Construction Woes Coming to Gordon and Wellington

Hey! It's everybody's favourite time of year: construction season!! And to make life even more fun for Guelphites looking to navigate quickly along the by-ways of our fair town, construction will soon be impacting one of the busiest intersections of the city.

Wyndham Street Open Again (But Not to Big Trucks)

Nearly a week after a close shave with a big rig, Wyndham Street between Carden Street and Wellington Street is open again after city engineers did... Something. Well, there are new signs up now. No big trucks are allowed through, but buses, ambulances and other vehicles are all good to go. 

Just When You Thought it Was Safe to Drive Down Wyndham...

The news on the weekend that another truck scraped the roof of the train bridge that runs parallel to Carden Street seems to have forced a city shut down of Wyndham Street between Carden and Wellington. This is sure to be unpleasant news for people who do business in and around that intersection, but given that this isn't the first time that the roof's been a little too low despite the stated clearance, it's going to be another needle in the city's back concerning just how well the entire reconstruction project around Carden was handled.

Wyndham & Farquhar Getting Minor Work Done

Hey, you like construction around town, don't you? Well, this latest notice from city hall is for you.

Underpass Coming Soon?

 It's been rather quiet on the development front at the Lafarge site, after years of wrangling and wheeling and dealing, it seemed that something was about to be built on that land. Of course, that breakthrough came around 2008/2009, when most sides agreed to a plan that would see the area between the Hanlon, Paisley and Waterloo roads be developed as a mixed residential, commercial, and park space. And then... Nothing happened.

But is that about to change?

Breaking: Carden Street Reopening Tomorrow

Breaking new this morning that will surely please everyone that's talked, yelled, e-mailed, blasted Led Zeppelin at or sent snarky visual aids to City Hall about the ongoing (and going) construction on Carden Street: It'll be open as of tomorrow evening.

Read the city's press release below:

GUELPH, ON, August 12, 2011 – Starting tomorrow evening, vehicles will be able to travel on Carden Street while construction continues on the rink, water feature, pavilion, seating areas, trees and landscaping in Guelph’s Market Square.

"Crews are still working on site, so we ask that people drive carefully in the area," says Richard Henry, City Engineer. "Drivers will be able to travel one way, eastbound, between Wilson Street and Wyndham Street, and there are more than 30 parking spaces in front of the shops and restaurants."

When Guelph’s Market Square, rink, water feature and pavilion are completed in December, Carden Street will accommodate two-way traffic and parking.

"We are very excited to see the square taking shape," says Ian Panabaker, the City’s Corporate Manager of Downtown Renewal. "At this point we can begin to see how big and beautiful it will be when it’s finished. This December, we get to skate in the square for the very first time and people will keep coming downtown, year after year, to skate in the winter and cool off in the summer. It will be the perfect spot to enjoy a festival, special event, or to just hang out."

The City plans to pour the concrete for the rink next month, and is already working on the oval-shaped glass pavilion which will house public washrooms, lockers, seating and a drinking fountain. The pavilion will also store the zamboni and the controls for the rink and water feature.

"Unfortunately, initial submissions to build the pavilion exceeded the approved budget," add Henry. "We had to re-work the design of the building and re-tender this part of the project, and that’s set us back by about three months on the square.”

The City is already making plans for a grand opening and other events to welcome people to Guelph’s Market Square. Event announcements and project updates will be available at guelph.ca/construction.

ABOUT MARKET SQUARE

Guelph’s Market Square is designed to create a beautiful community space that will serve as a year-round setting for civic and cultural events and daily shopping. In front of City Hall, the square will feature an outdoor rink and water feature, seating areas, trees and landscaping and an oval-shaped glass pavilion to house washrooms, lockers, seating and a water fountain. The rink is funded in part by Federal and Provincial Recreations Infrastructure Funds. As part of the project, the City is completely renewing Carden Street including watermains, sewers, sidewalks, landscaping and a new paver brick surface. Construction started in August 2010 and will continue through December 2011.

Unusual Video Promotes Bike Box

Bike riding through a city may be for "commie pinkos," according to Don Cherry, but Guelph is making it easier for them to share the road with automobile drivers with something called a bike box, which the city is hoping to set-up at the corner of Stone Road and Chancellor’s Way in time for the National Commuter Challenge from June 6-10. Check out the neat How-To video by clicking the link that came with the accompanying city press release.

GUELPH, ON, May 27—The City will unveil an all-together different kind of educational tool during today’s Active Communities Summit at the University of Guelph Arboretum Centre as part of its Bicycle-Friendly Guelph Initiative. 

A new public education video is part of the City’s latest efforts to help drivers and cyclists share the road, and comes days before Ontario’s second bike box—a road marking that identifies where cyclists are to wait in front of cars at a red light—comes into effect at the corner of Stone Road and Chancellor’s Way. 

Designed to reduce conflicts between drivers and cyclists, the bike box is scheduled to be installed in time for the National Commuter Challenge held June 6 - 10. 

The City is also completing a cycle track—a paved, segregated bike lane along Stone Road between Gordon Street and Edinburgh Road which will be supported by special markings (sharrows) that alert drivers and cyclists to changes in road-sharing conditions. The cycle track is also intended to reduce conflicts between vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. 

The bike box and the cycle track are the latest developments in the Bicycle-Friendly Guelph Initiative which aims to triple daily cycling trips by 2018. Only about 1 per cent of all daily trips in Guelph are taken by bicycle, even though most of those trips are less than five kilometres. As Guelph learns to go by bike, everyone will benefit from reduced greenhouse gas emissions caused by driving, and enhanced community well-being through healthy, active living.

As for the video, Corporate Communications Manager Tara Sprigg says it’s a fun, compelling and different way for the City to reach audiences with important instructional information about the new feature. “Cities, like any business, have to find compelling ways to convey what is often complex information. The bike box video was conceived as a fun, inexpensive way to create a useful instructional tool… and make people smile at the same time.” 

The City of Guelph is one of several community partners supporting the Active Communities Summit’s shared vision to make Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph bicycle and pedestrian friendly.

The Local Wrap

So it's been a week since I last posted. Mostly, I've been playing catch-up with my other endeavours, but now I find myself having to play catch-up with local political issues, lest I sound like an idiot in a pre-tapped segment for the next edition of the "Beyond the Ballot Box" radio show on CFRU. So as the man said, let's see what's in the news...

City Buildings Unsafe

In a rare and almost improbable move, the city closed seven "high risk" structures last Friday out of safety concerns. They include the standalone washroom buildings at Silvercreek Park, Margaret Greene Park, Hanlon Creek Park and Norm Jary Park, as well as the combination washroom/concession buildings at Exhibition Park and Riverside Park and the Riverside Bandshell. This is after the grandstand at Hastings Stadium was closed for safety concerns as well. What's the problem? Mario Petricevic, the city’s general manager of corporate building maintenance, says that the issue is the buildings' roofs, or rather the anchors that keep those roofs fastened to the walls of the buildings in sever wind. There are 34 buildings in the City that are deemed "high risk" and although the engineer didn't order the closure of those seven facilities, the City felt it necessary to act with an abundance of caution. In this year's budget, the City put aside $1.3 million for building repair. Some of the buildings will be able to be fixed right away, others have such extensive damage they'll need to be sent out for tenure.

Civic Square Conundrum

Impatience about the complete closure of Carden Street was compounded this week when word came down that, surprise, the finishing of the Civic Square in front of City Hall would be delayed by a month. The culprit? A particular brick made in New York "made using a special, highly durable kind of clay that’s not available in Canada," according to the Guelph Tribune. The end result is that the Square won't be finished till sometime in July, and that's discounting the ice rink, which actually won't be finished until sometime later this year, probably December. Merchants along Carden remain unimpressed. “Collectively, these businesses (along Carden Street) have probably lost several hundred thousand dollars in sales,” said Marc Black, owner of Hempire to the Guelph Mercury. But even when July comes and goes, Carden Street will still be in a half shamble because of the construction of the transit hub.

