kingston can further reduce that figure to 69 per cent by the year 2034. At the same time, they’re forecasting an increase in active transportation users (walking and cycling) from a 12 per cent share in 2004 to 17 per cent by 2034. Public transit is projected to rise from just a three per cent share in 2004 to 9 per cent in 2034. Getting people out of their cars and into more sustainable forms of transportation is a cornerstone policy of the proposed 2015 TMP update, which council is expected to approve later this year. A city-funded telephone and online survey of 846 residents conducted last year identified the top reasons that influence travel choices. The majority of respondents, 38 per cent, said they were swayed by convenience, 25 per cent said travel time and 14 per cent said it was the cost. Regardless of the mode of travel, the survey also looked at what residents consider as “very important” improvements that need to be made; 48 per cent want more multi-use trails for pedestrians and cyclists, 42 per cent want transit improvements along with designated carpool and park-and-ride facilities, 41 per cent identified building and widening roads, and 39 per cent favoured more cycling lanes. The city has already invested millions of dollars to install new sidewalks and bicycle lanes, and officials promise that more will be done down the road. At the same time, experts want to increase the threshold by which traffic engineers determine whether roads need to be widened. The former standard to determine whether a particular road was a candidate for expansion was when traffic counts reached 90 per cent capacity during peak periods. The new standard is 100 per cent. It’s a standard that’s already been adopted by communities such as Ottawa, London, Waterloo Region and Burlington. “This LOS (level of service) threshold will allow the City to defer capital costs until roads reach capacity,” said a report by director of engineering Mark Van Buren. He added: “Given that the population forecasts for the City of Kingston are forecast to peak in 2034 and then gradually decline, it is reasonable to adopt a higher level of congestion.” For example, two-lane Bayridge Drive is already a busy commuter route for suburban motorists. Yet city officials confirmed they have no plans to widen Bayridge to four lanes to ease the weekday morning and afternoon congestion. What they have done, however, is launch a west end-to-downtown 15-minute peak express transit service, and more express busses will be added this May to the central and east end areas of Kingston. “We are emphasising the active modes,” explained McGirr during a presentation to council. Coun. Rob Hutchison says increased bus service frequency is what the city should be striving for. “Ten minute service is one of the thresholds where you see people being willing to leave their cars and that’s why I think it’s something we should seriously look at.” While many councillors appear enthusiastic with the active transportation vision, they are not about to abandon the needs of motorists completely. In fact, the TMP has identified some key road projects that should be built over the next 20 years, subject to final council approval. The list includes the third bridge crossing over the Cataraqui River, completing the controversial Wellington Street extension, finishing the widening of John Counter Blvd. with a bridge over the CN tracks, extending two-lane Bayridge Drive (Sierra Avenue to Creekford Road), extending Cataraqui Woods Drive east (Centennial Drive to Sydenham Road), extending four-lane Centennial Drive (Cataraqui Woods to Gardiners Road), widening Highway 15 to four lanes (Highway 2 to Gore Road) and connecting Leroy Grant Drive (Concession Street and Elliott Avenue.) The expensive road projects, coupled with improvements to transit, intersections and pavement widening for cycling lanes, adds up to $293 million over the next two decades.

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WFP Analysis: Don't destroy Arlington Bridge (Apr.1'15)
by Beth McKechnie 01 Apr '15

01 Apr '15

Don't destroy Arlington BridgeHistoric structure can be converted to pedestrian/cycling corridor By: Catherine Mitchell <catherine.mitchell(a)freepress.mb.ca> http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/dont-destroy-arlington-br… It was a good start to another season, even with the double wipeout, on the same day. Getting on the bike March 9 was a personal victory -- I'm not one of the ninja cyclists grinding the gears through the dead of winter. (Thick skin; stout heart. Not me.) Construction season has also started early on Route 90 this year. They're working on sewer drains north of Silver Avenue, and there's more work to come this summer. I'm already hating the drive, hating the person behind my wheel. Cycling's good for the heart. Which brings me to the Arlington Bridge: It's not on my work route, but it's on my mind. It's 103 years old, and they want to tear it down. The city posted a public list of options, but it's clear the administration sees it coming down. It's crumbling, and a do-over is cheaper. The deck is corroded. The trusses may be salvageable (they still have to be assessed) but if the bridge is to be widened, that's not possible. A wider bridge would require rebuilding the piers that are supported on timber piles more than a century old. "If you're going to invest in another bridge for vehicles, you would have to rebuild the piers," says project manager Brad Neirinck. All prohibitively expensive. So, what they are mulling over (even amid talk of moving the CP rail yards; a generational project if ever it materializes) is whether to raise a new bridge over the CP rail yards at Arlington or move the crossing to another location, reviving the option of a bridge at McGregor. I agree designing a vehicle bridge would see the existing span pulled down. But we should wait to see how the numbers line up before condemning Arlington outright. The city is expected to produce a report in the fall. Neirinck was skeptical the superstructure -- the lattice-like work of riveted steel beams that gives the span its profile -- could be saved. But it should stay. We've got to stop putting cars before people, and Arlington Street is a good place to do that. This busy bus route is technically too narrow for the two lanes of traffic either way that happens every rush hour. A better option is to turn the curb lanes and sidewalks into pedestrian/cycling corridors. The Arlington crossing can be part of the corridor, although its approach is steep. The bridge, closed to trucks and buses since 1972 because of deck deterioration, sees about 15,000 vehicles per day. That can be shunted, partially to a rebuilt McPhillips underpass, facing a re-do of its own because its clearance is too low. A bridge at McGregor/Sherbrook would be the more natural conduit to residential expansion in Winnipeg's northwest because McGregor doesn't narrow to a glorified goat path the way Arlington does. Turn Arlington Bridge into a pedestrian/cycling bridge. Illuminate the girding, tear off the sidewalk cages that imprison walkers, and turn the bridge into a venue for public events, as other cities in North America have done with decommissioned rail/vehicle crossings. The cities of Newport, Ky., and Cincinnati, Ohio, did exactly that to preserve a gorgeous, trussed rail bridge opened in 1872 across the Ohio River. Closed to cars in 2001, it was painted purple, and for a short time people could walk up and over the five truss humps (purplepeoplebridge.com). At 2,670 feet, the crossing can be rented for wedding receptions, fundraisers and dinners. New York's Walkway over the Hudson (walkway.org) was opened in 2009 after a mammoth rebuild to save a 127-year-old rail crossing abandoned after a fire in 1974. At more than two kilometres, it is the world's longest, elevated pedestrian bridge and has given life to a state historic park. These are laudable conservation efforts that make the case saving Arlington is possible. In other cities, new pedestrian/cycling bridges are becoming architectural installations. Austin's Pfluger Bridge, on the Colorado River, is more a park than an overpass and has been credited with some of the best views of the cityscape and its sunsets. Have you seen how a retiring sun can set rail yards and its cars shimmering? It's Winnipeg's time to step into the 21st century, to defer to its growing cycling community. This is an opportunity to stitch together a historic divide. City council's Build Canada wish list is an aggressive vote to move more steel on the roads faster. But there's got to be room in a city to slow it down. Divert it. Give residents a space on Arlington to connect by pulling together the North End, inner city and the south. The gritty, storied stretches of Logan and Dufferin there are loaded with potential for rebirth as a hub of human activity. Let's start talking about that. Catherine Mitchell is a Free Press editorial board member. catherine.mitchell(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wfpcmitchell Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 1, 2015 A9

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