Safety Review

On Dec 14, 2020, Kitchener City Council approved the Downtown Cycling Network (DCN), connecting the downtown core to adjacent neighbourhoods and broader trail networks. Public consultation showed a strong desire for better-connected cycling routes downtown and for more people-friendly transportation options. The population in downtown continues to grow at a rapid pace in the downtown and many are looking for greater mode choice.

This four-year construction project introduced cycling infrastructure and street designs that are relatively new to the City of Kitchener, including bidirectional protected bike lanes, bike signals, protected intersections and traffic diversion elements. Given these changes, city staff retained Alta Planning + Design, Canada - Inc (in association with Suzanne Woo, P. Eng). to conduct a third-party safety and operations review and evaluate the DCN cycling infrastructure. This review is intended to help the City make informed decisions when pursuing changes to existing built facilities as well as future designs. This review includes the identification of safety considerations, associated risk levels, and proposed and corrective actions where appropriate.

Alta concluded: “The City of Kitchener should be proud of the DCN achievement. In general, the design was found to be exemplary, not only through the introduction of current best-practice methods and features, but through taking advantage of existing low-speed-low-volume environments and undertaking robust consultation with operational stakeholders. At the location-specific level, our team did document some areas of limited to moderate concern that could be addressed with the noted short / medium term mitigation strategies and could benefit to greater extent through permanent changes explored when feasible.”

The full report can be found here on Engage Kitchener.

City staff has reviewed the recommendations in the report. Based on Alta’s risk assessment and available resources, city staff will be prioritizing the following items for safety improvements:

• Comprehensive review of signage to reduce visual clutter
• Improving the crossing of Benton Street/Church Street intersection, in cooperation with the Region of Waterloo
• Installation of pavement markings and flex stakes at Ontario St/Charles St intersection and begin developing design options for potential civil changes to improve northwest quadrant conflict
• Upgrades to the Chapel St/Simeon St diverter, including flex stake adjustments and sightline improvements relating to parking restrictions
• Pavement markings and flex stakes installation to reinforce guidance along the one-way vehicle lane on Ontario Street
• Pavement markings and flex stakes installation to further highlight driveway conflicts on Cedar Street between Charles Street and Church Street

A plan for following up on less urgent or long-term improvements has also been made and city staff will continue monitoring those locations in the meantime.