Dundas street issues &

SubJEct iSSuES/conStraintS oPPortunitiES

Built Environment

narrowness of the street and the competing interests of pedestrians, businesses, parking, vehicles & transit

transform Dundas street into a piazza-style corridor through a pedestrian-oriented concept

create a continuous streetscape that is attractive, interesting, well-maintained and comfortable for pedestrians although Dundas is seen as the city’s “main street” it is not widely

regarded as comfortable or attractive environment for strolling, sidewalk cafes, outdoor retailing and other pedestrian-oriented activities.

promote a high standard of design for downtown development and public spaces that is conducive to a safe and attractive pedestrian environment and make Dundas street the most exciting street in London

provide flexible on-street parking to free up space for pedestrians and more sidewalk presence for cafes, patios, store displays, etc.

Lack of liveliness on talbot to ridout street integrate the public realm between the three distinct streetscapes Despite smaller pockets of open areas and green spaces a larger distinct

“public space / square” is missing.

opportunity for Dundas street itself to serve many purposes for distinct public square.

gaps or “dead spaces” in the built form along the streetscape provide special consideration for unique spaces such as Market Lane

natural Environment

Minimal street trees along Dundas street preserve existing trees and plant new trees to create an urban canopy where possible, add infrastructure creating larger soil volumes to sustain canopy trees.

poor pedestrian connection between Dundas street and the Forks of the thames

since the character of talbot/ridout is different from the other three blocks, there is an opportunity to transition to the river with a unique design and landscaping (e.g. “green” street)

Infrastructure &

Servicing

1. High concentration of infrastructure in varying states of repair With full reconstruction of surface works the opportunity exists for various municipal services and utilities to upgrade their buried infrastructure at the same time minimizing restoration costs to be borne by each utility, using standard and non-standard locations so all new infrastructure will fit.

2. separation of private storm and sanitary flows the separation of storm and sanitary flows within the older parts of the city of London continue to be a major focus for the city.

notwithstanding the major works that were completed in the 1960’s with the installation of new storm and sanitary sewers on Dundas street, there remain a number of private building units where the storm and sanitary have not been appropriately separated within the buildings. the reconstruction of Dundas street provides an opportunity to extend storm private drain connections into the buildings facilitating future separation. Further incentives could be provided to building owners to encourage them to undertake the modifications within their buildings to separate storm and sanitary flows increasing the efficiency of the municipal sewer system.

3. excavations for maintenance and repair results in an unattractive patchwork of surface repairs

With the concentration of services and utilities along Dundas street, excavations for remedial works and maintenance are unavoidable.

a comprehensive review of the current state of utilities and services and the subsequent implementation of upgrades in advance of the reconstruction of surface works on Dundas street will serve to minimize future maintenance works. Further, new pavement structures can be designed to facilitate surface restorations without significant pavement scarring.

4. Disruption to businesses and services during construction given the extent of works, there will be major disruption to local businesses during the construction. Disruption can be minimized by ensuring that the extent of works undertaken can be completed including full surface restoration within a single construction season.

5. ease of Maintenance With full reconstruction of surface works, the opportunity exists for various municipal services and utilities to upgrade and relocate their buried infrastructure in a manner that can be easily maintained. provision of covered utility trench along the sidewalk will ensure that any maintenance work can be carried out without disrupting the traffic, sidewalks and businesses.

SubJEct iSSuES/conStraintS oPPortunitiES

Transportation &

Transit

street is a constrained space for both buses and pedestrians remove east-west bus travel from Dundas street between Wellington and ridout, re-routing buses as appropriate to the city’s transit objectives.

pedestrian congestion around transit stops. Loitering around transit stops; bus noise, dust, vibrations deter potential for lingering.

the destination needs to be a place to “linger” in a positive way.

Dundas street through downtown London carries an average of up to 8,000 vehicles a day depending on location, according to city data.

this is noticeably less than other downtown arterial streets such as york street or Queens avenue that carry up to 20,000 or 13,000 vehicles daily respectively.

Dundas street in the downtown operates as a “retail Main street”, according to the Downtown plan, and within a relatively dense grid of streets. this makes it different than other streets through the downtown. and so it should not be expected to operate the same as other streets in terms of traffic movement and management. a retail Main street is intended to operate at a generally slow pace, with ample visibility and accessibility to businesses and attractions along the route. the planting of trees along retail streets has been shown to increase sales and boast local economy.