Premier Posits Problematic

Not sure if that sentence made sense, but oh well, I'm not sure this whole Health Unit issue does either. The Guelph Tribune reported Tuesday that Premier Dalton McGuinty will indeed endorse the idea of a meeting between Mayor Karen Farbridge and the Ontario government about the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit. “What we have agreed to is that somebody will meet with the mayor, so that we can talk a little bit more about this issue and get a better understanding from the city’s perspective about the challenges that present themselves here,” McGuinty said when he returned to the Royal City for the second time in two weeks on Monday. Guelph MPP Liz Sandals said previously that it was unlikely that the health minister would dissolve the WDG-Health Unit, but I believe the fact that the confirmation that two sides in this struggle will be sitting down together is a new development. Whether or not anything's going to come of it is another matter altogether. There's little appetite for Guelph to take on its own Health Unit bureaucracy from scratch, but at the same time, there's little appetite for Guelph to swallow the whole $10 million price tag for the new Health Unit as well. No date has been set for the tête-à-tête between the Mayor and health minister, but I suspect waves will be made when it's done.

Gas Pain is the Best Pain

I remember in the early days of the election, and my interview with John Lawson. He said to me that we'll see gas prices hit $1.50 sometime this summer, adding, “No one in the mainline parties that [understand] that this is just the beginning. Now there are no alternatives, and what we need to begin now is looking at real alternatives. My vision for Guelph would be one that is largely self-sustainable for each house.”

Shortly after this interview, the price of gas started flirting with the $1.40 per litre threshold, and now, after a short rest-bit, the cost to fill up the tank shot up nearly 7 cents in 12 hours. And further, former Liberal MP and gas price watchdog Dan McTeague said that the price at the pump will likely, finally, cross the $1.40 mark on Wednesday. At least here in southern Ontario. In Montreal they're already paying $1.44.

The reaction, as always with gas price increases, was swiftly negative. Will it inspire people to change their behaviour? Well, let's consult a CP24 poll from today asking, "How are you coping with record high gas prices?" Two-thirds of respondents said that they're just going to drive less. Only 17 per cent said that they will now take public transit, with 12 per cent saying that they'll walk or bike, and the bottom 5 per cent saying that they'll slum and car pool. Granted, this is merely one, unscientific poll, but you have to ask yourself: what will it take for people to let go of their automobiles? The truth of the matter is that people are going to be have to priced out of their cars, and the way to do that is gas prices.

Granted, the sudden spike at the pumps is being driven more by commodity speculators than a rise in the price of oil, which did start to back-off earlier in trading this morning. But perhaps the greed of the oil companies and others can work in the favour of the people and the environment. On CP24 this morning, they read several tweets from viewers talking about gas prices. One woman tweeted that for the first time she bought a Metro pass and rode the TTC, and, get this, she was loving it. Her words. Would she have rode the TTC and loved it had gas prices not gone up? Of course not.

It'll be interesting to see if that love sustains the occasional hiccups in the TTC system. You ride public transit with any kind of consistency and you're going to see its problems and limitations. While I was at the Galaxy Cinema last week, I overheard one guy saying to his friend as they were leaving their car that it takes so long to get across town. Yeah? Do you ever take Guelph Transit? Because how long does it take to get from the southern most end of Guelph to the northern most end by Guelph Transit?

For Guelph, there is change on the horizon this fall with new routes that will hopefully cut down on travel time for most trips, but how long did it take for the city to reach the idea that having every bus go downtown every half-hour was a bad idea? Remember this past winter when the city, once again, attempted to mitigate transit growth by effecting a "summer service" and making no allowance for a return to stat-holiday service? I know full well about the city's cash problems, but transit use is a catch-22, you have to provide better service to attract more riders to get more revenue to pay for better service. 

When the gas prices went up a couple of weeks ago, somebody, I can't remember who, suggested we boycott gas stations for three days. How ineffectual is that? The gas companies know they'll get you eventually, because the fact of the matter is that people just love to drive. We've created a society here in southern Ontario based on that fact. You may live in Milton, but you work in Toronto. Why? Because you wanted a big house with a yard, but all the jobs worth getting paid to do are in bigger cities like Toronto. 

“We’ve gotten used to cheap fuel and built our society around that," said Jason Parent, an analyst at MJ Ervin & Associates, a London, Ont.-based petroleum consulting firm in the Toronto Star. "We drive big cars and live 50 kilometres outside the city, so it’s a bit of a shock when prices go up. But in comparison to some places, however, we’re pretty well off.”

By comparison, right now we're paying about 30 cents more than our American friends, and about a dollar less than many of our European friends. Why? Mostly because they tax their gas more to pay for public transit. Meanwhile in Canada, how much higher will gas prices go before people start petitioning the government to cut gas taxes to relieve the burden? But before that, let's keep in mind that despite the oil companies and those that profit on them, and their general love of lots and lots of money, gas use worldwide is growing, and we're swiftly running out of crude oil as well. 

Now we couldn't possibly stop all oil use in a day, but to begin to change things, that 66 per cent of people who will still drive despite the rising prices, but just drive less, have to start joining that other third that takes the bus, train, bike, or gets a ride with other people that are heading in the same direction. If you can take public transit, do it. You may have to leave your house a bit early, but the extra sleep you lose may pay dividends in the reduced stress you experience being behind the wheel while sitting in traffic.

No matter the reason, high gas prices now and in the future are inevitable. The problem is that no matter how angry people get, the vast majority would rather complain and keep driving rather than fight back in the surest way to make your voice heard to the oil companies: stop using their product, or use significantly less of it. Or think of it this way, on average, it costs just over $7,000 per year to own your car with gas, insurance, maintenance and all the associated costs. You'd have to work pretty hard ratcheting up a $7,000 annual bill on public transit by comparison. And you'd never have to worry about tomorrow's gas prices to boot.

Typical Construction This Year, Says City

The construction rolls on, but that's it for Guelph Remastered according to a City of Guelph press release:

GUELPH, ON, April 12, 2011 – After its massive infrastructure renewal program, Guelph is preparing for a more typical road construction season this year and wrapping up Guelph Remastered.

"The Guelph Remastered campaign did what typical road construction signs couldn’t do," says Tara Sprigg, Manager, Corporate Communications. "Guelph Remastered connected people to important information and helped residents understand that more than 20 construction projects were part of one huge infrastructure renewal program."

The City tracked the campaign and its effects on stakeholders throughout the year and found that Guelph Remastered met its intended objectives. The campaign reached the majority of residents and increased awareness of the City’s plans for construction in 2010. Over the course of the campaign, residents came to understand that Guelph was completing about five years worth of work in just 12 months to meet the Federal and Provincial funding deadline.

Findings also show the Guelph Remastered campaign had positive effects on people’s perceptions of construction upgrades in general, and on loyalty to shops and services. More than 90 per cent of those polled consider it important for the City to undertake construction projects, and awareness that shops and services would be open for business during construction increased from 73 per cent to 81 per cent during the campaign.

As part of the campaign, the City developed new online tools including a construction e-bulletin and an interactive traffic map. These improved online tools proved particularly successful, and will remain on guelph.ca to help people navigate construction detours again this year.

