CycleWR
Member loginBecome a member
Menu
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About CycleWR
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact us
  • Advocacy
    • Discover your Superpower: Walking & Wheeling to School
    • #HumansWhoCycleWR
    • Budget Advocacy
    • Rides with councillors
    • Cycling infrastructure map
    • The benefits of bike lanes (infographic)
    • Bike parking guide
    • I Bike, I Vote pledge
  • Get involved
  • Links
Menu

Ride with Candidates: Sarah Marsh, Kitchener (Ward 10)

Posted on October 16, 2018October 16, 2018 by Emily Slofstra
Posted in: I bike I vote, Rides with Candidates

In the months before the 2018 municipal election, CycleWR volunteers have been taking municipal electoral candidates for bike rides to show off the best and worst of the cycling infrastructure in their ward/city/region. For a full list of completed rides, click here. CycleWR is a non-partisan organization that does not support any particular party or candidate. Summaries are written by volunteers or candidates and may not reflect the mandate or views of CycleWR. For more information, contact us at hello@cyclewr.ca.

CycleWR volunteer Jenn took Ward 10 incumbent Sarah Marsh on a bike ride. Here’s how it went:

Had a great chat and bike ride with @Marsh_Ward10 and @Cycle_WR, showing some of the best and worst places to bike in my neighbourhood! I hope we can work together to improve bike friendliness! pic.twitter.com/mrPeqaAla2

— Jenn Dellow (@jenndknitmaster) August 14, 2018

Sarah is definitely interested in improving cycling in the city. She agrees with the need for a minimum grid, and urges CycleWR to put forward our recommendation and keep pushing for it. We talked about how it’s best for council to hear from one voice (one group) giving one set of recommendations, rather than hearing from individual cyclists whose needs and priorities are all different.

We did a loop starting from my place on Dekay Street, all within Ward 10. I highlighted:

  • The recent redo of Guelph Street that had space for bike infrastructure, but has instead lots of parking and many “share the road” signs.
  • The narrow unfriendliness of Lancaster (the city’s portion of it), and why we would be taking an alternative route south.
  • The nice Margaret Street lanes, until they end abruptly at Victoria, and how that discourages many possible cyclists and confuses everyone.
  • Two intersections of Lancaster: with Frederick, and with Krug/Weber. Both are very unsafe for both drivers and cyclists, for different reasons.
  • The very nice, wide East Avenue bike lanes, which are one of my favourite bits of bike lane: between the width, the painted buffer, and the shade trees, it’s always comfortable.
  • The narrower Duke Street, which used to be a good route parallel to downtown, but isn’t anymore where the tracks have been added (I know this is no longer a city street, but it was the best route home within our ward).

We mostly felt very safe, since we are both comfortable, experienced cyclists. We did get honked at once (on Otto Street) because there wasn’t space between us and a boulevard for a car to pass, and we talked about how unnecessarily aggressive that was. The route was mostly a mix of bike lanes and wider side streets, with only a couple of narrower places where we could not talk.

My two priorities would be to fill the gaps in current infrastructure to make a grid of usable routes through and across town, consisting of bike lanes and separated infrastructure (not just sharrows or signed routes); and to provide proper winter maintenance on bike routes and lanes. My hope is that council will start to see on-street parking as optional, and remove more of it to make space for cycling infrastructure.

Excited to be off for a Ward 10 bike ride with @jenndknitmaster @Cycle_WR pic.twitter.com/CqPLId2T32

— Sarah Marsh (@Marsh_Ward10) August 14, 2018

Related

Join our mailing list to find out about events and ways to help

Talk to us

Email hello@cyclewr.ca

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

See what’s up on Instagram

cycle_wr

CycleWR
CycleWR is now a non-profit. Become a member today CycleWR is now a non-profit. Become a member today and help us change the conversation about cycling in Waterloo Region. Members help support and guide our work, get access to discounts, and more!Get your membership:
cyclewr.ca/join(Link in bio)
Cycling Risk SurveyCycleWR is keenly interested Cycling Risk SurveyCycleWR is keenly interested to learn more about how people in our community view cycling infrastructure. We have created a survey that delves into how people perceive the many infrastructure options that we find in Waterloo Region.We know that there is a lot of diversity in the comfort levels that people experience while cycling. We want to know: Will you only ride on trails and physically separated facilities? Which street designs do you find safest? How do you feel about one-way versus two-way cycle tracks? Which cycling facilities do you prefer to see when you are driving a car? We ask all these questions and more.This survey will inform our advocacy and the results will be shared both publicly and with municipal staff who are designing new facilities. The survey is quite detailed, so you’ll want to set aside 10-15 minutes to complete it. Please share it widely – we want to reach many people with varying levels of experience, from non-cyclists and beginners to daily riders.Start the survey now - the link is our bio (https://forms.gle/RLASz6joa27NUX8T7)Please respond by March 21st.Thank you!
What cycling projects are Waterloo, Kitchener, Cam What cycling projects are Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, and the Region funding in 2021? Find out in our budget analyses. Link in bio.
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 WaterlooCheck the link in our bio for meeting instructions.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Organizations who’ve signed the pledge

queen street yoga
Swift Labs logo
Zero Waste Bulk
Full Circle Foods
Greycoat Software Inc.
Ziggy's Cycle & Sport, Kitchener Ontario.
Open Sesame
KW Professional Organizers
Coretec logo

Browse blog posts by category

  • Advocacy
  • CycleWR news
  • Cycling tips
  • Events
  • I bike I vote
  • Infrastructure
  • Rides with Candidates

Browse blog posts by tag

bicycle racks bike racks bike to school budgets cambridge covid-19 kitchener kitchener Ward 1 kitchener ward 7 kitchener ward 8 kitchener ward 9 kitchener ward 10 merch parking regional chair regional councillor region of waterloo waterloo waterloo mayor waterloo ward 3 waterloo ward 4 waterloo ward 5 waterloo ward 7
©2022 CycleWR | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme