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Ride with Candidates: Dorothy McCabe (Mayoral Candidate, Waterloo)

Posted on October 16, 2022October 16, 2022 by Josh Orita
Posted in: I bike I vote, Rides with Candidates 2022

Leading up to the 2022 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 Martha took Waterloo mayoral candidate Dorothy McCabe out for a bike ride along with a couple other community members. Here’s where we rode and what we talked about:

We started our ride at Waterloo City Hall, and followed a route that took us through the University of Waterloo campus along the Iron Horse Trail, east on Columbia Street West, and south on the Forwell Trail/Laurel Creek trail to loop back to our starting point. The intention of the route was to cover some high traffic areas (pedestrian, cycling, and vehicle), and highlight different styles of bike infrastructure that the City/Region currently have in place.

Dorothy is a cyclist, through and through. She is a CycleWR volunteer, and has been on the other side of these “Ride with Candidate” events in the past, touring prospective regional councillors. She commented on how her bicycle is her main method of getting around town and running errands – it’s great to see some candidates who use bikes on the daily!

During the ride, Dorothy asked about our key priorities when it comes to cycling around the City. Our thoughts:

  • A separated space: multi-use pathways are wonderful, but twinned trails are better! As we rode through Waterloo Park, we commented on how parks and multi-use trails are improved when pedestrians and cyclists (and scooters, etc.) are separated. Dorothy noted that she has heard that some trail walkers feel less safe with increased bicycle and electric bike/scooter traffic – we want trail networks to work for all active transportation users! Twinning trails can help achieve this.
  • Connectivity: This is something Dorothy is already working on! We want bike routes that are connected, and without gaps in high-use areas. Merging into traffic after bike infrastructure (abruptly) ends creates confusion and increases risk. We noticed this first hand when cycling north on Columbia St. W and the cycle lane abruptly stopped after King St. A component of one of Dorothy’s key three issues, “A Greener, More Sustainable City”, is “expand[ing] the equitable, protected, active transportation network and connect[ing] it with the regional network” – it’s what we want to see happen!
  • Protected bike lanes: where cyclists are sharing streets with vehicles, a form of physical barrier (flex bollards etc.) are important in providing protection and keeping cyclists safer. We rode along Columbia St W (Iron Horse Trail to east of Weber St) to show that the painted bike lane is inadequate, and we would prefer to see infrastructure similar to that running along University Ave. Similarly, “bike boxes” for left-hand turns are a sorry excuse for bike infrastructure – at Columbia St W and Phillip St. cars turning left drove right over the painted bike box “infrastructure”. Paint is not infrastructure!
  • Lighting: Investing in lighting along multi-use pathways (e.g. Iron Horse Trail) improves the safety and accessibility of trail networks for cyclists and other trail users. We want to see more lighting like the Farmers Market Trail and the Kitchener half of the Iron Horse. 

Dorothy seems eager and ready to get to work on cycling and active transportation in our City – she mentioned her plan to use the mayoral car allowance for an e-bike, bus pass, and carshare account, instead of a personal vehicle. Leading by example is so important. Let’s get out and vote!

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Are you heading out to the belmontvillagebestival Are you heading out to the belmontvillagebestival this Friday and Saturday? It's the cityofkitchener's last #BikeCheck of the year!
Cycle safely to Belmont Village with the #CyclingGuide App and know your bike is secure while you enjoy the festivities!
Sunday turned out to be great ride day for our soc Sunday turned out to be great ride day for our social and the GroundUpWR Ride!Thanks to everyone who came out to our picnic social and bike ride. Our last event was in March 2020 so it was nice to get back out there! And congrats to the winners of some cool bike accessories courtesy of #BlackArrowCycles!Let's continue to advocate and let the residents and city councillors know that our streets need to be safe for everyone! 😊
Join us on Sunday, August 27th at 12pm by the cloc Join us on Sunday, August 27th at 12pm by the clock tower in Victoria Park for a picnic social and ride! We encourage you to bring a lunch/snack! There will be some prizes  to celebrate the relaunch of CycleWR in-person social events (our last one was in early 2020!). At 2pm we'll head over to Kitchener City Hall for a bike ride with GroundUpWR. We look forward to seeing you!
Have you seen this bicycle infrastructure before? Have you seen this bicycle infrastructure before?
This was newly installed on Water Street in dtkitchener.This is a great convenience for people who use bicycles to get around, while they sit at a red light.PC: pbilk
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