Council Orientation and Education Workshop

6:29Okay. Okay. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to the Council orientation and education session

6:38for engineering and transportation services. So it will be an interesting afternoon.

6:45We don't do the OK for perfect. So because we've had a workshop this morning, we did OK Canada,

6:51our territory acknowledgement as well this morning. And so we go dive right into it

6:58with a presentation by Terry Gaiman, our general manager, engineering and transportation services

7:03and city engineer. Welcome, Mr. Gaiman. Thank you, Chair O'Rourke. And you just stole my opening

7:11line in terms of my introduction. So thank you for that as well. Good afternoon, everybody. I am

7:17very pleased to be here today with an opportunity to deliver on our CAO's commitment to present

7:23service profiles to council to help educate you further on the team we are and the work that we

7:27do in engineering and transportation services. It's always so great when I get opportunities

7:34to showcase the terrific team that we have. I've been here on this team for about 10 years now,

7:39and I continue to be impressed every day with the level of expertise, passion and professionalism

7:44of this department. I love the picture on this slide as almost everyone's present at one of our

7:48recent all staff events. And this picture shows the type of team that we are. We're hardworking,

7:53we're inclusive, we're fun, and we are a great group of people collectively working towards

7:57building this city for the future. The other thing that this picture helps us understand is

8:02what it takes, it takes a diverse team to deliver on Guelph's priorities. Engineering and transportation

8:11services is one of five departments that reports to Jane Holmes, our wonderful DCAO of infrastructure,

8:16development and environment. Our team is comprised of six divisions consisting of design and construction,

8:22which is our linear construction or our roads and pipes team led by Reg Ruswarm that we just did a

8:27recent council workshop about. Our transportation engineering team, which is a road operations

8:32and traffic team led by Steve Anderson. Our technical services group, which is our field and

8:37right away team led by Kyle Gibson. Our transportation planning group, which is our vision and policy

8:42team led by Jennifer Juist. Our development and environmental engineering team, which is our

8:46development review contaminated sites and stormwater service team led by Mary Angelo. And our corporate

8:52asset management team, which is led by Monica Silva. We are also currently piloting a business

8:57services team led by Crystal Kaminski, who is one who is helping lead us in terms of our maturation

9:02of a performance and data driven culture. And we wouldn't be successful without the fabulous

9:08support of our administrative assistant, Jasmine Orobono. Jasmine recently just became a grandmother,

9:12so there's some fun news for you there. The size of our team varies by division, but overall our

9:17department consists of just under 70 full time staff plus approximately 50 part time crossing guards.

9:26As a team, we're responsible to deliver a substantial amount of work for this community,

9:30starting with the strategic plan. We deliver on the following strategic plan initiatives.

9:35We update the corporate asset management plan to achieve the greatest benefit for our community.

9:40We're improving movement across the city by implementing the transportation master plan.

9:45We support vision zero initiatives to enhance road safety. We improve accessibility and year

9:50round maintenance first for walking and cycling together with our partners and operations.

9:55We implement the climate adaptation plan to prepare to withstand and recover from the impacts of

10:00climate change. We protect Guelph's water supply by advancing the stormwater management master plan.

10:06We complete stormwater quality retrofits in erosion rehabilitation to improve the health of

10:10our environment. We develop design criteria and update infiltration policies to enhance other

10:15level of service for stormwater management. And as shown on the slide on the screen, we're hard

10:20at work in getting things prepared to create a beautiful community space through the downtown

10:24renewal project. So it's suffice to say that engineering and transportation plays a big role

10:28in delivering our strategic plan. In addition to the strategic plan initiatives, we report on

10:34several strategic plan KPIs, including the percent of annual infrastructure renewal that is required

10:40and is funded. This is a measure of how close Guelph is to achieving its sustainable funding

10:45targets. We have our non-automotive split. So this is a measure of how many trips are taken

10:51not by car and demonstrate progress on Guelph's transportation master plan goals.

10:57We measure the size of area and the number of natural assets in our asset management plan,

11:01which is a measure showing our ability to capture the value of the natural assets for Guelph.

11:07And we measure compliance against the stormwater management system, and that's a compliance

11:10target with our permit that we have from the Ministry of Environment that governs the stormwater

11:15system in Guelph. And in addition to those strategic plan KPIs, we are hard at work building a

11:20performance-based culture where we collect and use data to make decisions. We measure progress

11:25and we drive accountability. The graph on the right is a sample from our road safety dashboard to

11:30demonstrate some of the types of data we collect on a regular basis and that we report on and use

11:35to make our decisions. We're also hard at work delivering on organizational objectives laid out

11:42by our CAO. We are deeply connected to our housing now focus, and we do that through a number of

11:48channels, including delivery of housing enabling infrastructure and development application review.

11:53We're focused on affordability and risk on through our work on asset management for

11:58organization and our work on policies and performance through teams like the City's

12:02Capital and Asset Management Steering Committee. And we're building strong relationships with

12:06partners and agencies to ensure we are coordinated and advocating for our community. We work closely

12:11with developers, the Ministry of Transportation, Metrolinx, the Ministry of Environment,

12:15utilities like Electra, and a number of internal and external groups to help deliver our services.

12:21And we're creating a strong departmental culture, a culture based on foundations of continuous

12:25improvement, customer service, and performance. Our efforts have led us to having a very high

12:31employee engagement results, which have been critical staff retention in our service continuity.

12:36That went too far. Sorry, bear with me. One more. There we go. Our device is getting

12:59in a key. The types of work that we do. I've already mentioned many of them, but I want to

13:12highlight our efforts from a few other angles as well. So from an environmental perspective,

13:17we're leading the organization's climate adaptation plan. We're managing the contaminated sites

13:21portfolio and we're managing the stormwater network with our partners and operations. We're

13:25also building more sustainable transportation options for the community. From a city building

13:31perspective, we're heavily involved in all things housing. We're moving hundreds of millions of

13:35capital dollars forward in terms of infrastructure renewal and housing enabling assets. We're

13:40ensuring everything is designed and built to quality standards so that Guelph can thrive for

13:45the future in many, many years to come. Our field staff are focused on ensuring consultants and

13:49third party contractors get our infrastructure built right. And we deliver long term master

13:54plans for water, wastewater, stormwater, and transportation networks. From a safety perspective,

14:00we're also constantly focused on the public welfare and everything that we do as professional

14:04engineers. That's part of our key code of ethics. We look at safety from a number of perspectives,

14:10like on the transportation side where we're focused on vision zero, traffic signal improvements,

14:14and our crossing guard program as examples in improving road safety. And of course with anything,

14:25there's a number of challenges and opportunities in delivering our portfolio of work. Many of the

14:29challenges can often compete with each other. So we find, so excuse me, so we work hard to find the

14:34right balance of our service delivery. On one hand, we're doing everything we can to get things built

14:39and unlock housing potential. We also need to ensure our aging infrastructure is renewed so we

14:43don't have service disruption to the existing community. And we have to do all this work while

14:48protecting the environment and doing work in compliance with industry standards and permits

14:52because we are a heavily regulated team. We also have to balance the delivery of work with ensuring

14:58we are meeting the community's needs and expectations as much as possible from a service

15:02perspective. We are focused on developing asset levels of service because we have to also balance

15:07it all in terms of budget and affordability. And we can't do everything all at once and we can't

15:12do it all with the gold standard while maintaining affordability, which we know is that top priority.

15:17So we try to look at the challenges as opportunities and we ensure that we have strategies for how we

15:22handle what comes our way. We've matured substantially in our capital delivery over the past few years.

15:27We are improving our communications. We're making data-driven decisions. We're improving safety and

15:33we're pushing ourselves in terms of risk tolerance and risk management. And all of those approaches

15:38are very interconnected with the rest of the city's services so that we're aligned with the work in

15:42other departments and we're performing at a high level together. In terms of budget, we do manage

15:51an operating budget, a capital budget, and the stormwater service fee. We also constantly are

15:56working with the finance team to help identify budget strategies related to things like sustainable

15:59infrastructure funding and capital delivery. Our operating model is pretty straightforward. It's

16:04shown on the screen. The operating costs for the department are just over $10 million with the

16:09main driver being the human resource costs for our services, which is at just over $8 million.

16:14The funding for those services are recovered from a variety of revenue sources, including property

16:19taxes, capital recoveries, and user fees such as the stormwater rates or development application

16:24fees. In terms of capital investment, we're responsible to deliver a multi-million dollar

16:33multi-year capital projects. At any given time, we can have 100 to 150 capital projects and programs

16:39on the go. And over the next 10 years, the forecast budget for our team specifically is

16:44approaching the $1 billion mark. Highlights include downtown infrastructure renewal,

16:49emerald bridge, completion of York Road, college out of cycle tracks, new infrastructure unlocking

16:53clear malpy and GSD, progress on our contaminated sites like the Fountain Street lot, stormwater

16:59pond rehabilitation work, and our annual paving program, among the many, many other things that

17:04we deliver. It takes a strong and experienced team to deliver that much work, which is why

17:09as the department head, I'm always laser focused on our staff development, our staff retention,

17:13and our performance culture for our service delivery. I'm constantly evaluating our human

17:18resource needs to ensure we can continue to produce the things that Guelph needs to thrive in the

17:22future. So with that, I'll wrap it up with a few words. I'm extremely proud of this team, as you've

17:30heard me say many times in the past. We plan, we design, and we build this great city. We're proud

17:35of that work. We work hard to deliver the strategic plan and the goals within it, and we're constantly

17:41working on getting better. Shown on the screen in front of you are some of the best ways to get

17:45in touch with us and to get more information about our work. I would encourage Council to

17:50share these links with your constituents, share those email addresses with the public,

17:55and as you heard in our recent construction workshops, stay tuned for some new and improved

17:59construction communications that will be coming to you later this year. And with that, I would just

18:04like to thank you and thank the city's executive team for the opportunity to showcase who we are

18:09and what we do in engineering and transportation services. Chair Oroch, I'll turn it back to you

18:13in case there's any questions, and if not, then we'll roll right into our transportation education

18:18workshop. That's great. Thanks, Mr. Gaiman. So the way the workshop's going to work is we'll stop

18:26periodically for questions, and that way we don't have to save all the questions for the end. So

18:30were there any questions for Mr. Gaiman? Okay, not at this time. So then we go right to Paul

18:36Hutchison, who's our supervisor of traffic engineering. He's going to tell us about the

18:41education on provincial warrant system. So people ask us why they can't have a crosswalk. They ask

18:48us why they can't have a three-way stop instead of a yield, all that fun stuff. And so this is where

18:54we will get all of those answers. And of course, before we turn it over to Paul, I'm just going to

18:59introduce Steve Anderson, our manager of transportation engineering, who's going to help kick

19:03off the workshop and get into all the exciting things that you just mentioned. Okay, well, thank you,

19:07Mr. Anderson. You're not on my, you're not on my list, but I'll allow it. I know. I'll be quick.

19:13Take your time. Please set it up for us. Okay. Good afternoon, Chair O'Rourke and members of

19:19council. I'm Steve Anderson, manager of transportation engineering, and today I'm joined by my counterpart,

19:25Jennifer Juice, the manager of transportation planning. We're excited to be here with you this

19:30afternoon to discuss and engage on a variety of transportation topics. We've selected five

19:38areas to focus on today, and we'll highlight those in depth shortly. There will be plenty of

19:43opportunities to hear from council today. However, should we need to move topics along, we'll happily

19:50capture additional feedback and presented on our transportation website at gulf.ca slash drive,

19:56where a summary of today's workshop will be available. We're joined by technical experts from

20:04transportation engineering, Paul Hutchison, our supervisor of traffic engineering, and Dr. Lira

20:09Esfridman, our supervisor of road safety. And from transportation planning, we have Daniel D.

20:15Pietro and Benita van Melsenberg, two of our transportation planning project managers, and

20:21Helia Ogabi, our transportation and parking policy advisor. Our workshop goals today are to educate

20:32council and the public, to build trust and be transparent about our guiding documents and

20:37upcoming work items, to build and foster relationships with the public and our elected officials,

20:43and to welcome council's feedback on these various topics. The agenda today focuses on five made

20:52themes, including an education session on provincial warrants, an interactive discussion

20:58with our new multimodal levels of service tool, our first engagement touch point regarding the

21:05update to our 2020 traffic calming policy, engagement on a yet to be used concept in

21:11gulf neighborhood bikeways, and lastly gathering feedback regarding on street parking citywide.

21:20We're aiming to wrap this up within two hours. I'll need to be the bad guy and be on top of time

21:26to ensure we cover all topics. So please forgive me now if I need to nudge us along, maybe even

21:32Oscar style, but I don't see the orchestra here yet. We have some questions for you on certain

21:37sections, and there will be an opportunity for comments and general questions at the end.

21:42As I noted earlier, if we run out of time, or if you think of a question after,

21:47we'll capture them so the public can see that on golf dot c a slash drive. With that, I'm very

21:52pleased to introduce Paul Hutchison, our supervisor of traffic engineering to discuss provincial warrants.

21:59Thanks, Mr. Anderson. Good afternoon, members of council. My name is Paul Hutchison. I am the

22:09supervisor of traffic engineering here at the city. Today I'll be speaking to you about traffic

22:14control devices and specifically the warrant criteria used to help determine where they get

22:18implemented on our roadways. At the end of my presentation, you'll understand more about the

22:24decision making behind why we implement controls like traffic signals, always stops, pedestrian

22:29crossovers, and school crossing guards to manage traffic related issues. Let's start with the basics.

22:37The first step in determining whether a device is warranted involves data collection.

22:41In golf, we collect data. We avoid the summer period, taking time away for vacation,

22:52and school being out. A warrant in this set of conditions let transportation staff use to

22:59decide if a particular traffic control device is justified after data collection has taken place.

23:05Let's dig into the specifics of each device a little deeper. So first we'll start with something

23:26that affects all of us in our daily lives, traffic signals. In golf, we install three main types,

23:32full traffic signals featuring signal infrastructure on all legs of an intersection.

23:36And in recent years, we've seen the introduction of bicycle signals at intersections,

23:40featuring off-road cycling infrastructure like multi-use paths. Number two is intersection

23:46pedestrian signals, or an IPS, where signals are in place on one leg to assist crossing

23:51pedestrians on busy roads. And lastly, mid-block pedestrian signals, or an MPS. Similar to an

23:57intersection pedestrian signal, only located mid-block. Decisions related to their installation

24:03are guided by the Ontario Traffic Manual, and more specifically, HOOK 12. Today I'll walk you

24:08through the traffic signal warrant criteria, what they are, why they matter, and how they help make

24:14our roads safer and more efficient. Installing a signal isn't something we take lightly. They're

24:20costly, ranging between $125,000 for a pedestrian signal to an excessive $275,000 for a full signal.

24:28They also change how traffic flows and impact drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.

24:32So the criteria are designed to ensure that signals are installed only where they're truly needed,

24:37based on evidence and careful analysis. The Ontario Traffic Manual outlines several specific

24:44warrants, each focusing on different factors. I'll highlight the key ones so you can get a sense

24:49of how they work. There are seven aspects to the traffic signal warrant. Warrants one through four

24:56use different factors from the vehicle, which includes cyclists and volumes through the intersection.

25:02We look at the number of vehicles on the main road and the side streets over an eight hour period,

25:06focusing on the AM peak, which is 7 a.m. till 9 a.m. The off-peak, which is 11 a.m. till 2 p.m.

25:12and the PM peak, which is 3 p.m. till 6 p.m., which are typically the busiest hours of the day.

25:18The warrant has thresholds for the eight hours studied that consider the total volume through

25:22the intersection and the delay for the side street traffic. If either of these warrants equals 100%

25:28individually, a signal is warranted for installation. There's also a combination warrant, where both

25:35volume and delay factors together can make a case for a signal-to-warrant installation.

25:40If both the previous warrants are at least 80% satisfied, a signal is considered warranted

25:45under the combination warrant. The minimum four hour warrant is used, where there are limited

25:51peaks throughout the day, like in industrial areas. This warrant evaluates traffic volumes over

25:56four specific hours of an average day, typically the highest four hours for traffic activity.

26:03These do not need to be consecutive hours, but are usually selected based on peak travel times.

26:09Collision history. Safety is obviously a top priority, and this warrant considers collision

26:13frequency and history of an intersection. For an intersection to warrant a traffic signal based on

26:19collision frequency, 15 collisions considered correctable by the installation of a traffic

26:23signal must take place over a three year period. A turning movement to a right angle collision is

26:29considered a correctable collision in this scenario. To import, it's also important to note, staff

26:35keep a keen eye on collision statistics and will implement mitigation interventions, as our goal

26:41is to never have an intersection be signalized based on collisions. Pedestrian volume and delay.

26:48This brings pedestrians into the picture. When studies are completed, we count how many people

26:52are crossing the road and how long they're waiting to do so safely. If there's a high number of

26:57pedestrians, say 100 or more over four hours that are facing significant delays or unsafe

27:03gaps in traffic, a signal might be warranted to protect them. Traffic signal shape how people

27:09move through our community. Implemented correctly, they reduce collisions, ease congestion, and make

27:14our roads safe for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike. But implemented poorly, they can

27:20cause confusion or unnecessary delays. The warrant criterion OTM book 12 gives us a consistent data

27:25driven way to get it right. They're based on years of research and real world experience tailored to

27:30Ontario's roads and needs. Next, we'll discuss the always stop warrant, which comes from book five of

27:40the OTM. Book five specifically focuses on regulatory signs. Those essential tools that instruct

27:46drivers on what they must do or must not do under specific circumstances. It's important to note

27:52always stops are installed as traffic control measures and not as a traffic calming device.

27:59First, there's warrant one, the minimum warrant, the minimum volume warrant. It covers a variety

28:05of road classes, including urban arterial, collector, and rural arterial and local roadways.

28:12It assesses whether the combined vehicular volumes on two intersecting roads meet a specified

28:17threshold. There are different thresholds for each of the road classifications mentioned.

28:22This is intended to ensure that an always stop is only implemented where there's sufficient

28:26traffic to justify additional control, avoiding unnecessary delays at lower volume intersections.

28:32The warrant typically involves three main components. Number one, the total volume of vehicles on all

28:38approaches. Number two, the total volume of vehicles on the minor side street, minor side street approach.

28:45And number three, the percentage of traffic on the minor street, which must exceed 30%.

28:50I would also add that pedestrian crossing volumes are also captured and considered as part of the

28:55warrant. In practice, the minimum volume warrant helps prevent the overuse of always stops,

29:01reserving them for intersections where they provide a clear benefit.

