AGENDA Brockville Cycling Advisory Committee Thursday, February 11, 2016, 5:00 pm City Hall, Boardroom Page Disclosure of Interest Approval of the Agenda THAT the Agenda of the February 11, 2016 meeting of the Brockville Cycling Advisory Committee be approved. Chair's Remarks Approval of the Minutes 3-7 THAT the minutes of the Brockville Cycling Advisory Committee meeting dated January 14, 2016 be adopted as circulated. New Business Arising from the Minutes Delegations/Presentations Nil. Correspondence & Communications 8-10 1. Alan's Notes - feedback/concerns re: Laurier Cycle Track Staff Reports Sub-Committee and Member Reports/Project Updates 1. Sorting out of Phase 1 - BCAC and City 2. Brock Trail Update New Business 1. Starting Phase II planning Page 1 of 10
BCAC Agenda February 11, 2016 2. Tourism Office - new map with cycle routes 3. Upcoming events: Cycle Tourism Summit in Toronto - March 4 Ontario Bike Summit in Toronto - April 19-20 Eastern Ontario Active Transportation Summit in Kemptville - May 13 Adjournment THAT the Brockville Cycling Advisory Committee meeting be adjourned until its next regular meeting scheduled for March 10, 2016. Page 2 of 10
Committee Minutes Brockville Cycling Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday, January 14, 2016, 5:00 pm City Hall, Boardroom Members Present: Mr. Alan Medcalf, Chair Mr. Hugh Campbell, Vice Chair Ms. Kathleen Lowe Mr. Dennis FitzGerald Mr. Doug George Ms. J. Labelle, LLG Health Unit Mr. Dave LeSueur, Councillor Mr. Douglas Lumsden Mr. Robert MacKenzie Mr. Robert Panter Mr. Lee Sample Absent: Mr. Peter Meier Mr. Tim Webb Staff: Mr. Conal Cosgrove, Director of Operations Ms. Lynn Murray, Deputy City Clerk (Recording Secretary) DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST Nil. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Moved by: Kathleen Seconded by: Bob M. THAT the Agenda of the January 14, 2016 meeting of the Brockville Cycling Advisory Committee be approved. CARRIED Page 1 of 5 Page 3 of 10
City of Brockville BCAC Meeting Minutes - Thursday, January 14, 2016 ELECTION 1. Election of the Chair and Vice Chair Conal called for nominations for Chair, Dennis nominated Alan. There were no other nominations and Alan accepted the position of Chair. Conal called for nominations of Vice-Chair, Doug G. nominated Hugh. There were no other nominations for Vice-chair, Hugh accepted and was nominated for the position of Vice-Chair. CHAIR'S REMARKS Alan welcomed everyone to this evening's meeting. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES Moved by: Hugh Seconded by: Dennis THAT the minutes of the Brockville Cycling Advisory Committee meeting dated November 12, 2015 be adopted as circulated. NEW BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES Nil. DELEGATIONS/PRESENTATIONS 1. Janet Hall - Laurier Boulevard Ms. Hall began by saying as a resident of Laurier Boulevard she was shocked when she heard the news of the purposed installation of bike lanes on Laurier Boulevard. She added that there was a large representation from that street here tonight to voice their concerns. CARRIED Alan Medcalf, Chair of the Brockville Cycling Advisory Committee notified the people present that they had held 6 Public Information sessions throughout the City. They had advertised notice of these meetings in the Recorder and Times Newspaper as well as the local radio and finally on the Page 2 of 5 Page 4 of 10
City of Brockville BCAC Meeting Minutes - Thursday, January 14, 2016 City s website and Facebook page. Ms. Cathey McNamme stated that she was a 40 years resident of Laurier Blvd. and felt that this proposal was not only a safety concern but it would also add more congestion to an already very busy street. Harold Lessard who has also resided on Laurier Blvd for 40 years circulated diagrams that related to width of the road and vehicles that regularly travel it, such as fire trucks and school buses. He listed a number of times of day and circumstances where it would be unsafe to cycle on Laurier. For example, during shift changes at the plants located within the adjacent industrial park. Mr. Lessard asked Mr. Cosgrove if the Ministry of Transportation has to approve this change. Mr. Cosgrove responded that they do not. John Johnston stated he has lived on Laurier Blvd for 30 years. He reported that he and his neighbour had a car accident a few years back just trying to exit their laneways. Mr. Johnston informed the committee that he has sent the Mayor 15 emails regarding this topic. He would like to forward these emails to the committee. James Close handed out a letter to the committee members. He is concerned with losing the parking spots in front of his house. He stated that his family members park on the street when they come to visit him. Mr. Close reported that when the apartment building near him is clearing the lot its tenants park on the south side of the street. He added that the when the Toyota dealership is receiving a shipment of cars they off load them on the south side of the street. Mr. Close wondered if the bollards are installed will they be removed in the winter. Mr. Cosgrove replied that this is not decided yet as they are still in consultation with similar communities who have already installed bollards. Mr. Close suggested using Centennial Road instead as there are fewer residences on that road. Jennifer Lassard described how they have a home near them that is run by BACLA that often needs extra parking for staff etc. Where will they park? Page 3 of 5 Page 5 of 10
City of Brockville BCAC Meeting Minutes - Thursday, January 14, 2016 Yvonne Hess stated that due to the lay of the land even if there is one car parked she can t see to get out or her laneway. Barry Hall reported that he was rear ended 4 years ago waiting to turn into his laneway. He believes this committee is really underestimating the amount of traffic on this street. Mr. Hall remarked that within the report it states where feasible and appropriate and feels this is the statement that gives them an out. Alan suggested that many of the concerns centre on speed and danger of crossing the street. He said they don t have all the answers right now but they are working towards a complete cycle network. He added that they are committed to active transportation and linking the cycle network to the Brock Trail which is the back bone. Alan explained the process to the group present; confirming that this design is not a done deal, there is still work to be done. The committee agreed that they should have sent letters to all residents of streets where there are proposed changes. In the future they will hold another Open House and notify all the citizens potentially affected, by mail. CORRESPONDENCE & COMMUNICATIONS Nil. STAFF REPORTS Nil. SUB-COMMITTEE AND MEMBER REPORTS/PROJECT UPDATES 1. Sorting out Phase I - BCAC and City Time did not permit a discussion on this topic. 2. Brock Trail Update Time did not permit a discussion on this topic. Page 4 of 5 Page 6 of 10
City of Brockville BCAC Meeting Minutes - Thursday, January 14, 2016 NEW BUSINESS 1. Feedback/concerns re: Laurier cycle track See delegation. 2. Request letter of support from the Tunnel Committee Alan stated that he has drafted a letter of support for the Tunnel Committee. He will circulate it to the Committee members, if everyone is content with is contents he will forward to Dave LeSueur who is the Chairman of that committee. 3. Start Phase II planning? Time did not permit a discussion on this topic. 4. Tourism Office - new map with cycle routes Time did not permit a discussion on this topic. ADJOURNMENT Moved by: Lee THAT the Brockville Cycling Advisory Committee meeting be adjourned until its next regular meeting scheduled for February 11, 2016. The meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m. CARRIED Page 5 of 5 Page 7 of 10
Notes from Laurier Blvd delegation to Cycling Advisory Committee on January 14, 2016 There was one person listed as delegation. The meeting chair elected to allow anyone to speak, asking them to please focus on new items rather than repeating comments of others. At the beginning of the meeting they counted themselves as 32. Two identified as not living on Laurier. It looked like there were at least 4 couples, giving us a representation of about 26 homes on Laurier. There are approximately 112 single-family residences along Laurier, plus the multi-family dwellings west of Kensington. There are many more families in the catchment area who will also be served by a safe cycling link to the Brock Trail network. Following are concerns expressed by the delegation, accompanied by comments which could form part of a response: 1. The group expressed outrage about a lack of notice for the proposed protected cycle track on Laurier. The group expressed surprise about learning via the article in the R&T. (Comment: There were six public information sessions held last May, with notice given on FaceBook, local radio, R&T and city s website. BCAC s minutes show that delivering flyers to every residence in Brockville was planned, yet then abandoned due to lack of resources. The sessions were held in various venues around the city, including the community room at 1000 Islands Mall, and the Laurier firehall. A separate session was also held for the Silver Spokes seniors cycling club. 92 people attended the general information sessions. All BCAC agendas, minutes and presentations to FAO and Council are available on the City s website. The Laurier segment is published in the Official Plan of 2009, which followed extensive public consultation. Members of the delegation claimed not to read the R&T, listen to local radio, or follow notices on the City s website.) 