"We still have some paving, line marking and landscaping to do on some of the projects we worked on last year, and we’re glad to have the funding deadline extended to October 31 so we can finish work on the inter-modal transit terminal and Wyndham Street Rail bridge," says City Engineer, Richard Henry. "We’ll also be working on this year’s regular infrastructure renewal program. You’ll see crews on the streets again this year, but we’re not planning as much work on major routes."

Guelph’s plans for construction in 2011 and ongoing construction updates will be posted on the City’s website at guelph.ca/construction.

In 2009, the City began work on more than 20 infrastructure upgrades on roads, sewers, water systems, bike lanes and buildings. The projects must be completed by October 31 2011 to take advantage $48 million in Federal and Provincial Infrastructure Stimulus Funds. Guelph's Infrastructure Stimulus projects are listed on the City's website at guelph.ca > living > planning, building, engineering > road construction.

A Slight Correction

To everybody that read my Echo column, you may have noticed a bot of, ahem, stuttering so far as the little headers went. Not sure what happened there, but in the interest of clarity I provide below the complete article with the proper headings.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Well, that went by fast. Summer that is. And as we enter the Labour Day long weekend, it is time to take stock of the last few months and remember what we all came here for as we re-enter the routines of autumn. I don’t know what you did/learned/talked about, but here’s my five for the Summer of 2010.

1) Waiting for the Bus

This happened a lot. But in this case the context is outside the fact that one goes to their bus stop by a pre-arranged time and wait a couple of minutes for the city’s public transportation to show up as scheduled. But then, when you make it downtown, there was the indignity of watching the bus you needed to transfer to drive away without you. Then, to add insult to injury it seemed to come as almost a surprise to city councillors at a July meeting that our transit system needs improvement. Perhaps if more city officials were dependent on the bus, they wouldn’t need a consultant’s report to tell them that changes are needed.

2) Dealing with Road Construction

I have a philosophy about the weather: of all the things in the world to complain about, why would you complain about the weather? Can you change it? Can you make a rainy day sunny by thinking about it, or via some kind of weather-changing device? That’s what I thought. Well the same can be said about road construction. Sorry kids, but when you’re over five years behind on infrastructure repair and the government throws money at you to get ‘er done, you’re not going to refuse the opportunity. After all, today’s road closures avoid tomorrow’s sinkholes.

3) Getting Bitch Slapped for Being an Artist/Activist

Not sure where all the litigation came from this summer, but first the police slammed shut the doors of the Medical Cannabis Club of Guelph and then the city bylaw officers started slapping postering fines on anyone with space available to a concert, a screening or a protest. Granted, I’m biased given one of the hats I wear is Co-Chair of Ed Video Media Arts Centre (PS: See our ad on whatever page it’s on in this issue of Echo), but still, with the Alma Gallery closed and Manhattans smoked out, the number of venues in our fair city is dwindling. Never has a piece of 8 and a half by 11 piece of colour paper generated so much red tape.

4) Waiting Patiently for Fall

Perhaps it’s the American election cycle of one-after-the-other, but I’ve been dying in anticipation for the start of our municipal election season. But while it’s been fun to watch the scorecard in Wards One and Two fill up, it’s been something of a struggle to get candidates to sign-up in the other four wards. In the last couple of days though (before press time anyway), a few people have put their names forward for the school board elections, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that this is the trickle before the rainfall. You can’t say that there’s not anger out there, and people are looking for options. So let’s give it to them.

5) Finding New Reasons to Love the Royal City

Despite our problems, there’s still a lot to love about the City of Guelph. Aside from the usual summer trappings like Hillside and Art on the Street, the festival circuit was joined by the first ever editions of the Guelph Electronic Music Festival and Top Freedom Day. As well, the Guelph Jazz Festival has added a Nuit Blanche program, which will feature all different types of music and art installations across the city. You may not be able to DIY promote your own show, but if you keep your eyes open, there’s plenty to get excited about.

Press Release Clearing #1 - HCBP Moving Forward

Sadly for some of my activists friends, it seems as if it's full steam ahead for the Hanlon Creek Business Park. Here's a city press release on the next phase of construction from last Monday.

