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

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

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:

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.