2. A common concern expressed by many is that traffic on Laurier is excessive in volume, speed and recklessness. The group claims many people drive bumper to bumper at excessive rates of speed, wander across the width of the road to take bends at high speed, and run stop signs from side streets. The excessive speeds make sightlines from driveways and side streets problematic. They complain that too many cut across Laurier from Stewart. They claim Laurier is too dangerous for anyone riding a bike. Some said a bike lane is not needed bikers should just obey the rules and join the traffic. (Comment: The group is ill-informed on planning and use of public roads for moving people and goods, especially with respect to best practices in accommodating multi-modal use.) 3. Concerns were expressed about losing parking in front of their homes. One person suggested they be compensated for their loss. (Comment: One reason for implementing the cycling facility as a two-way cycle track is to leave one side of this four lane road free for parking. BCAC s surveys never counted more than 15 cars parked on Laurier at any one time, between Briarwood and Stewart. Roads are for moving people and goods first, with on-street parking being a secondary priority.) Ver2 1 Page 8 of 10
4. Concerns were expressed about snow removal, winter treatment of bollards and garbage pickup. (Comment: As noted at Council, we are still gathering best practices from other cities on these items. Not mentioned yet in the same context is street sweeping operations. They re manageable we need to map out a treatment and evolution that works for us.) 5. Cathey McNamee, a real estate agent living on Laurier, claims that a cycling facility will lower property values. (Comment: Patently false, as evidenced by several case studies showing that property values will increase as the street becomes more attractive to families) 6. Concerns were expressed about drop-off and pick-up of school students, and residents at a group home. (Comment: There are no formal school drop-off zones on Laurier will need to review. Will also need to examine the group home requirements.) 7. Concerns were expressed about the cycle track taking one lane of the road with parking taking a lane, there won t be enough space for fire trucks and ambulances. (This is not a problem on two lane roads with parking anywhere else in the City Perth St near King St W for instance.) 8. Concern was expressed for people using the playing fields at Memorial Park on weekends and the use of Laurier adjacent to the Park for parking. (Comment: This has been recognized and is under discussion. The cycle track may be routed off-road onto the adjacent park space as a multi-use path, to allow on-street parking to continue.) The delegations comments lasted the two scheduled hours of the meeting. During comments, a number of questions were raised. Apart from outlining the process going forward, there was no time, nor was the forum conducive, to responding. Key questions to be addressed: a) What about snow removal, bollards, garbage pickup, street sweeping? b) How to address pick-up/drop-off for group home, schools? c) Why do we need bike lanes, and why on Laurier instead of Centennial? d) What about their parking? e) What are the next steps? What s the process? The next steps in the process were outlined for the group development of an implementation plan addressing the logistics around items a and b listed above. We committed to a public open house our intent would be to invite a broad base of public interest. The emphasis would be on education which would also address items c and d. Ver2 2 Page 9 of 10
With respect to item c, several members of the group asked why a cycle track is needed, given the low cycling counts. Cycling and traffic counts conducted on Laurier at Bridlewood in November showed an active transportation modal share of 3% to 6% (the number of vehicle occupants was not tallied). Ontario-wide research along with experience in other Ontario communities suggests that activity is inhibited by the current traffic situation on Laurier, and that modal share will increase dramatically with the introduction of a separated cycle track. Comments collected from residents at the Official Plan public sessions as well as the cycling committee s information sessions showed a clear desire for better support for cycling, as well as evidence of latent demand. Attention from the Police Service is apparently needed to manage current traffic behaviour on Laurier. Despite our best efforts, it s difficult reaching people who are, for any number of reasons, not well-informed on civic issues. Education and outreach is needed; Council s support is needed if the City s plan is to be implemented smoothly. -30- Ver2 3 Page 10 of 10