Agreement to consolidate land holdings in Phase 2 of Hanlon Creek Business Park would expedite development

GUELPH, ON, June 7, 2010 – City Council has authorized staff to proceed with the preparation and possible execution of a cost sharing and land exchange agreement between the City of Guelph and Guelph Land Holdings Inc., (GLHI) a subsidiary of Cooper Construction Limited, with respect to Phase 2 of the Hanlon Creek Business Park.

The agreement will transfer ownership of most of the City’s lands in Phase 2 to GLHI and will set the terms for the purchase and servicing of Phase 2 lands of the park. The timing of such an agreement is ideal as it allows the City to divest of its investment in the Phase 2 lands and receive a return on investment while minimizing the City’s financial risks moving forward, as substantial investment is required for servicing of Phase 2.

Under the agreement, GLHI will become the primary developer of Phase 2 of the Hanlon Creek Business Park and be responsible for servicing and marketing the property. The City will retain approximately three acres of land, which will be developed as part of Phase 3 of the park.

Subject to the execution of the agreement GLHI intends to begin development of Phase 2 next month and is targeting completion in fall 2011.

“The City initiated the development of the Hanlon Creek Business Park as a catalyst to attract private-sector investment. We did so in response to the business community’s concern about a shortage of serviced employment lands in the city,” says Guelph’s General Manger of Economic Development & Tourism, Peter Cartwright. “Now that we have strong private sector proponents, the timing is right for the City step back from its role in the development of Phase 2.”

About the Hanlon Creek Business Park
The HCBP encompasses 671 acres in the south west corner of the city. The development comes after almost a decade of public consultation, scientific assessments and thorough environmental analysis. The site will attract knowledge-economy businesses in sectors such as food and agribusiness, environment and energy, advanced manufacturing, and information and communications technology, and will provide approximately 10,000 jobs in our community.

For more information about the Hanlon Creek Business Park visit guelph.ca/hcbp.

Guelph Remastered, or get ready for 4 times more construction this year over last

Yes kids, you read that right. Straight from the mouth of Chief Administrative Officer Hans Loewig comes confirmation that this coming year's construction will be four-times more busy than last year's. Or, to put it another way, that's five years worth of construction crammed into one calendar year. If that boggles your mind, then you're probably in a good head space to read on and learn what the city's doing about it.

At a media briefing this morning, city officials including Mayor Karen Farbridge, Loewig, and Manager of Corporate Communications Tara Sprigg laid out several points that they hope will alleviate the stress of rampant road work in the City of Guelph. Once again, this construction, which is focused on fixing roads and the replacement of sewers and watermains, is brought to you by the $48 million in stimulus funds from the Feds and the Province. In all, 25 projects have to be completed by March 2011.

First, it'll be the downtown that gets hit the most once again. The bridge on Wyndham next to the train station will be getting a facelift and, according to Loewig, the whole of Carden Street will be impacted as well. Especially hard hit will be the corner of Wilson and Carden, a fact which the city has been preparing businesses for since last September. Paisley and Norfolk should remain open, but the truth of the matter is construction will be city wide.

So how will the city keep citizenry and businesses informed? Get ready for the charm offensive:

• The City's tagline for the informational campaign: "It'll be worth it."
• Starting next week, an information insert will be sent out to Guelph homes via the Mercury and the Tribune
• That will be followed up with regular print/radio/web updates as the city will try to keep citizens up-to-date through local media
• The City's website will be the main hub for updated information; as well people can report a construction problem or submit a question through the web
  
• Regular meetings with businesses to share info
• Way-finding signage to help people with the detours
• And to keep things light, a contest. Residents will be able to share their best construction-related story in 200 words for the chance to win one of 10 GPS systems

So, in other words, get ready! Construction season will get underway either late March or early April. Weather permitting.