Ride with Candidates: Sam Nabi – Kitchener Ward 10

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 Gordon Hatt on their ride with municipal candidate for Kitchener Ward 10, Sam Nabi.

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.

On September 15, I met up with Sam Nabi, Kitchener City Council Candidate in Ward 10, for a cycle tour of the ward. 

Living near the corner of Weber and Wellington, we didn’t have to cycle far to find local issues to discuss. I wanted to begin with something that had made me feel good about the neighbourhood, and so we paid a visit to the Shanley, the new apartment building on the site of the former Electrohome building at Shanley and Duke Streets. After years of worrying about what would replace the long vacant factory building, the Shanley, at eight stories, feels modest in height. A combination of yellow brick facing, that recalls the old Electrohome building, and photovoltaic panels, it combines the old and the new. And with a varied roofline and profile, it’s not just a big, boring box of glass. There are lots of things to admire about this new building, but more than anything I wanted to tell Sam that we appreciated how its design respected the character of the neighbourhood, and to express the desire that other developments might learn from this example. 

After that we swung back to look at the alleyway that runs between Wellington and Breithaupt Streets. This backyard and garage access lane is used by tenants and homeowners for parking and backyard access, as well as by pedestrians, who use it as a shortcut between Duke and Weber Streets. It has also been a place for drug and alcohol consumption. The lane ends on land that became the Region’s after the widening of Weber Street 15 years ago. A tent was set up on this land and remained for a couple of weeks, after which the Region erected temporary fencing around all the Regional set-backs along Weber Street between Breithaupt Street and just beyond Guelph Streets. 

From the alley way, it was just a couple pedal strokes to the encampment at Victoria and Weber Streets. We talked about some of the issues behind the kind of homelessness represented by this encampment. I expressed my frustration that this situation continues to exist without any apparent remediation plan by municipal, Regional, or provincial governments, and I expressed my commitment to not vote for any of the incumbent municipal candidates under whose watch this situation has developed and deteriorated. 

Next, we travelled along Victoria Street to Duke, to the intersection where in June I was struck by a car while crossing Victoria Street. We talked about the confusing arrangement of bicycle lanes on either side of Victoria Street. We also talked about the city’s decision to build two-way bicycle lanes in the core. Sam told me that that decision was a result of the city’s desire to minimise snow maintenance. Instead of shovelling bicycle lanes on both sides of the street, the city decided to maintain a single wide bicycle lane. What that has left however, are a handful of bicycle paths that seem to randomly begin and end, and several very confusing intersections. As far as winter sidewalk maintenance is concerned, I am 100% behind Sam’s proposal that the city be responsible for the removal of snow on its sidewalks. I’m too old to be shovelling snow. And as a cyclist, the downtown bicycle lanes are a nice gesture but seem to be a lot of concrete and signage for a minimal amount of cycle path.  And with that Sam left to knock on doors.