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Kitchener Budget Analysis: 2019 and 2020

Posted on December 11, 2019December 26, 2019 by Emily Slofstra
Posted in: Advocacy

It’s budget season! Municipalities are starting to release draft operating and capital budgets for the 2020 fiscal year. We’ll be posting our analysis of both the 2019 budgets and the draft 2020 budgets for Waterloo Region municipalities as they’re released. Find them all on our Budget Advocacy page.

First up: Kitchener

Kitchener is the first local municipality to release its draft 2020 budget, and we’re excited about the strong commitment to improving access to active transportation options. Before 2019, only 0.6% of the roads in Kitchener had protected bike lanes, so we’re glad that we’ll be achieving a little more balance on our roadways.

Read on to see how cycling fared in Kitchener’s 2019 budget and what’s coming up in the 2020 budget.

Kitchener’s 2019 budget

Kitchener introduced several separated bike lane projects in the 2019 budget, then funded and built them all in the same year, which was very exciting! Kitchener’s 2019 budget had a commitment of $4.535 million, more than twice what we asked for in our election pledge! Here’s what that covered:

  • A Dutch-inspired roundabout at Huron & Strasburg (deferred to 2020) and separated bike lanes (Water, Belmont, and Queens): $1 million
  • Projects in the Cycling Master Plan: $300,000:
    • Contraflow bike lanes on Young Street and Duke Street East
    • Franklin Street bike lanes (Weber to Trafalgar)
    • Stirling Avenue bike lanes (Mausser to Russel)
  • Trails
    • Courtland Avenue multi-use trail: $365,000
    • Iron Horse Trail improvements: $480,000 for trestle bridge replacement & approximately $1.92 million spent in 2019 (expecting to be 80% complete a $2.4 million tender)
    • Laurentian Trail paving from Fischer Hallman to Williamsburg: $60,000
    • Butler Lane multi-use trail: $30,000
    • Strasburg Road multi-use trail (East side, Huron Road to Huron Heights Secondary School): $80,000 (from Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling program [80% provincial funding; 20% from the city])
  • Winter maintenance: $300,000

Besides investing financially, Kitchener staff are invested in making the city a better place to travel for all road users. They do a great job of answering questions from residents and have been working hard on Complete Streets and the Cycling & Trails Master Plan. We look forward to working with them again in 2020.

Kitchener’s 2020 budget

The 2020 budget for the City of Kitchener includes over $3 million for cycling infrastructure and continuing to build the grid—we have high hopes for a minimum downtown grid by 2022!

  • $1.3 million for implementation of the Cycling & Trails Master Plan (CTMP). The plan will go to council in the spring and will determine specific project timelines.
  • $600,000 for paving the Traynor-Vanier trail.
  • Road projects with active transportation components including Mill Street, Stirling Avenue and Ontario Street.
  • $1.1 million specifically for funding strategic plan projects (including the downtown protected grid and Gaukel Street pedestrian greenway).

We also look forward to seeing the completion of the Dutch-inspired roundabout and reports on the outcomes of the protected cycling pilot on Belmont & Queen’s.

What you can do to help get adequate funding for cycling infrastructure in Kitchener:

  1. Fill out the Kitchener budget survey on EngageWR by January 3, 2020.
  2. Send a thank you message to your city councillor to let them know you appreciate the investments in cycling and trails!
  3. Join our mailing list to ensure you get calls to action in 2020 such as showing up at council to support the CTMP if necessary or providing input on the final maps on EngageWR.
  4. If you don’t live in Kitchener, but bike through the city, you can still email council to let them know you appreciate the work that’s being done or send an email of thanks to the mayor (mayor@kitchener.ca).
  5. Like & share this video with all your friends to promote the Cycling & Trails Master Plan:

Stay tuned for our analysis of the rest of the Waterloo Region Municipalities as they release their budgets over the next month. Think we missed something? Send your comments and feedback to hello@cyclewr.ca.

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CycleWR
Join us online on Thursday, January 21, from 7:30 Join us online on Thursday, January 21, from 7:30 – 9:00pm for a look at what we accomplished in 2020 and what’s coming up for cycling in the region in 2021 and beyond.

Active transportation leads from the three cities and the region who will be joining us:
 
• Lisa Chominiec
Sustainable Transportation Coordinator, City of Cambridge
 
• Liz Christensen
Design & Construction Project Manager, City of Kitchener
 
• Darren Kropf
Active Transportation Planning Project Manager, City of Kitchener
 
• Louise Finlay
Project Manager, Bikeways, Trails and Greenspaces, City of Waterloo
 
• Kornel Mucsi
Manager, Transportation Planning, Region of Waterloo

Check the link in our bio for meeting instructions.
Are you curious about winter biking or determined Are you curious about winter biking or determined to give it a try this season? Our next Virtual Folks & Spokes welcomes Elysha and Sarah-Beth to share their winter-biking experience! 

Join us online on Thursday, November 19, from 7:30 – 8:30 pm. to learn about biking in cold weather, bike maintenance tips, and more. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions and for other participants to chat about their winter-biking experience, too.

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Meet Elysha

I'm Elysha! (she/they)

I'm a winter cyclist. I couldn't decide on adjectives for that because sometimes it's fun and sometimes it is horrible, but I always do it anyway. I've been riding my bike through the winters for around 10 years. You also may know me from my mending and upcycling project, @beyondrepair519, where I share my textile artwork.

On Thursday, my partner Scott will be joining me as a model for some of our winter cycling tips. He works more closely with bike stuff in the region—mostly cycling education right now, but he was also a mechanic for a long time. We have been loving the recent heat wave but don't want to be caught off guard when winter hits!

Join us and share what you know/learn more about how to get your bike ready for winter.

---

Meet Sarah-Beth and Ryan

Sarah-Beth (she/her) and Ryan (he/him) have been biking with their kids - ages 8 and 5 - for the past 4 years. You may know Ryan from being featured on Instagram as part of our #WinterRiders storytelling last year. He was a first-time winter bike rider last year. This year, Sarah-Beth is hopping on the bandwagon and they're bringing their kids along with them. They'll share their experiences figuring out how to prepare for the cold months ahead, and how to keep their kids interested and safe along with them. 

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We use Zoom video conferencing to host Virtual Folks & Spokes. It works on most computers and modern mobile devices.

If this is your first time using Zoom, we recommend joining a few minutes early.

Visit the link in our bio to launch the Zoom meeting.
The next Folks & Spokes will be hosted online on T The next Folks & Spokes will be hosted online on Thursday, October 15 at 7:30 – 8:30 pm.

We will kick things off with special guest Kornel Mucsi, the new Transportation Planning Manager at the Region of Waterloo. Kornel will share some of his experience from leading the Active Transportation program in Ottawa for the last decade as well as his early impressions and directions for Waterloo Region.

After question and answer with Kornel, we will continue with a casual discussion of anything and everything biking.

To participate, find the Zoom video call link in our bio!
Cycling into the Future, in cooperation with Cycle Cycling into the Future, in cooperation with CycleWR, STSWR and ClimateActionWR is offering one or more cycling training sessions for students ages 5 and up. 

Please indicate your interest and availability with this form:

https://bit.ly/2ZWGDxw

These practical sessions will cover various components including:

* Tips for teaching how to ride for beginners
* Proper helmet fit
* Bike handling skills
* Hand signals and road signs
* Bike lane etiquette
* Parent session: how to coach kids while riding with them
* Simple bicycle maintenance
* Tips for riding in fall and winter

The sessions will be held in a parking lot with an optional on-road session for grades 4 and up. Parents must accompany their children, and all participants must practice social distancing with non-family participants.
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