29:05There we also have a collision warrant as part of the always stop warrant. And like the collision

29:09warrant for traffic signals, we review collision frequency when considering an always stop as well.

29:15Road classification is a gain factor and intersections on local collector or rural

29:19arterial roads qualify if there have been three collisions per year over three consecutive years

29:25or nine collisions in 36 months. For an urban arterial intersection, four collisions per year

29:31over three consecutive years or 12 collisions in 36 months would meet the criteria. Lastly,

29:37the visibility warrant. Not all intersections are designed the same on the same landscape.

29:44If motorists, sight lines are obstructed by hills, roadway curves, buildings or vegetation,

29:49an always stop may be warranted to give drivers a fair chance to see and react.

29:57And now we'll move on to the pedestrian crossover or PXO.

30:01The warrant outlined in Book 15 of the OTM. Book 15 outlines the different types of PXOs that are

30:07available. In Guelph, we typically consider three PXO types featuring signs, markings,

30:13and at times flashing beacons depending on the site. Book 15 provides a detailed framework for

30:18this decision making process. The warrant criteria focuses on balancing pedestrian needs with traffic

30:24conditions, ensuring that PXOs are installed where they'll be effective without causing unnecessary

30:29disruption. It's important to note that a PXO will only be considered after we first determine

30:35that a higher level of control such as an always stop or traffic signal is not appropriate.

30:39Staff do so by working through a treatment system selection for controlled crossings review.

30:46First we look at warrant 1 pedestrian volume. The first question is how many people need to

30:50cross at a specific location? The warrant looks at the number of people crossing the road during

30:55an eight hour study period measured during the morning peak off peak and afternoon peak periods

31:00and requires that a minimum of 100 people must cross within the study area.

31:05Warrant number two vehicle volume. Next we consider the vehicle volume. PXOs work best on roads

31:12with low to moderate traffic volumes. PXOs are suitable for lower volume and lower speed roadways.

31:18The traffic signal is prescribed for higher volume and higher speed roads. Not every road

31:24is built for PXO. The manual sets limits on road width. PXOs shouldn't be used on roads with more

31:30than four lanes of two-way traffic or three lanes of one-way traffic. The criteria also considers

31:36things like sight lines. Can driver see the crossing clearly and the presence of turning lanes?

31:41Heavy turning traffic can complicate things so PXO might not be the best choice if vehicles

31:47are constantly weaving in and out. The final warrant will discuss is the adult school crossing

31:55guard warrant. While the OTM doesn't have a single section labeled school crossing guard warrant,

32:01it works together with the Ontario Traffic Council's school crossing guard guide to provide a

32:05framework. This framework helps municipalities decide where guards are truly needed, balancing

32:11safety with practicality. So what are the key criteria? Well let's start with the big picture.

32:18The goal is to protect young pedestrians, elementary school students, where they face

32:22real risks crossing the road. The process begins with observation followed by data collection

32:28and hinges on a few critical factors both quantitative and qualitative during bell times.

32:34The guide calls for a minimum of three crossing students during study periods

32:38and we're also monitoring whether kids are crossing alone or assisted by a parent or guardian.

32:43We examine the volume and classification of traffic traveling on the main roadway

32:47and observe and record the number of safe gaps in traffic available for a crossing student.

32:52Sight lines at a potential crossing location are also reviewed and factored into decision making.

32:58As you can see a wholesome approach is taken during these reviews. Consistency is important

33:03and you can rest assured staff follow the best practices of municipalities in Ontario.

33:11Thank you for your time this afternoon. I trust the information as shared has been

33:14informative and with that I'll pass things back over to Jenny to introduce the next topic.

33:20Yeah so I think we might want to take a couple questions now.

33:25While you're standing at the podium I know that you get lots of questions from all of us,

33:30from people who are looking for a PXO or they're looking for some traffic calming and your team

33:34has always been great at getting back to us and providing some wholesome information.

33:38But since you're at the podium I'll take some questions.

33:42Councillor Booster, why don't you kick us off?

33:47Thank you. As a new councillor I get to catch up to everyone else. So I just had a question about

33:53at the end of your presentation you were talking about the pedestrian crossover and what I think

33:57I heard is that is almost like an option of I'm not going to say last resort of last consideration

34:03that you go through the other ones and then and when I think about that is that the pedestrian

34:09crossover that is on the way to Exhibition Park on London Road is that what that kind of a signal

34:15looks like? I believe that would be a pedestrian signal so the pedestrian

34:22right yes right so there are two the pedestrian signal essentially looks the same as a typical

34:27signal it's just got signal heads on the main roadway the PXO is where you would have signage

34:32with the flashing beacons below sorry yes I meant the PXO I'm thinking on the list there

34:37and then I have a question about so in I'm in Ward 4 so that's the westwood where the new

34:43splash pad is going to go Elmira Road that constant complaints about speed and so on there

34:50and so my question is about the time of day for the studies because I've received feedback from

34:55individuals that the time of day doesn't coincide so 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the fall and the spring

35:02doesn't coincide with school day and also the time of the day of the week a Saturday so the

35:10splash pad for example is going into Markson Park a huge request from families to have safe

35:17crossing so it's the time of day a weekend evening but also the kind of soft contextual

35:26realities of the neighbors so we have many new Canadian families and just you know the

35:33the kind of supervision that goes on there can you speak a little bit to how you address that

35:38I know I've spoken to parks before and they said well they asked their park staff to

35:41send some observations but it's it's really a cultural kind of thing we have families that come

35:46and picnic in the green space if there's green space available and just kind of the nature of

35:54the culture of supervision is that something that is part of that or is it just you know sitting on

35:59a chair counting pedestrian counting cars can you talk about the culture of the space

36:04well I would say our typical data collection process takes place not Tuesday through Thursday

36:11on a typical week however because the needs of a neighborhood can differ and sometimes the the

36:17busiest period for parents kids going to a park can be on the weekend we do focus study efforts on

36:24weekends on occasion when we determine that that's the appropriate time when activity is the highest

36:29so we will cater the study to the location sometimes they're near a school sometimes they're

36:35near a park and we'll we'll study it appropriately the hours of the study are typically consistent

36:40we're trying to focus on the morning off peak and afternoon periods are typically the busiest for

36:46all modes of traffic whether it be pedestrians or or vehicles thank you so what I heard is the

36:52data collection is in the spring and the fall 7 a.m to 9 a.m and then 11 a.m to 2 p.m sorry

36:59yeah 11 a.m to 2 p.m and so the particular spot I'm thinking of and the change of the

37:06Wellington Catholic school boundaries means individuals on Silver Creek are going over

37:11the bridge along westward pedestrians cars and so on so I'm just wondering about the time frame for

37:17that given that the the the traffic flow is is going to be outside at the 2 p.m at the end of the

37:25day anyway I will keep an eye on that thank you and then I did have a question about um a little

37:30bit further about the context you know we hear about neighborhood parks and regional parks and so

37:35on is that something Margaret Green is a is a regional park although it doesn't have all the

37:40amenities and so on is that something that you take into consideration that is a regional park

37:46which means there's cricket and now there's tennis and now there's pickleball and there

37:50and so on is that something versus a neighborhood that when you go into there you set the parameters

37:56to understand that this is a regional park yeah I mean I think if we had a scenario where

38:01there were different issues like that at play in terms of when the activity is is happening we

38:07could certainly consider options um our our study periods are typically quite static and in that we're

38:13trying to hit up the the morning afternoon and off peaks but if there were factors that were

38:19brought forward to identify that there's another period where there's a lot of activity I think

38:23that's something we could certainly consider yeah and I think you know the regional example of the

38:27cricket tournaments on Saturday is and so on in the volume of people there so I as a new new

38:33counselor I'll be you know sending you an email to check in with you um and then my last question is

38:39do you use any of the um camera intersection camera ticketing information I'm thinking about the

38:44incidences of running through red lights um around pedestrians and the incidents of turning on a

38:53right in the school district Monday to Friday when it's restricted do you do like we collect that we

38:59use that for ticketing and so on do you collect any of that data to provide a more fulsome kind of

39:04analysis of an area I might pass this one over to our manager Steve Anderson to chime in uh thanks

39:12counselor Brasitel yes in the last couple of years we're able to use um camera devices to record

39:19near misses um so we we've often heard from the public about the dangers of an intersection

39:26historically we've been limited unfortunately to after the incidents happened and we receive a

39:31collision report so we are using near miss data now to help guide our uh decision making

39:37and I'll cite an example like Wyndham street all last year we collected data up and down the street

39:42to help us understand how to operationalize it after their construction's done so you'll see

39:48some changes on Wyndham based on that data we collected thank you and that's one of my questions

39:54specifically are those misses where they're not reported formally how they're captured in that area

40:00thank you I think that's that's all in this one thank you okay great counselor Brasitel I see

40:04counselor Katen thank you um through you chair so first of all I'm I'm going to sound critical

40:11and it's not about you it's about the provincial standards and I know that you all are following

40:17all the provincial standards and doing a great job with that um so I would just want to do you

40:21know if there's a provincial minimum between safe pedestrian crossings in terms of distance uh

40:33counselor Katen there's there's a guideline regarding how close traffic signals are to be

40:40together um it's 215 meters but there's lots of examples in the city where we have less than that

40:45coding right out of city hall with Cardin and Macdonnell so in those cases you just have to

40:50be careful on how you program the lights but we can there are lots of examples in the city where

40:55they are less than the recommended threshold in the book so but we don't have like a maximum

41:03between pedestrian crossings so like just in Ontario so they don't have like a if you've got a road

41:10like east view for example um we don't have like a for accessibility reasons um a maximum distance

41:20no no I just know in the states they have in the ADA so I was just wondering um so

41:27as for the warrants are the warrants the minimum for provincial liability similar to the AODA?

41:35Well the warrant is considered the criteria and the volume the volume criteria that must be met in

41:42order for it to be considered a necessary action for a municipality to consider it and take so

41:49that they're guiding there it's a guideline to provide us volumes that we would be looking to see

41:54achieved at a study area before deciding to recommend installation.

42:03So for things like pedestrian specifically is the one that I most worry about more so than the car

42:09traffic um because j-walking is illegal and it may be unsafe for people to cross

42:17um and again I know that this is not a policy that you've made uh do you think that it is

42:24a reasonable metric to see like how many people are willing to break the law and traffic cross

42:32to make the determination of whether or not a pedestrian crosswalk should be there?

42:39Councillor Caden you've you've touched on yes one of the kind of interesting paradoxes of traffic

42:44engineering that there seems to be this need for 100 people to in theory j-walk to warrant a signal

42:53yeah that's a fascinating aspect of our work so what we're working on and through some of our studies

42:58and it was highlighted in the vision zero action plan is if you have uh for instance we're looking at

43:04bus stops mid-block bus stops right where you have an obvious generator on the west side of the

43:08street the bus stops on the east side of the street there's no formal way to cross so we are

43:13starting to take a better look at those situations um there's no doubt if we create a tool that kind

43:21of goes above and beyond the warrant there's probably going to be a cost to that and that's

43:25something we'll bring back to council as we do that body of work and identify that but that's

43:30very much on our radar counselor um we've already started like I say on inventorying the mid-block

43:37bus stops oh that's great because my next question was basically like can we create a gulf standard

43:44similar like to how we've done with our facility design manual where we've gone above and beyond

43:49the provincial standards to make something like even better for our residents and it sounds like

43:53that's possible obviously everything costs money when you go above and beyond um but I'm really

44:00happy to hear that thank you okay anyone else I have two that are related actually to councillor

44:07katin and boost tells questions um so with respect to the distance between

44:15signalized intersections I'm thinking of gordon street so there are sections of gordon street

44:19where it's probably 500 600 meters between intersections I think certainly a long distance

44:27so then people are going to dart across I'm thinking of Vaughn I'm thinking of lands down

44:32there's a large area with lots of townhomes lots of students and so they'll they'll dash across to

44:37take the bus so how do you how do you count that because they're crossing throughout the day because

44:47the university students in particular have a different course schedule than an elementary or

44:52secondary school so how do you reconcile that for people like it's quite far to walk to an

44:58intersection so it's not likely to happen but then when we look at the warrants we're saying well

45:03there's not enough volume in that assessed period so how do you determine on an arterial like that

45:12where we should be adding a crossing so you know councillor chou and I have advocated for the

45:16signalized intersection at Vaughn um we're really just trying to add some safe crossings

45:22along that arterial what's I understand they don't meet the warrant strictly speaking but I mean

45:28so what do you say to people who are concerned about that about that yeah I think that's that's a

45:36good example of an area where we've heard there are multiple crossing points along a longer segment

45:42of a busy road so for in that scenario we ended up studying I think it was four different locations

45:47along Gordon street to ascertain what's happening at each location to see if we have a warrant met

45:54at one particular intersection but also to evaluate the greater section of the roadway in general

45:59what's going on there what kind of pedestrian activity do we have so currently you know we have

46:06a number of intersections throughout town that weren't different um measures whether it be a pxO or

46:12intersection pedestrian signal on their own on their own merits at the particular intersection

46:17their meeting we also have some other scenarios such as that location where there are multiple

46:23crossing points then there are definitely people crossing um that's something I think that we're

46:28we're still working through how to evaluate and implement something to help in those situations

46:34okay thank you and my my next question is also about the adult school crossing guard program

46:39which I think is fantastic uh and thank you to our adult crossing guards I know we're always

46:44having trouble recruiting more we need lots more um I've heard similar concerns around

46:51the pedestrian volume is problematic because if the parents feel it's unsafe to walk to school

46:58then they will drive them but they're saying if it was safe then the kids could walk

47:04so they're saying if it was safer those volumes would be higher so two questions how do we capture

47:10the potential of pedestrians because we would like to encourage young people to walk and bike

47:14or take transit to school how do we get our arms around that and to counselor Boussatel's great point

47:22can you do the afternoon one around the bell time so that parents who drop kids off on their way to

47:31work for example but the kids walk home with an older student that we would capture that pedestrian

47:37volume later in the day so counselor ararca I can help with this one so to the first question

47:44we have information from the school board on how many children would could potentially be crossing

47:51i.e. they live south of corporate in the go to freda hamilton right we we have that data

47:59and then the second part of your question is we we catered the study times for the crossing

48:05guard to the bell times so we will adjust um we kids don't really come home at lunch anymore so we

48:11don't study 11 to 2 but they're very much around the windows of going to and back from school okay

48:19that's very helpful thank you um and then my other question was counselor katens around

48:24what do you say to residents who would like a proactive approach rather than after a collision

48:30but I think you've entered that in terms of forecasting and and all of the data we've seen

48:34in vision zero so thank you for that uh there are no additional questions for you mr. Hutchison so

48:40oh yep counselor boost still sorry apologies and through the chair I didn't see I had boxed in here

48:46older adult strategy so we talk about kids we talk about cyclists and so on I know when I was

48:52knocking on doors a lot of seniors saying I can't cross the road to get to the park um and you know

48:57on places like um Silver Creek to get to Sleiman park you know talking to to families there from

49:05other events and so on that they can't get to the park because the traffic light is up at Willow

49:10Road and they're they're down here and there's nothing in between you know across where the um

49:16where the park is so can you talk a little bit about older adult strategy and really kind of

49:22activating intentionally activating spaces that we hear are under underutilized green spaces and

49:28so on and really analyzing what the barrier is which in my opinion is is access uh to the

49:37councillor yes that's a strategy that's on our work plan um we're not terribly advanced on it but

49:44it's certainly something again like all the pedestrian we go to us if you're three you're 93

49:50we're trying to figure out a way to get you through the city safely it's it's on our work plan but

49:54we're not there yet okay so I'm going to remind myself and all of us actually that we have six

50:00more blocks of content um to get through and we want to try and respect our staff's time and

50:05council's time um but it's really fascinating stuff so thank you very much we know where to

50:11find you mr. Hutchison we email you regularly I think up next is mr. DiPietro and mr. St. okay

50:21that's okay we're keeping on your toes um good afternoon counselors it's nice to see you again

50:26as part of approving the transportation master plan that I presented about three years ago now

50:31which is hard to believe um we have Danny DiPietro one of our project managers who's been managing

50:37the development of the complete street design guidelines it's the first for Guelph and these

50:42guidelines are really offering a framework for technical staff and the development communities

50:47to consider how we're going to design for an inclusive multimodal transportation corridors

50:52that deliver on our transportation master plan networks so as part of that work we worked with

50:58our consultants to develop what's called the multimodal level of service tool and we're going to

51:03call it MMLOS for short because it's a mouthful and the purpose of this tool is to really help

51:09navigate a lot of those numerous difficult trade-off decisions that we have to have those

51:15compromises that are inherent with trying to fit a lot of competing needs into a constrained space

51:22our sidewalks more important than street trees should we be doing on-street parking or bike

51:27bike lanes or patio space and so this tool is giving us a policy and data informed approach

51:34to supporting these design decisions and so with that I'm going to pass it over to Danny

51:39and he's going to introduce you to this new tool thank you for the introduction Jenny um

51:48good afternoon so today I'll be presenting a case study for the city's new multimodal

51:53level service tool again I'll be going through that and I'll be saying that and MMLOS as I'm

51:58talking so they represent the same thing and we're going to be looking at how this tool can be

52:02applied to our streets so we'll be looking at a small section of Woolwich Street as seen here

52:08just north of London Road so looking on the screen here on the left you can see the plan view of the

52:13Woolwich Street which we're looking at and then to the right and below you can see the existing

52:18cross section so we're going to go through the existing conditions real quick it's a total 20

52:23meter right of way we're including 1.5 meters of pedestrian sidewalk on either side 1.5 meter

52:30boulevards 1.2 meter unprotected cycle tracks on either side 2.5 meters of parking on the west side

52:37as well as 7 meters for traffic one lane in each direction part of the transportation master plan

52:46cycling spine network it's also part of the quality transit network that's outlined in the trellis

52:53thing to note there's above ground utilities often a consideration and reconstruction the cost

52:58to bury utilities can be quite expensive so we're looking at cross sections having above

53:03ground utilities as an option is always good and lastly as Jenny mentioned we have the complete

53:08streets design guide that I'll get into the typology here that word on the screen on the next

53:14slide but basically this fits in this road fits into the historic residential connector typology

53:21assuming that's the one okay great so as part of the complete streets design guide typical or

53:26preferred cross sections have been developed for each of the 13 typologies that the guide has

53:30created to reflect the TMP's recommended network so when I say typology and again the 13 different

53:36types it's that we tried there's hundreds of streets in golf and roads and you're trying to fit

53:41them into categories so we came up with 13 so that being said these typical cross sections represent

53:46the ideal conditions they're a starting point not a final design by any means so by utilizing the

53:52complete streets design guide we are ensuring that planners and engineers are considering

53:56all spine networks of the transportation master plan so as I mentioned earlier like the cycling

54:00spine enhanced pedestrian realms quality transit network this is all laid out in our transportation

54:04master plan so the case study we're looking at again is Wolba Street north of London again it's

54:10on our cycling spine which means for any street on the cycling spine we'd like to see AAA facilities

54:15all ages and ability and it's also on our quality transit network as an optimized corridor meaning

54:21there isn't room for a dedicated transit lane in the future but operational traffic operations and

54:26transit conditions should be improved to optimize transit service along this road the example cross

54:31section we see here on the screen is from the complete streets design guide and it's the

54:35residential connector that I'm talking about so this is the most applicable cross section to this

54:39type of road so these cross sections they tend to look like they can accommodate all design

54:46requirements they're great they fit utilities they fit cycle tracks they fit street trees but

54:51in when you come to design a construction there's often constraints that general cross

54:55sections can't predict so again want to emphasize this as the starting point so enter the multimodal

55:00level service tool so again the MMLOS tool is used to score the performance of a street for all

55:08user modes the MMLOS allows designers to assess and compare street performance for all modes to

55:14travel objectively using data that's easy to collect and so when I say easy to collect I mean

55:18you can do a go to google look at the aerial image take some measurements and it's as simple as that

55:24you can start comparing them uh this the table on this slide is Guelph's MMLOS scoring table

55:30adapted from the Ontario traffic council's MMLOS tool to meet Guelph's unique policy context

55:36and still meet provincial regulations and guidelines so again looking at this table

55:43looking at this table you can see the modes on the left we're looking at walking cycling transit

55:48vehicles and trucks noted in the OTC version of this tool they didn't have curbside activity in

55:54green streets that was added as per Guelph context and Guelph policy above in the next column over

56:03you can see the measures that we the things we measure in order to ascertain what the level

56:09of services um and then you can see each column after that is a to f and a description of what

56:16constitutes that grade under each mode and each measure so just give a quick example if we're

56:22looking at the walking mode on a specific road um you're measuring facility width buffer width and

56:27other user conflicts so facility width would be um for something that's three meters so this would

56:32be something like a multi-use path it would be considered an NA anything under 1.5 meters on the

56:37far right there you can see would be considered an LOS of F a buffer width from the travel lane

56:42of the road to the pedestrian pedestrian facility you would measure that if anything 2.5 or above

56:51would be an A anything less than one would be considered an F and the last one there the other

56:56user conflict is when you have pedestrians and cyclists operating on the same facility again

57:01that's like a multi-use path versus separate sidewalks and cycle tracks so quick example if you

57:08were to construct a multi-use path you have three meters then you'd be scoring an A if you had a nice

57:13big boulevard over 2.5 meters we'd be scoring an A so you're averaging an A however because it is

57:17multi-use like I said it would automatically be uh term sent to a B just because of that conflict

57:24existing so this tool is meant to serve as a method of evaluating and documenting trade-offs

57:30when the right of way is constrained or there are other constraints impacting the ideal cross

57:33section so again looking at this you might say hey wouldn't it be great if we can get LOS A on

57:38every single one of these modes and that's not going to be possible you'll quickly see how wide

57:42a street will become so I just want to point out at this point that in depending on the context of

57:48a road sometimes C an LOS of C D or E is uh is acceptable and good just depends on what we're

57:54trying to do on that specific segment based on the transportation master plan so now next

58:01we're going to look at the output of the tool so there's three things here shown in this table

58:05it might be a little hard to see but um in gray on the left is the suggested target so again this

58:12comes from the complete street design guide that residential connector I mentioned earlier

58:15that's the typology and this is would be the recommended grading for that for that section

58:20cross section the second one you're seeing in blue these this is the grading from the initial

58:25existing cross section on the first slide of what's currently on Woolwich and then

58:31next to that in the green is the proposed cross section as per the complete streets design guide

58:36for our for the purposes of this example we're assuming it can fit but um you can see the

58:43the grading is there on the next slide we'll compare them so on this slide we can see how the

58:51existing cross sections and the proposed cross section meet the priorities of the transportation

58:54master plan so looking at those tables or sorry uh graphs on the right in this example again we're

59:04assuming the ideal cross section can be implemented as you can see this would improve our ability to

59:07achieve the TMP recommended recommended network for walking cycling green streets but reduces curbside

59:13activity score due to removal of on street parking so again looking at those graphs you can see there's

59:18the existing cross section on top the proposed below and that zero in the middle is our suggested

59:24target from the left of the table so if you're at zero you're meeting the target if you're above

59:29zero you're overachieving if you're below uh underachieving and then we kind of have that

59:33grace area between negative one and one where that's your happy medium so you can see comparing the

59:39two that uh if if you were to implement the new cross section uh walking would improve cycling

59:45would improve transit would remain the same curbside again would decrease because you're not using

59:49you're now removing the parking but then you gain backspace for green streets which could

59:54include uh street trees lids if it allows and so forth so this tool would be helpful in navigating

1:00:01decision making more transparently and evaluate the impacts of various modifications to design

1:00:07oftentimes here we're just comparing two cross sections and existing in a proposed

1:00:11oftentimes you might have multiple proposed cross sections all these improvements can help

1:00:15achieve numerous goals in our transportation master plan including complete streets for all

1:00:18ages and abilities which supports our vision zero goals um with that i'm not sure if you have

1:00:23questions but i'll be turning it over to liras after okay stay right where you are any questions

1:00:30okay seeing none mr. di pietro this is extremely detailed thanks very much appreciate that

1:00:37okay i hesitate to use this sheet now okay i will not use this sheet here's dr. liras freeman

1:00:45traffic calming policy update is that correct okay i am one for three please don't back thank you

1:00:52i was going to say you still under much like terry's um good afternoon i'm liras freeman

1:00:56road safety supervisor and i'm here today to discuss vision zero and traffic calming

1:01:01so the goal of these initiatives is to reduce speed and enhance safety for everyone in our

1:01:06community as you'll note in attachment two of the agenda we know what's working to slow motorists

