Report to: Development Services Committee Report
Date: June 19,
2007
SUBJECT: Markham’s Safe Streets Strategy – 2006/2007 Results and 2007/2008 Plan
PREPARED BY:
David Porretta,
RECOMMENDATION:
That the report entitled “
And that
the Traffic Safety Committee and staff report back with a solution regarding
the Police enforcement commitment and traffic calming concerns as identified in
this report;
And that
Council endorse the 2007/2008 Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets as in
Attachment ‘C’;
And that
Council endorse the 2007/2008 Top 5 List of Education Streets as in Attachment
‘D’;
And that the Traffic Safety Committee be authorized to adjust the 2007/2008 Top 25 and Top 5 List as needed.
And that Staff be advised and directed to do all things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Safe Streets Strategy – 3 Point Strategy
2006/2007 Safe Streets Strategy
The 2006/2007 Top 25 List of
Enforcement Streets and Top 5 List of Education Streets were approved by Council in May 2006 (see
Attachment ‘A’) and the Traffic Safety Committee has implemented the 2006/2007
program. Nine months of enhanced police enforcement had been deployed and staff
had closely monitored the speed compliance for these streets. Effectiveness
studies were analyzed at the end of the program year and the results were
reviewed by the
- Maintenance List – provide occasional enforcement (6 streets)
- Additional Enforcement List – provide additional year of enforcement (7 streets)
- Alternative Solutions List – review markings, signs and speed limits (4 streets)
- Lane Reduction Assessment List – consider lane
reductions (2 streets)
- ITS List – implement Intelligent Transportation System
(1 street)
- Physical Traffic Calming Study List – consider traffic calming (5 streets)
2006/2007 Traffic Calming Measures
Prior to undertaking a comprehensive traffic calming study, a preliminary survey will be conducted to gauge resident interest in proceeding with this project. Following this, staff will retain an engineering consultant to undertake traffic calming studies.
Police Enforcement Commitment
The 2006/2007 speed studies have revealed that additional police enforcement did not increase driver compliance on a number of streets. One of the contributing factors is that some streets require more enforcement hours than York Region Police have provided. York Regional Police have also advised that a number of streets have not shown a need for enhanced police enforcement and their resources could be used more effectively elsewhere. Staff and York Regional Police will review a service level agreement related to police enforcement hours.
The Traffic Safety Committee has advised that additional enforcement is essential to achieving satisfactory speed compliance levels, as shown in Attachment ‘F’.
2007/2008 Safe Streets Program
The new 2007/2008 Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets and new Top 5 List of Education Streets were reviewed by the Traffic Safety Committee in April. These streets were selected according to the point ranking system identified in Markham’s Safe Streets Strategy and are recommended to Council for approval.
At the May 25, 2007 Traffic Safety
Committee meeting, York Regional Police raised concerns regarding low vehicular
volume on some of the new 2007/2008 Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets. This
concern can translate into an inefficient use of police resources given the
infrequency of motorists traveling on the specific street. The Traffic Safety
Committee will review and adjust the 2007/2008 Top 25 streets, to reflect this
concern, following approximately two months of York Regional Police feedback.
It is expected that the adjustments to the 2007/2008 Top 25 streets will ensure
efficient use of police resources. 1. Purpose 2. Background 3. Discussion 4. Financial
PURPOSE:
This report updates Committee and Council on the 2006/2007 Markham Safe Streets Strategy results and seeks endorsement of the new 2007/2008 Markham Safe Streets Strategy plan.
BACKGROUND:
3-Point Strategy
In late 2004, Council approved
|
Markham’s
Safe Streets 3-Point Strategy |
|
|
Strategy |
Description |
|
Education |
Comprised of safe driving marketing activities - Town-wide and the Top 5 List of Education Streets |
|
Enforcement |
Partnership with York Regional Police in the deployment of the Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets and the Cumulative Maintenance Streets |
|
|
Conduct effectiveness studies and identify traffic calming measures following one year of police enforcement |
Traffic Safety Committee
The Traffic Safety Committee (TSC) was formed as an advisory committee to the Town’s Transportation Committee. The TSC is comprised of eight Town residents, York Regional Police, and four Councillors. The primary roles of the Committee are the following:
- provide input on the Education, Enforcement and
- monitor enforcement effectiveness results on a monthly and year-end basis;
- review the need for physical traffic calming measures after nine months of police enforcement.
2006/2007 Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets
In 2006, staff had a preliminary list of candidate streets based on inquiries by residents and subsequent speed studies completed by staff. The candidate streets were identified using the point ranking system established in the Safe Streets Strategy.
