FAQs

The development of recommended alternatives for each project was completed as part of the City’s Integrated Stormwater Master Plan. That report is available on Kitchener’s website.

We monitored and inspected Montgomery Creek before construction. We found that restoring this section of the creek would have the most impact.  

Under certain circumstances where a new trail is proposed directly adjacent to a resident’s backyard, the city will provide fencing, shrubs and trees between the new trail and the resident’s backyard. The specifics of the fencing and planning options will be worked out on a project to project basis.

Yes, the current trail is in the new floodplain. 

We understand how the tree removals impact residents and can assure you that every effort was made to retain as many trees as possible. Grading of the land in and around the watercourse as part of the creek naturalization work requires many trees to be removed. Quite a lot of the tree material that was cut down will be reused in the construction of the new stream banks.  On every stream naturalization project, we have an extensive restoration planting plan which will be executed after the major grading works are completed.  We are confident that once each project is completed it will become a valuable amenity for the community.

We examined each tree to determine if it could survive the construction work. All trees removed would not have survived due to root damage or location within the project. We were able to save some trees that had initially been planned for removal.  

The natural creek was channelized in the 1960s. The existing creek is not a natural habitat - it's a human-made ditch. Through this project, this section of the creek will go from poor habitat to great habitat. Fish will now be able to live out their entire life cycle in this creek.  

The creek banks will be naturalized. We will plant the creek area with 700 native trees and 4000 native shrubs. The seed mix we will use is a meadow mix that includes milkweed. 

Many people are concerned about the increase in tick numbers in urban areas over recent years. The black legged tick can carry and spread a disease called Lyme disease to humans if an infected tick feeds (bites and draws blood) from the person.

Not all ticks carry Lyme disease and even among black legged ticks, not all individual ticks carry the disease. Learn more from the Region of Waterloo.

To help avoid ticks:

• keep to well used trails and away from long grass
• wear long pants and long-sleeved tops if going into less managed spaces and tuck your pants into your socks
• consider using an insect repellent that works to repel ticks
• check yourself when you get back home, especially in areas such as between the legs and armpits
• check your pets regularly and talk to your vet about pet treatments
• if you find a tick on you, follow public health advice to removal and what steps to take

The City of Kitchener doesn't yet have an Invasive Species strategy. A strategy would help us determine how to focus our invasive species management efforts for the greatest impact. This includes deciding which species to target and in what areas of Kitchener. Developing an Invasive Species strategy is scheduled for 2025. Once we begin that work we will be better prepared to respond to these concerns.    

Yes, eventually some of the flowers will be shaded out. This area will go through a natural process called succession. It will start as a meadow and will eventually become more like a forest as the trees mature.

Kitchener City Council awarded the construction tender for this project on March 21, 2022. With that decision, the restoration work will go ahead in May 2022. The trees need to be removed before bird and bat breeding season starts in mid-April. We are using this short window of time to communicate the tree removal news to residents.

Any public engagement opportunity hosted by the City is intended to collect feedback from the community. Any feedback received from these events or from direct communication with the City’s project manager will be forwarded to the consultants responsible for the engineering design work.

The city conducts exterior surveys and photographic inventories prior to construction to document the existing conditions. If construction activities do cause damage it should be possible to compare the damage to the conditions that occurred prior to construction. In general, the City has the responsibility to leave each resident’s property is as good or better condition than at the onset of a project.

We advertise engagement opportunities in a wide variety of ways depending on the project or initiative, using approaches that are appropriate and accessible for the residents most affected by the issue. Some projects, like construction or development projects, also have specific requirements they must follow (example: sending letters to affected residents). 

Here are some ways to stay informed about engagement opportunities:

• Register for a free Engage Kitchener account to get notifications of new opportunities on that site 
• If you have a free My Kitchener account, add the “Engagement opportunities” widget to get those same notifications 
• Subscribe to the public consultations newsfeed and the calendar on the City's website to get notifications about in-person or virtual public meetings

We are committed to inclusive and equitable community engagement.  Our focus is on eliminating barriers from the participation process, ensuring those who are most affected are actively included, measuring our progress through demographic data collection, and committing to ongoing relationship-building and engagement.  We use a wide variety of approaches for engaging the broader community, selecting techniques based on the specifics of the issue or project at hand. For more information, please read our Community Engagement Policy.

The budget for this project is $3,503,859.62. The Montgomery Creek Restoration project is funded in part by the Government of Canada as part of the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund.