2016 Jane's Walk Weekend a Success!

Jane's Walk 2016 had a great turnout in Waterloo region and especially in our MHBP neighbourhood. There were several walks that included MHBP including Wayne's Mt. Hope Cemetery Walk (the theme this year was the 1916 name change from Berlin to Kitchener....we came close to living in Brock!), a walk on the Spur Line starting at Smile Tiger Coffee, a "children's initiated" walk in Duke Street Playground and our own MHBPNA sponsored walk starting at the historic Greb shoe factory and progressing along Breithaupt Street while discussing both history and urban renewal.

We all had a great chance to learn a few things about Kitchener, Waterloo and other areas. And, perhaps most important, we met our neighbours and talked about places and people. 

MHBPNA will have more events in the summer and fall. Please stay tuned!

Spur Line Trail is "officially" open

On Friday April 15th, politicians, Municipal and Regional Staff and a few residents gathered to block the Waterloo Spur Line Trail for the official ribbon cutting ceremony.  This irony was not lost on Mayor Vrbanovic, who commented on it.

It was great to see so much support for the trail from the politicians.  Catherine Fife’s representative specifically mentioned the support the Mary Allen Neighbourhood Association and the Mt Hope Breithaupt Park Neighbourhood Association have given to the project.

Tom Galloway, one of our Regional Councillors, also took the opportunity to announce that there has been a resolution regarding the ‘jog’ in the trail between Roger and Moore.  This is good news for everyone.

Eventually, the multi use trail will run parallel to the rail corridor and into the Transit Hub at King and Victoria.  Through some new funding the Spur Line trail will be continued through Uptown to Waterloo Park in the coming year.

There is still some tweaking of the lights to be done.  By the end of April, the software that controls the lights should be able to dim them in the late evening hours.  The LED lights installed have a very intense light that is tightly focused on the ground.  This helps to minimize overall light pollution. 

Join us next Saturday (April 23) to celebrate Earth Day as we join forces with the Mary Allen Neighbourhood Association to clean up the trail.  We will be meeting at Wilhelm and Weber St at 9:30am and the cleanup will end with a BBQ hosted by the MANA at Mary Allen Park at 11:00am.  Bring gloves if you can, we will supply bags.

Lane Burman
CoChair MHBPNA 
photo by "Joan"

Do you like to write? We can help.....

As you may recall in 2015 MHBPNA worked with residents on the "Pen Pal" project which was a great success. It ended in a final picnic.

Guess what? We still have paper, envelopes and stamps left over! Do you like to write? Please email us at mhbpna@gmail.com if you would like any of these very cool packages. You do not need to have participated in the Pen Pal project, you just need to be a MHBP resident who enjoys writing.

Sometimes Ice is Nice

As we wind our way towards the promised land of summer we should remember the terrible beauty of our 'mini-icestorm' of a couple of weeks ago. Certainly it was not as brutal as a few years ago but some trees did lose branches. One thing that always occurs after the worst subsides is that our neighbourhood fills up with photographers hitting the streets. 

Ice storms offer unusual  and exciting photography opportunities. Nature covers itself in a potentially deadly sheath of ice, threatening the existence of trees and shrubs. Yet, eventually it melts and the majority of the landscape survives.

Here are some photos that MHBP neighbours shared (we put a callout on our Facebook page). Enjoy these photos (from Sharon, Lane, Joan, Ted and others) and think ahead to the end of this week when the forecast is promising to be +10c and sunny!

As always, "click to enlarge".

50K is here to stay!

We are very excited to have new 50 K signs on Weber Street! To understand this excitement some background is necessary. 

As we all know, the Weber Street widening, along with King St. closing due to LRT construction, has meant more traffic, at higher speeds, is coming through the MHBP area. Many of our residents have complained about speeding drivers from Union down to Victoria. Of course much of Weber in Waterloo is 60K but in Kitchener it is 50K.  

We borrowed a speed gun and recorded many drivers in excess of 60K and MHBPNA reported this to Regional Police who increased their patrols and they have caught many speeders and ticketed them.

Still, we have always felt one problem is that there was only one sign saying “50K Begins” and many people simply miss it. They are used to driving 60K in Waterloo and now that Weber has four lanes past Guelph,  they don’t see much reason to slow down.

Our Neighbourhood Association contacted Regional politicians and staff and initially we were told “the default is 50K so we only post signs when it is not that speed” and we want to avoid “an over abundance of signage in built up areas”.  We were disappointed with these responses and kept bringing up the issue whenever we met to discuss other topics like the Transit Hub and Waterloo Street. 

Guess what? Our persistence paid off and we now have additional 50K signs installed on Weber! Of course this does not mean all drivers are automatically going to slow down. But the signs encourage slower speeds and we will continue to talk with police about enforcement. 

A week ago (when it was, uh, sunny and warm!) several residents got together and took this neighbourhood photo to show how much we love our regional speed limit signs!

As always, click on the image for a larger, and even more vibrant, photo!

Thanks to Stephen Edgar for the photo!

Waterloo Street Update

A few weeks ago in this article, we discussed how the Region is planning on placing a Traction Power Sub Station (TPSS) on Waterloo Street and our many concerns over that decision. The MHBPNA met with Rob Horne (Commissioner of Planning), Thomas Schmidt (Commissioner of Transportation and Environmental Services) and John Hill (Manager of Development, Reurbanization) in mid-February to talk about the plans for the Hub and also Waterloo Street. In a previous article I discussed general plans for the Transit Hub and in this post I’m providing an update on Waterloo Street.

According to quantum physics “everything is connected” and in this case the Region has control over much of this area. However, the TPSS is part of the current LRT/ION project and Waterloo Street will also be a neighbourhood entry point to the future Transit Hub. So they are separate, yet connected, issues.

Originally, the TPSS was slotted to be built behind the School of Pharmacy at King and Victoria. However, placing the TPSS there would involve digging into contaminated ground that is already being “managed” by a private company. We were told that if the Region disturbs that area it makes them liable for the cleanup or containment of a much larger section of land along the railway tracks. This cost could be enormous. Or, they could leave it and it would continue to be contained as it is today.

The Region showed us about 9 potential sites they had available in which to situate the TPSS and Waterloo Street was by far the best option. They provided us with a diagram showing the accurate scale of the TPSS and the street (click to enlarge):

Their pedestrian path is planned to be 7 metres wide which is more than twice the official requirement for a “shared use path”. There will be access maintained for the deliveries to the back of the Google building but these occur about twice a week for a short duration of time and there would still be plenty of room for pedestrian access to the Transit Hub even during those times.

MHBPNA is committed to working on a “smart access” entry to the Transit Hub via Waterloo street. The Region is aware they have dropped the ball a bit with a lack of communication and are committed to having a public meeting about Waterloo Street and related issues in April or early May. We will keep everyone posted on that meeting via our Blog, website and Facebook. They would like to have our input on the potential design of the area which could include landscaping and various options for the path and open areas.

Related issues: The latest report (Feb 23, 2016) on the Transit Hub is available on this link and commits to “Holding a Public Information Centre to update residents and adjacent land owners on the King-Victoria Multi-modal Transit Hub project, including feedback on the Waterloo Street pedestrian access options, and invite the City of Kitchener to co-host and provide updates on associated planning initiatives”. 

The report also states: “An important component of the project is a pedestrian connection envisioned for Waterloo Street. The Steering Committee reviewed and recommends that a pedestrian overpass be considered as an additional option for the Waterloo Street pedestrian connection. Conceptually, the overpass would be an enclosed bridge with lighting that could also be an architectural feature of the Transit Hub. To consider this option, additional consultation is required with Metrolinx, the City of Kitchener and the community. To date, only an underground pedestrian access has been discussed. Staff recommend holding an additional Public Information Centre to update the broader community on the Transit Hub project.”

We urge all residents to read through the February 23 report as it provides a welcome update to a very large project that will forever alter our neighbourhood. We were told bike access would be allowed through Waterloo Street but the main bike route would be along Duke St. to Victoria and they are proposing a multi use trail along the rail corridor all the way to the Bramm St. Yards which will be the site of future development. 

Ted Parkinson
CoChair MHBPNA

Transit Hub Update

Some very exciting things are happening in the Mt Hope – Breithaupt Park Neighbourhood and probably the biggest will be the “Multi-Modal Transit Station” (AKA “the Hub”) planned for Victoria and King Streets.

This is a Region project just like the LRT. And, like the rapid transit system, government is hoping to engage in a “private/public partnership" (3P) to build the Hub. In 2012 and 2013 the Region hosted a number of public information sessions and all the information can be found here. Things seemed to be moving along in a transparent manner but then there was silence for almost two years.

MHBPNA CoChairs Lane Burman and Ted Parkinson met with Rob Horne (Commissioner of Planning), Thomas Schmidt (Commissioner of Transportation and Environmental Services) and John Hill (Manager of Development, Reurbanization) in mid-February to talk about the plans for the Hub and also Waterloo Street. A few days after this meeting the Region released a new update report (February 23) which can be accessed on this page.  

Officials admitted they had been very quiet for a couple of years but part of the reason is that their negotiations with potential private partners are “delicate” and there is not much that can be revealed publicly. Construction on the Hub will not begin until 2017 and its actual structure is still to be determined.

We have seen plans like this:





 


 And this:


 

But the final shape is a work in progress and depends on a number of circumstances. For example, if more condos are built around the downtown then there will be less demand in the Hub. A number of options exist for retail, restaurants, offices etc. The different sections (or “towers”) could be built in different phases according to changing demands for different types of space. So this is an ongoing discussion.

MHBPNA has specifically asked for community space to be made available. There has been much condo development in downtown Kitchener over the past few years and more is planned as the province and city have plans to build up intensification. But no new community centres have been developed for many years. We believe people should have places to meet and socialize other than bars and restaurants. Bars can be great, but it is hard to run a Lego or “self-defense” program in them. The Region’s response to the community space issue was “that is up to the City of Kitchener to pay for so you should talk to them”. We were a little disappointed in this reaction but will press the issue at every opportunity.

Please read the latest report for all the Hub details. Public Meetings are being planned within the next couple of months.

Ted Parkinson, CoChair MHBPNA

Update on Waterloo Street will be posted on this Blog soon!