Upon their review, the TSC
recommended the Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets administered by enforcement
by York Regional Police as shown in Attachment ‘A’. On
2006/2007 Top 5 List of Education Streets
In addition to the Top 25 List of
Enforcement Streets, the TSC also recommended an additional 5 streets for an
educational/marketing plan about safe driving as per Attachment ‘A’. These streets were also endorsed by Council
on May 23, 2006. The residents of these
streets and the surrounding streets received educational/marketing material to
increase awareness about safe driving. The following provides a sample of the
educational/marketing material that was distributed to the respective communities:
- Community wide mail drop with Safe Streets litter
bag
- Monitor Your Speedometer stickers
- Region of
- Driver Training refresher course
Residents are increasingly aware of the Town’s Road Watch program. The number of Road Watch web hits has grown 16% from 2005 to 2006 with totals of 12782 and 14832 web hits, respectively. Road Watch is promoted through the Top 5 List of Education Streets, the Town’s website, local newspapers and various community centres.
The Markham Road Watch program empowers residents and other
road users to target aggressive and poor driving behaviour through a Citizen
Report Form. The report form is completed by a resident that observes an
incident. Once completed, the report form is then sent to the Police department
for validation and a warning letter will be issued to the owner of the vehicle.
Additional occurrences may result in a telephone call or personal visit by the
Police department. In
DISCUSSION:
SECTION 1 – 2006/2007 Safe Streets Strategy Results
2006/2007 Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets – Results and Solutions
The Traffic Safety Committee has
the responsibility of evaluating the effectiveness of police enforcement
regarding the Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets. Through the
Speed Compliance Levels
Upon applying the criteria, the Traffic Safety Committee concluded that the 2006/2007 program year have a number of streets that did not respond to additional police enforcement. The Traffic Safety Committee has concluded that a minimum level of Police enforcement is essential in achieving satisfactory speed compliance levels, as shown in Attachment ‘F’.
Through the public consultation process and the Traffic Safety Committee comments, staff has concluded that the current traffic calming projects, i.e. horizontal measures such as roll-over medians, are viewed unfavourably by a number of residents. There are negative factors associated with traffic calming projects that include construction costs and their effectiveness with reducing vehicular speed. Residents prefer additional police enforcement to address speed compliance concerns in their community.
Six Available Solutions
Following the assessment, as mentioned above, The Traffic Safety Committee recommends one of the following six solutions for each of the Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets:
|
Solutions
for the 2006/2007 Top 25 Enforcement Streets |
|
|
Compliance Results |
Proposal and Description |
|
1.Street has shown significant improvement. |
Transfer street to Maintenance List Street will be transferred to a maintenance plan for decreased level of police enforcement |
|
2. Street has shown minor improvement. |
Transfer street to Additional Enforcement List Street will be transferred to 2007/2008 Top 25 List of Enforcement for one additional year of enforcement |
|
3. Street has shown no improvement |
Transfer street to Alternative Solutions List Street will be transferred to a
list where pavement markings, signs, and a review of posted speed limits will
be considered |
|
4. Street has shown no improvement. |
Transfer street to Roadway Lane Reduction Assessment List Street will be transferred to a
list where road lane reduction are considered |
|
5. Street has shown no improvement. |
Transfer street to Intelligent Transportation Systems List Street will be transferred to a
list where ITS will be considered to improve compliance levels. This includes
speed display boards, variable speed limit displays (VSL), overhead or
roadside changing message signs. |
|
6. Street has shown no improvement. |
Transfer street to Physical Traffic Calming Study List Street will be transferred to physical
traffic calming list. |
The
Traffic Calming Measures – Next Steps
As mentioned in the June 19, 2007 Traffic Calming Project Update report, staff has concluded that the current 2006/2007 traffic calming projects are not being received favourably by a number of residents to-date. Because of this, staff will report back in the Fall to address this issue before proceeding with a comprehensive traffic calming study for the 2007/2008 projects as identified in Attachment ‘B’ – List 6 Physical Traffic Calming Measures.
Pending staff findings, the
Pending the community’s support to
consider physical traffic calming measures, staff will then retain a consultant
to complete the traffic calming studies for all five streets. The expected cost
to conduct these five studies is approximately $100,000. Funds will be requested in the 2008 budget. Construction
of the physical traffic calming measures will be undertaken in late 2008 or in 2009,
subject to budget approval.
2006/2007 Top 5 List of Education Streets
Three of the five streets have
been successfully implemented and Safe Streets litter bags were circulated to each
of the three communities. The litter bag contained a letter from the Town’s
Traffic Safety committee and brochures including the Markham Safe Streets
Strategy and Road Watch Program. The
remaining two streets, i.e.
SECTION 2 – 2007/2008 Safe Streets Strategy Plan
Proposed 2007/2008 Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets
As part of their primary role, The
These streets were prioritized
according to the point ranking system that has been utilized to prioritize
traffic calming projects in the past (See Attachment ‘E’). The Town’s point ranking system was developed
according to other Transportation agencies’ methods which include the
Because York Regional Police have expressed concerns regarding low vehicular volume on some of the new 2007/2008 Top 25 List of Enforcement Streets and the inefficient use of police resources, given the infrequency of motorists traveling on the specific street, the Traffic Safety Committee is requesting authorization to adjust the new 2007/2008 Top 25 List over the next two months. It is expected that the adjustments to the 2007/2008 Top 25 streets will ensure efficient use of police resources.
Based on the experience from the
2006/2007 program year, nine months of continuous police enforcement and
monitoring will be provided to the Top 25 streets for the 2007/2008 program
year. In this regard, this year’s
program will start
Upon completion of the nine
months, traffic studies will be conducted in May/June 2008 and the results
brought forward to the
Proposed 2007/2008 Top 5 List of Education Streets
The 2007/2008 Top 5 List of Education Streets will receive similar marketing material to the 2006/2007 Top 5 List of Education Streets including litter bag drop, community displays, radar message board, Young Drivers training courses and use of the Community Safety Village. To ensure the list of streets are reflective of the lowest speed compliance concerns, the Traffic Safety Committee is requesting authorization to adjust the proposed 2007/2008 Top 5 List as needed.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE: (external link)
The following list of activities identifies the costs associated with the 2007/2008 Safe Streets Strategy. Safe Streets activities conducted in 2008 will be funded through the 2008 Town budget, pending Council approval. This will include undertaking engineering consultant services for the five traffic calming streets identified in this report.
|
2007 Activity |
Account Number |
Amount Allocation |
|
Educational Activities |
|
|
|
Communication Consultant |
065-5350-5116-005 |
$20,000 |
|
Promotional Material |
083-5350-6143-005 |
$50,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Enforcement Activities |
|
|
|
Effectiveness Studies |
083-5350-6143-005 |
$20,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Student Assistance |
65-5350-5116-005 |
$27,000 |
|
|
|
|
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Not applicable.
RECOMMENDED BY:
_______________________ _____________________________
Alan Brown, C.E.T. Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Director,
Attachment A – List of 2006 Enforcement and Education Streets
Attachment B – Proposed Solutions for 2006 Streets
Attachment C – Recommended List of 2007 Top 25 Enforcement Streets
Attachment D – Recommended List of 2007 Top 5 Education Streets
Attachment E – Point Ranking System
Attachment F – Enforcement Commitment Levels
|
2006/2007 Top 25 List
of Enforcement Streets (1 to 25) |
|
Street Name |
|
1. South Park Road |
|
2. Church Street |
|
3. Stonebridge Drive |
|
4. Paramount Road |
|
5. Calvert Road |
|
6. Lee Avenue |
|
7. Huntington Park Drive |
|
8. Castan Avenue |
|
9. Manhattan Drive |
|
10. Castlemore Avenue |
|
11. Cachet Parkway |
|
12. Wootten Way North |
|
13. Waggoners Wells Lane |
|
14. Macrill Road |
|
15. Legacy Drive |
|
16. Dickson Hill Road |
|
17. Glenbourne Park Drive |
|
18. Simonston Boulevard East |
|
19. Woodward Avenue |
|
20. Southdale Drive |
|
21. Ramona Boulevard |
|
22. Riverbend Road |
|
23. Sir Lancelot Drive |
|
24. Noble Street |
|
25. Forester Crescent |
The 2006 Top 5 Education Streets has been listed below:
|
2006/2007 Top 5 List of Education Streets (26 to 30 ranking) |
|
1. Fairway Heights Drive |
|
2. Risebrough Circuit North |
|
3. Worthing Avenue |
|
4. Karma Road |
|
5. Colonsay Road |
ATTACHMENT
A
$35 Million of Hard
Infrastructure Quality Control
|
List 1 – Maintenance Plan (6 Streets) |
Enforcement
(Hours) |
Compliance
Change (%) * |
Final
Compliance (%) (Less than
50 km/h) ** |
|
7. Huntington Park Drive |
57 |
+16 |
77 |
|
13.
Waggoners Wells Lane |
48 |
+23 |
81 |
|
19. Woodward Avenue |
28 |
+1 |
78 |
|
20. Southdale Drive |
18 |
+22 |
76 |
|
23. Sir Lancelot Drive |
15 |
-13 |
70 |
|
25. Forester Crescent |
14 |
+1 |
80 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
List 2 – Additional Enforcement (7 Streets) |
|
|
|
|
3. Stonebridge Drive |
15 |
-15 |
64 |
|
8. Castan Avenue |
20 |
-36 |
43 |
|
10. Castlemore Avenue |
20 |
-18 |
53 |
|
15. Legacy Drive |
34 |
-1 |
66 |
|
18. Simonston Boulevard East |
34 |
2 |
68 |
|
19. Ramona Boulevard |
15 |
-31 |
55 |
|
22. Riverbend Road |
13 |
-10 |
60 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
List 3 – Alternative Solution
Evaluation (4 Streets) |
|
|
|
|
1. South Park Road |
43 |
0 |
52 |
|
11. Cachet Parkway |
28 |
-46 |
38 |
|
16. Dickson Hill Road |
24 |
-1 |
47 |
|
17. Glenbourne Park Drive |
11 |
-21 |
28 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
List (2 Streets) |
|
|
|
|
5. Calvert Road |
44 |
-17 |
40 |
|
14. Macrill Road |
24 |
-18 |
58 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
List 5 – ITS Implementation (1 Street) |
|
|
|
|
9. Manhattan Drive |
15 |
-5 |
59 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
List 6 – Physical Traffic Calming
Measures (5 Streets) |
|
|
|
|
2. Church Street |
35 |
-26 |
48 |
|
4. Paramount Road |
21 |
-18 |
57 |
|
6. Lee Avenue |
26 |
-35 |
43 |
|
12. Wootten Way North |
45 |
-5 |
53 |
|
24. Noble Street |
13 |
-11 |
64 |
* % Change in compliance (% traffic less
than 50 km/h) after 9 months of enforcement
** Final compliance level after 9 months of
enforcement
ATTACHMENT B
|
Recommended List of 2007/2008 Top 25 Enforcement Streets |
|
|
Street Name |
Points* |
|
1. Stonebridge Drive |
10.5 |
|
2. Castan Avenue |
8.5 |
|
3. Risebrough Circuit (North of Masseyfield
Gate) |
8.5 |
|
4. Castlemore Avenue (Kennedy Road to McCowan
Road) |
8.5 |
|
5. Worthing Avenue |
8.5 |
|
6. Hazelton Avenue |
8.0 |
|
7. Karma Road |
7.0 |
|
8. Mary Pearson Drive |
7.0 |
|
9. Highland Park Boulevard |
7.0 |
|
10. Jewel Street |
7.0 |
|
11. Beckenridge Drive |
6.0 |
|
12. Legacy Drive |
6.0 |
|
13. Laureleaf Road |
5.5 |
|
14. Simonston Boulevard East |
5.0 |
|
15. Ramona Boulevard |
5.0 |
|
16. The Bridle Trail (west of Kennedy Road) |
5.0 |
|
17. Colonsay Road |
5.0 |
|
18. Buchanan Drive |
5.0 |
|
19. Major Buttons Drive |
5.0 |
|
20. Paradise Avenue |
4.5 |
|
21. Oakcrest Avenue |
4.5 |
|
22. Waterbridge Lane |
4.5 |
|
23. Rouge Bank Drive |
4.5 |
|
24. Coppard Avenue (Highglen Avenue to 14th
Avenue) |
4.0 |
|
25. Riverbend Road |
3.5 |
* Points are based upon the point ranking system established in the
Markham Safe Streets Strategy (see Attachment E) for streets with an 85th
percentile speed greater than 50 km/h.
ATTACHMENT
C
|
Recommended List of 2007/2008 Top 5 Education Streets |
|
|
Street Name |
Points* |
|
1. Kreighoff Avenue |
4.0 |
|
2. Fred McLaren Boulevard |
4.0 |
|
3. Delmark Boulevard |
3.5 |
|
4. Fairway Heights Drive |
3.5 |
|
5. Senator Reesor’s Drive |
3.5 |
* Points are based upon the point ranking system established in the
Markham Safe Streets Strategy (see Attachment E) for streets with an 85th
percentile speed greater than 50 km/h.
ATTACHMENT D
ATTACHMENT E