City councillors have applied the brakes to a plan to install traffic calming measures on four “dangerous” city streets.
Coun. Jay Fallis tried, for a third time, to get council’s support to put in measures to curb speeding on Emperor Drive, Collegiate Drive, Skyline Drive and Alexander Road.
The issue was deferred in May after a majority of councillors spoke against the plan, which included placing flexible, centre-line signs on the streets.
Fallis, in May, asked for more time to conduct further research, vowing to come back to council with a refined plan.
He did that Monday night. His revised plan called for fewer centre-line flex signs and a lower cost because road painting would not be required under the new scheme.
As a result, the upfront cost went from about $24,000 in May to about $16,000 this week. In addition, the yearly maintenance cost decreased from the original $19,600 to about $13,000.
Fallis, who consulted with staff from the City of Ottawa where the measures are being used successfully, stressed that cost should not be the driving factor.
“This cannot be stressed enough: the difficulties associated with the speeding and safety along Emperor Drive, Skyline and Alexander as well as Collegiate Drive are significant and problematic,” Fallis said Monday night.
He said “each of these streets have unusual design circumstances” that warrant traffic calming measures.
“These are not one-off complaints ... these are systemic issues” that are not being addressed, he said.
He urged his fellow councillors not to look at the issue “as an unnecessary cost or as a slippery slope, but rather as an opportunity to improve safety and security in these neighbourhoods that have been asking for it on a very consistent basis.”
But his determined effort did not find traction.
Coun. Mason Ainsworth said the statistics from city traffic studies - conducted as a result of Fallis’ concerns - show measures are not needed.
Ainsworth noted that on all four streets, the average speed of vehicles falls below the posted speed limit.
“According to staff and according to what the stats say, it’s not something that is warranted according to our traffic calming policy,” he said. “We have this policy set in place for a reason.”
He said going against the policy would set a “dangerous” precedent.
“It’s not fair if we take specific streets and it’s difficult for me to say this because all these streets are in Ward 3 and I have friends who live on all these streets and it would be very easy for me to say ‘i want to represent the needs of my constituents and I want to help my ward’ but the reality is we represent the entire city and it’s not fair for us to just look after one ward and to ignore the rest of the city.”
He suggested a city-wide approach is needed and review of the policy is necessary before making such changes.
He also said traffic calming measures wouldn’t solve the problem.
“Traffic calming won’t stop that speeder,” Ainsworth said.
Coun. Rob Kloostra agreed and said portable digital radar signs would be a better approach.
Coun. Ted Emond applauded Fallis for his passion and his research but said changes to speed limits, enforcement, and the policy would be a better approach.
There was a brief discussion about using the four streets as a pilot project in advance of a broader approach, but that also failed to garner support.
In the end, council opted not to support the traffic calming measures on the four city streets.
