Ride with Candidates: Dorothy McCabe – Mayor, Waterloo
For the 2026 municipal elections, CycleWR volunteers have been taking municipal electoral candidates on bike rides to show off the best and worst of the cycling infrastructure in their ward/city/region.
Below is a summary written by CycleWR volunteer Graham Roe on their ride with municipal candidate for Waterloo Mayor, Dorothy McCabe.
Disclaimer: CycleWR is a non-partisan organization that does not endorse a 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.
A Tour of New Bike Infra with Dorothy McCabe
Municipal elections are on October 26. As a CycleWR volunteer, I get to meet and chat with a few candidates about how our streets work, and don’t, for people who walk, bike and ride transit. I recently rode with Waterloo’s current Mayor, Dorothy McCabe, who is up for re-election.
Meet Dorothy
Dorothy is the current Mayor of Waterloo. When she started her first term, she decided to become a one-car family, because the city had great transit, walking and biking infrastructure.
Dorothy is pictured above, on a new Multipurpose trail that connects Fischer-Hallman to the Boardwalk via University Ave, to say nothing of the students and staff of Resurrection High School.
Dorothy brings a long career in public service to the mayor’s chair. She started in 2003 in the office of MPP and Cabinet Minister John Milloy. From 2010 to 2015 she was chief of staff to Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr. After a stint in another MPP’s office, she was a senior executive at KidsAbility from 2016 to 2019, then taught at Conestoga College and, in 2021, joined the City of Milton. She holds a communications and history degree from Wilfrid Laurier, where she played varsity basketball, and a master’s in public administration from Western.
Meet Dorothy’s Bike
After arriving at a few meetings a bit sweaty, Dorothy invested in a Canadian-designed e-bike, a Velec, from local shop Cycle Electric on King Street past Northfield. It’s kitted out Dutch-style with integrated lights, fenders, a sturdy kickstand and a frame lock. What stood out to me was the sturdy rack!
She uses it daily in all sorts of weather: rain, snow and salty slush. It gets two tune-ups a year, when the studded winter tires and summer tires are swapped. Since deciding to make her bike her main way of getting around, she hasn’t looked back.
New Bike Infra: Biking Towards the Boardwalk
We met at the Food Basics parking lot near Fischer-Hallman and University (Ward 1). From there we looped the block: to Ira Needles, along Erb Street, and back up Fischer-Hallman. It wouldn’t be my top relaxing ride, but little did I know it all had different bike infrastructure.
Along University is a brand-new MUP (multi-use path), which was painted a day or two after we rode it. The rest of University between Fischer-Hallman and Erb still needs a separated MUP in place of the paved shoulders. That stretch might be a City of Kitchener or Region of Waterloo project.
We had a good chuckle at the utility poles smack in the middle of the MUP. It reminded me of a Waterloo planner who worked hard to instill “don’t let perfect get in the way of better.” In the old world, conflicts like these were a reason not to build separated infrastructure at all. Now we get a few almost-embarrassing hazards, but also a beautiful connection between the Boardwalk and Resurrection High School.
Next came Ira Needles. I had forgotten there’s a MUP along it. Honestly, I only ever drive there. The MUP is super close to a concrete wall making it effectively too narrow.
On Erb Street, we rode the newerish separated bike lane. It has a rollover curb, so it’s only kind of separated, but it’s much better than the paint we have along Fischer-Hallman between Erb and University.
We also looked at the raised crossings through the roundabouts, particularly at Erb and Ira Needles. Motorists just aren’t expecting pedestrians, and the “shark teeth” yield markings haven’t been burned into Ontario drivers’ habits yet. That’s especially daunting for residents of the retirement and long-term care community right on the corner.
Affordable Housing on public lands
Along the way we talked about affordable housing projects the City of Waterloo has made possible using public land. Dorothy highlighted one of the City’s biggest housing accomplishments: the donation of 25 acres of City-owned land at 2025 University Avenue East to Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region and BUILD NOW. The site was originally purchased to support RIM Park and sat vacant for years, and it’s now planned as an “urban village” of over 1,000 affordable and attainable homes, with a mix of 70% ownership and 30% rental. The focus is on family-sized homes, and the rentals will be run by non-profit and co-operative providers like Union Community Housing and Supportive Housing of Waterloo Region (SHOW).
Construction began this summer on the first phase, an 85-unit rental building owned and operated by Union Community Housing that will stay permanently affordable. Phased occupancy is expected to begin as early as 2027, and a project this size, built on public land and delivered by community partners, is exactly the kind of affordable housing our region needs.
Final Thoughts
I had a great chat and bike ride with Dorothy! She’s engaging, passionate and genuinely cares about our city, its people and the spaces we live in. She also has remarkable wisdom about city building and sustainable living, and she shares it in a pragmatic way that’s accessible to her neighbours, like riding her bicycle.
You can read more about Dorothy McCabe’s campaign here.