Traffic Operations, Pedestrian

Movement and Parking

With one lane of traffic per direction and on-street parking on each side, Dundas street cannot currently accommodate designated cycling lanes.

accommodating cycling on Dundas street in the downtown could be achieved either by taking space from on-street parking, or designating the travel lanes as “sharrow” lanes as has been done elsewhere in the downtown.

the ability to move people and goods on Dundas street is limited by the space available from building face to building face. this width cannot be changed without wholesale removal of buildings, and so is not a reasonable concept.

When dealing with limited roadway width to manage traffic, the first opportunity to investigate is to provide minimum roadway geometry. this can include minimum lane width and minimum radius at corners. the city’s Design specifications and requirements Manual (september 2012) should be referred to in order to either identify geometric reduction opportunities, or the potential to actually reduce standards where feasible and supported by national and provincial roadway engineering guidelines.

it is recognized that current rapid transit planning in London includes one routing option on Dundas street between richmond and Wellington streets in the Downtown. if this option is to be further evaluated as part of a rapid transit environmental assessment, assessing the impacts of such a change on traffic operations would be critical. the extent of such impacts would be dictated by whether potential rapid transit on Dundas street would operate in mixed traffic or an exclusive right of way. in mixed traffic, the impacts could be minor except at stops. in an exclusive right-of-way, rapid transit operation can limit or restrict certain vehicle turning movements.

owing to the relatively narrow width of Dundas street, one option for potential rapid transit service along Dundas street would be to operate in a piazza-style corridor where private motorized vehicles are restricted. this would leave the available right-of-way for rapid transit, pedestrian, and cyclist movement.

the existing on-street parking along Dundas street in the Downtown takes away limited space for movement of autos, transit, cyclists and pedestrians, establishing trees and space for outdoor activities.

parking is recognized as an important component of any transportation system. in Downtown London there are 1,860 municipal and 12,250 private off-street parking spaces, and 714 on-street parking stalls. the tMp also allows for the reduction of parking requirements where feasible, and supports the development of central parking facilities (i.e. underground garages). However, any Dundas street option that would remove on-street parking is expected to meet with strong merchant opposition along the street. one practical way of addressing such concerns is to incorporate additional off-street parking supply in close proximity to Dundas street to create a parking supply equilibrium.

SubJEct iSSuES/conStraintS oPPortunitiES

Walking is the most basic and essential travel mode. the sidewalks along Dundas street must provide for maximum accessibility by all users, no matter their physical or cognitive ability.

the Downtown plan recognizes that most of Dundas street in the downtown attracts high volumes of pedestrian use. With the grid of streets and especially arterial thoroughfares in the downtown, the city has an opportunity to focus on pedestrian movement on Dundas street as the first transportation priority. the existing pace and type of vehicular traffic along Dundas street can be compatible with more outdoor sidewalk activities along the street.

one function of Dundas street that must be considered in any improvement planning is the ability to serve business loading and unloading. providing and enforcing loading/unloading zones is key to many business operations. Where rear lane space is limited or non-existent, businesses must continue to be provided with delivery capabilities on Dundas street.

Delivery vehicles can be accommodated on a street that restricts car and truck use through provision of moveable barriers (i.e.

bollards) and restricted delivery times. Deliveries to/from side street may also be possible if distances to businesses being served is not excessive. However, any alternative method for loading/unloading is generally not as practical or acceptable as having loading/unloading zones provided on the street.

each downtown intersection must operate at an acceptable Level-of-service (Los). However, the traffic Los in a downtown, where the traffic progression should be slow and steady, visibility to building faces should be maximized and where there are high pedestrian crossing volumes is different that the Los provided in other areas of the city.

there are two aspects of Downtown traffic conditions in London that benefit future opportunities for Dundas street. the first is the fact that traffic volumes and associated management requirements occur during peak and off-perk periods. the city may consider providing capacity on Dundas street to meet off-peak demand, recognizing that Los can deteriorate during the peak periods. Motorists would then have the option of either altering their travel times or use alternative routes in response to any Los reduction during peak period.

Socio-Economic

the “health” and image of the Downtown have an impact on city-wide economic development as they are among the criteria used by new companies and businesses to select locations for investment.

Dundas street is rarely regarded as a first-choice shopping, entertainment, or cultural destination.

this ability to alter travel routes in Downtown London is seen as a major advantage of the downtown street grid. Motorist, as well as cyclists and pedestrians would have the ability to divert to alternative routes in response to any Los issues along Dundas street. only public transit would be restricted to established transit routes through the Downtown.

Dundas street is not an appealing enough place for a large-scale investment, and there is currently a spread of office buildings north on richmond rather than along Dundas street.

create an attractive location for new businesses and with a distinctive, high quality retail/commercial environment

kInG STreeT, kITChener, on