Kingston Transit - Woodhaven Route

As a resident of Woodhaven I think it is great that there will finally be a service in the area. As a parent who has resided here for 7 years now, I have concerns .There are 3 proposed stops on Rosanna Avenue, I will call these, North stop, Middle stop, and South stop. The North stop is fine, the only issue with that area is that the laneway narrows due to the park area and could be a collision issue with traffic, Middle stop, is also a school bus stop for many local schools and could get seriously congested with morning drop offs and evening pick-ups. The South stop will be a serious issue. It looks to be proposed south of the mailboxes and I will advise you that the traffic access near the South stop can be ridiculous. Many residents speed off of Princess St to Rosanna Ave and treat that stretch as a speedway. This area is also potentially dangerous due to the number of people that stop on the curve to retrieve their mail on a daily basis. Further to this, the north side of that curve is extremely bad for neighborhood locals parking on the curve and at times on the south side of that curve, which makes an extremely narrow lane for a personal vehicle and I doubt a bus would be able to fit between the cars when they are parked there. I would strongly suggest that the city erect no parking signage on the curve or there will be a collision at some point in time. These parking issues have been brought to the city's attention many time over the past couple of years, and has yet to be dealt with. I recommend a city planner from your organization see and observe the area I have called South stop. Review of this specific area needs to be done at many different times, not only during the day time working hours but on evenings and weekends especially.

I am glad to see that Kingston transit is finally putting a transit route in this area, however, the traffic circle at Cataraqui Woods and Woodhaven Drive needs to first have a parking restriction applied to the road or the buses will not be able to get through. A lot of the homes on the corner are rentals and there are numerous vehicles that park on the road. Some of these vehicles park right in the turn of the circle. They park on both sides of the street which frequently makes the turn one way to traffic. My little compact car can sometimes barely make it through so the buses will not be able to navigate without climbing the cement barrier. This is a good route, but will cause problems if the city does not impliment a parking restriction several metres from the turn, as well as, parking on one side of the street only.

I hope that this route is up and running before the completion of the next phase of construction in that area (1075 Bayridge) so that new residents are more likely to establish transit use as a habit from day one.

The bus route would provide greater accessibility for the neighbourhood of Cat Woods and Woodhaven but there needs to be a crosswalk or traffic attendant that allows pedestrians and children entrance into Cataraqui Elementary School. The traffic has increased this year due to increased development in Woodhaven and oncoming traffic is coming from Midland into Cat Woods Drive and there are no stops for children to cross safely. If the City of Kingston could please provide a traffic attendant during school hours from 8:30 AM to 9:00 AM and 3:30 - 4:00 PM Monday to Friday, then it would be beneficial for the bus route to be allowed on Cataraqui Woods and failing that there will be an incident with a child or parent trying to enter the school pathway as the traffic has been dangerous this school term so far. Kind regards, Katherine

Westbrook! Westbrook! Westbrook! There is no safe way to get into town walking or cycling, people without vehicles are literally stranded out here. Think of the children!

My only reservation with this is would the resources could be better spent on improving frequency and speed on existing routes. We have a bit of an over emphasis on coverage (causing our incredibly squiggly bus map) in the city. This one does seem like an awfully short route.
That said more bus service is a good thing and any expansion is a good thing whether it is my first choice of improvement or not.

On this route specifically, I would hope that the timing of this bus would so as coordinate with the most common routes to transfer to.

Also is it possible to use smaller vehicles and increase frequency?

I've read the posts so far and it sounds like Holden needs to be serviced. It's a very long street with side streets that are only accessible to Holden. Avoid Woodhaven at all costs. It's a nightmare to drive down with cars parked on both sides, especially around the traffic circle. I would suggest Midland to Cat Woods to Holden to Princess to Roseanne and then back to Cat Woods. Also, Westbrook could use their own bus route.

My kids' school is Frontenac. They have to walk till Holycross to use the city bus. It is going to be more convenient if this route gets approved.

Woodhaven is horrible to turn onto as cars are parked on both sides of the street right at the north entrance. Holden is much easier to turn onto from Cataraqui Woods as there are no houses on the west side. I would suggest Cat Woods to Holden to Princess to Woodhaven (south end is easier to turn onto) to Evergreen to Roseanne and back onto Cat Woods to perhaps go to Westbrook. This would service more people especially around center of Woodhaven subdivision.

