CITY PAGES: Labour Day Hours, Safe Semester is On, and GRCA Needs Feedback

The City of Guelph, and it’s various partners and agencies, put out a lot of information on a weekly basis, and while it all ends up on the City’s website somewhere, wouldn’t it be easier to just scroll through it all on one easy-to-read article on Guelph Politico here…?

Labour Day Weekend Hours:

Safe Semester is Back Next Weekend!

Guelph’s Safe Semester will be running again every weekend from September 5 till September 28. Macdonell Street will be closed nightly between the Macdonell parking lot and the West Parkade, and Wyndham Street will be closed between Carden Street and Cork Street on September 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28. During the closures, there is no on-street parking allowed in the closure area between 10 pm and 4 am. Residents and visitors in the area can park in the available parking lots. Any cars parked on closed streets during Safe Semester will be towed at the owner’s expense. Accessible portable washrooms will be set up at the parking lot in 28 Macdonell Street. See the map below:

U of G Following up on Endowment Question

Following up on the demand from the group UoG for Palestine and the review of the University’s endowment portfolio, the Ad Hoc Committee is now asking for feedback from students, faculty, staff, and alumni on the matter. If you’re from any of these groups, and you want to submit written responses to the expression of concern with respect to the University’s endowment investments by September 20. Submissions may be sent to csar [at] uoguelph.ca and should include the writer or group’s name and affiliation(s) to U of G. Neither the submissions nor the names associated with them will be posted publicly by the University. Learn more by clicking here.

GRCA Looking for Feedback on Strategy

The Grand River Conservation Authority is inviting feedback for its draft Conservation Areas Strategy. The strategy, which was approved by the GRCA board at their August meeting last week, aims to provide an integrated, high-level framework that helps guide and inform future decision-making on all GRCA-owned and controlled lands. Lands categorized as conservation areas, conservation lands, controlled/limited access lands and lands used for water management are covered under the strategy.

Comments on the draft strategy must be submitted to the GRCA through the online survey by Friday October 4. There will also be two virtual “Public Information Centres” where you can get more information about the strategy, the first will be held Tuesday September 10 at 9 am and the second will be held September 24 at 6:30 pm. To learn how to sign up, click here.

Guelph Museum Offers Tour of World War Sites in Europe

Guelph Museums has teamed up with Frederick Travel to offer a group tour of Italy, France, Belgium, and Netherlands next spring. Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, this tour will explore the impacts of the First and Second World Wars on the ground in Europe and at home in Canada – from the Italian Campaign to the Liberation of Holland. This journey will also reflect on the contemporary resonance of Lt. Col. John McCrae and his poem “In Flanders Fields.”

“These tours have offered memorable opportunities to learn history and practice Remembrance in a way you can only experience by walking on the ground, touching the headstones, and meeting the people who live daily with the legacy of the world wars on their homelands,” said Tammy Adkin, the City of Guelph’s manager of Museums and Culture in a statement. “The experience is life changing, and has inspired all of us who have made trip to strive to do better to contribute to a peaceful world.”

The tour departs on April 23, 2025 and returns on May 7. To learn more about what to expect on the trip, click here.

Additional Notes

Move-In Weekend at the University of Guelph begins today and continues through Saturday, so expect delays and road closures around the campus area. Orientation Week activities begin on Saturday.

The annual doggy dip will take place at Lyons Pool on Labour Day.

Reminder: School starts on Wednesday in both the Upper Grand District School Board, and the Wellington Catholic Board. And with school starting again next week, the City of Guelph has some tips for driving in schools zones and dropping off the kids for their first day.

There will be two information sessions about the Affordable Housing Community Improvement Plan on Thursday September 5 at City Hall.

There will be virtual open house for the City’s Municipal Service and Financing Agreements policy on Friday September 13 at 1:30 pm.

Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis are looking for red dresses for future events around Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirited people.

The deadline to donate to this year’s Big Book Sale is Monday September 9.

The Guelph Youth Music Centre has launched their search for a new executive director.

Check out the latest time lapse video from the in-progress construction of the new main library:

Current “Have Your Say” Opportunities:

Disc Golf in Margret Greene Park
Downtown Infrastructure Renewal
Finding Your Way, Grove Street Reconstruction
Guelph’s Bicentennial
Scottsdale Drive Bike Lanes.

Transit News & Detours

Reminder #1: The detours along the #4 York have changed and will remain in effect till December 20.

Reminder #2: The transfer point at the University Centre will be moved to the Movati Athletic south parking lot today for Move-In Weekend at the University of Guelph. The #1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 15, 17, 18 and 99 will all be affected those days.

Outbound trips on the #2 College Edinburgh will be detoured until December 20 affecting three stops.

See the full list of stops affected by detours here.

New and Upcoming Construction

Construction work will resume at the Woolwich Street and Speedvale Avenue intersection on Tuesday September 3. Work will continue until October 15.

James Street West will be closed between McCrae Boulevard to Forest Hill Drive starting on Tuesday September 3 for the installation of the new section of watermain. The work should take 24 hours to complete.

There will be lane reductions at Clair Road West and Southgate Drive for two weeks starting on Tuesday September 3 for the installation of new sewer and water pipes.