I have been waiting for a route closer to my home. I am taking in exchange students and this will make it much easier for them going to Queens or St Lawrence College.
Great route in my opinion. Very centralized for my area

I think it's great; however, what about the other streets in the neighbourhood, for example, Holden Street. I often see residents walking along Holden to get to Princess Street to catch a bus. Holden is not a "short" street and can take some time to walk along especially in the cold winter months. Kingston transit needs to be as accessible as possible to its residents.

Excellent idea to increase public transit

Every 30 minutes is not enough to incentivize people to take the bus, especially in a city as auto-centric as Kingston. This should be increased to at least every 15 minutes throughout the day and eventually maybe every 8-10 minutes during peak times. The times where it is scheduled to come every 60 minutes is useless; you may as well not even have a bus if it's only going to come once an hour. I'd also propose that instead of heading south on Woodhaven, it may make more sense to head south on Holden. The residents closer to Woodhaven would be able to walk to Holden or Rosanna.

I absolutely agree with other residents of Woodhaven that cars parked on the road will be a very serious hinderance for this proposed bus route. I think the bus route is required and the the street parking must be managed properly. I would support a ban on street parking in these neighbourhoods. It's a danger to all.

I also agree with other citizens that a bus route should be extended to Westbrook. In this case, I would not make it a loop but rather a "straight shot" and back. This is my experience having lived in Ottawa and using OC Transpo busses for 10 years. It really doesn't make sense to me for the route to loop as proposed currently.

Please, consider adding Westbrook subdivisions. We really really need a bus route there!

I'm very happy for the Woodhaven residents. I'm sure that it will be a well-used route. However, I've been living in the subdivision between Princess and Woodbine Road, backing on to Collins Bay road for 22 years and the closest bus service is at Mona at Woodbine, but nothing west of Mona.
Since the development of Woodhaven subdivision the traffic along Collins Bay Road south of Princess Street has gone from a trickle to a waterfall. As well, Woodbine at Collins Bay Rd is a major intersection (needs a traffic light desperately!) and would be well served by a bus route that includes it. There is a primary school as well as a secondary school along Woodbine. An Express route would be amazing.
The existing Express route leaves the Cat. Mall, heads west along Princess and turns south onto Bayridge Drive. It could be adjusted to have it continue along Princess to Collins Bay Rd., then east along Woodbine Road to Bayridge Drive. I was told by our City counselor several years ago that a route was going to happen along Collins Bay road within a year or 2. That never materialized. It is a shame that this area continues to be underserviced after all these years. Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback.

I strongly agree to have a new bus route to woodheaven.
There are so many people who would rather use public transit for economic and environmental reasons. It gives the opportunity to residence not to put extra cars on the road ,less pulltiing air

Finally!!! This will make life so much easier. We have been waiting for this bus route in Woodhaven area long enough, very happy and excited to see it happening soon. It's much needed.

Coming from the roundabout to woodhaven, you are constantly playing chicken with other vehicles going the opposite way, due to the amount of cars parked on the side of the road. You would need to ban parking on woodhaven to make it safe. Considering some some of the houses are multiple dwellings on woodhaven near the roundabout, there are a lot of cars and kids.

Bring back the Westbrook route as well.

It's exciting to see this neighbourhood finally getting bus service! I'm reading the many comments about bus service needs in Westbrook, but do think it would best be served by a separate route.The longer routes that we see in some of the other neighbourhoods can actually be a detriment to use because it doesn't bring people to a transfer point quickly enough. I would propose a slight change to the route, with the outbound bus turning left onto Holden, right onto Tremont, and left onto Woodhaven to reconnect with the original route. The traffic circle at Woodhaven and Cat Woods (and the presence of parked cars at that intersection) would likely be tricky for a bus to navigate.

As a Woodhaven Drive resident, I can attest to the heavy traffic that is already present. Woodhaven drive is already a shortcut for residents trying to avoid traffic lights and Cars riddle the streets due to a serious lack of available parking year round. A bus would be doing a slalom and would definitely exacerbate congestion issues. Children have already been hit in this neighbourhood due to high vehicle volume. Please PLEASE!! seriously reconsider this route and modify it to stick to arterial roads (Cat woods drive, HWY 2)