1:01:12down and although not considered a traffic calming measure automated speed enforcement is by far the

1:01:18most effective measure in getting drivers to slow down in our neighborhoods we saw a 20 percent

1:01:23reduction in average speeds in 28 locations across the city over the past year and even

1:01:29once the camera was removed the behavior change remained in effect automated enforcement technologies

1:01:36are saving lives we have already seen a 10 times return on investment since beginning the red light

1:01:41camera program in november of 2021 with the societal cost of injuries including loss of time from work

1:01:47hospital bills and pain and suffering decreasing from year to year the good news is our investment

1:01:52in vision zero is clearly working the current traffic calming policy was approved in 2020

1:01:58with a commitment to reviewing the policy in 2025 and enhancing community engagement today is the first

1:02:04step in that journey we have learned a lot about the traffic calming process including the do's and

1:02:09don'ts of implementation the effectiveness on specific traffic calming measures pre and post

1:02:14installation supported by our data collection program and the feedback that we've received

1:02:18from residents living in these communities so where does traffic calming fit into our overall

1:02:23vision zero goals we know it's a tool in our toolbox that helps us to navigate some road safety

1:02:29challenges mainly in these physical measures in comparison to some of our other vision zero tactics

1:02:37things like radar or speed boards as you'll note in the attachment a speed cushion typically results

1:02:43in an average 15 percent decrease in speed comparatively radar speed boards and in road

1:02:49flex posts see a similar reduction at an 11 percent decrease yet the cost of the materials per radar

1:02:55board and the hours of staff time to implement them are significantly less part of this is due to

1:03:01engagement the more engagement we do on our traffic calming projects the longer the implementation

1:03:06process takes and the more resource intense the program is ultimately the effectiveness of the

1:03:12measures remains the same additionally another piece that we often hear about is the concept of

1:03:18the halo effect so in other words weather speeders are just being displaced onto other roadways on

1:03:25average we see a 15 percent decrease in volume on roads that have been traffic calmed which means

1:03:31that other streets are likely being used as the primary travel route from a customer satisfaction

1:03:37and levels of service perspective residents also seem to be supportive of measures such as radar

1:03:42boards and tend to have more concerns about physical measures that are implemented on their

1:03:47streets such as speed cushions for example after the implementation of traffic calming on court

1:03:53right we noted over 40 service requests related to either removing traffic calming changing the

1:03:59placement of the measures or overall perceptions of the street feeling more dangerous and more

1:04:05nervous speeding up between measures after traffic calming was implemented in other words the

1:04:10investment of staff time in responding to these concerns regarding road safety increased on some

1:04:15roads after traffic calming improvements were made to the street this works so this is where we

1:04:24need your feedback as you'll note in this slide we simply cannot keep up with the pace of these

1:04:29reviews since the policy was approved in 2020 241 service requests were made for traffic calming

1:04:36of which only one third have been resolved we currently have 38 locations on the prioritization

1:04:42list and have completed eight traffic calming designs but given staff's focus on vision zero

1:04:48and other high-risk neighborhoods and arterial roads we have to create solutions that work for the

1:04:53entire city and enhance safety where people are most vulnerable the dilemma here is that we often

1:04:59don't hear concerns from residents on the higher risk corridors such as the arterial roads where

1:05:04we know that 83 percent of major and fatal injury related collisions occur because that's simply not

1:05:09where people live we need to decide where to prioritize our efforts the challenge lies in

1:05:15balancing the needs of residents in local neighborhoods and continuing to traffic calm streets

1:05:20or focusing in on efforts where the data supports a road safety need such as an intersection

1:05:26improvement like a leading pedestrian interval or implementing an automated speed enforcement

1:05:30device on an arterial road so some food for thought and a question to leave with council

1:05:35is given staff's current capacity where do we want to focus our efforts is it on traffic calming

1:05:41or other vision zero interventions and i'll take questions before i hand it back to jenny's team

1:05:47okay we usually counselors ask the questions but now the question shouldn't put to us all

1:05:51right councillor booze still go ahead thank you for the presentation i do have a question about

1:05:57traffic calming a number many years ago i heard that parking was a strategy used for traffic

1:06:05calming so if you have parking on both sides of the road that it constructively slows the traffic

1:06:12is that is that a strategy so it wouldn't be considered a formalized traffic calming it wouldn't

1:06:19be a tool that we use to implement to traffic calm the street however you typically see slower speeds

1:06:24on roads where you have on street parking thank you that's all okay i'm looking at the screen

1:06:31no questions councillor Goller go ahead through each of our work i think just a commentary on the

1:06:39questions that have been posed to us i think it's very important for us to to respond to acknowledge

1:06:46the request from constituents but i think we have to let them know that we we have to put resources

1:06:51where they're warranted now if we were to say shift the focus from those 240 some requests for

1:06:58traffic calming and we're going to say that we're going to focus on actions of vision zero focusing

1:07:03on arterials how many years would there be a build out of measures on arterials and that is to

1:07:11say you know for the next two three four years we're going to be implementing new community

1:07:15safety zones new automatic traffic signals so then we're going to be able to re look at residential

1:07:22streets in you know in a couple of years or are you suggesting that there would be a permanent

1:07:28shift away from looking at traffic calming on residential streets so i think the feedback

1:07:35we're trying to garner right now is not doing one and then not doing the other completely

1:07:41i don't think it's a one or the other i think the way that we're framing it is sort of given our

1:07:46current capacity knowing that we're a vision zero city knowing that we now have a lot of data to

1:07:51support where the risk is and where the need is are we perhaps better suited to

1:07:59temporarily focus on those higher risk corridors and enhance safety where we know that there's a

1:08:04problem and not by any means ignore the local issues but reframe what we're able to do on that

1:08:11street given sort of our current resources and staff's time i do appreciate that comment and i

1:08:18think that if we do let the public know that that there has been a shift too but but it still leaves

1:08:25my question some streets like say the corridor between riverview waverly and wincer and onto

1:08:34ivernus they have traffic calming measures so how come they got them and then other streets that

1:08:40may be in a similar feel and residents are saying well now i have to wait five six seven years before

1:08:47i get a similar treatment to my street so i understand that it's it's it's complicated

1:08:52but but i do like that through the vision zero focus we can really target where we're going to

1:08:59save the most lives thanks councillor gover i can add on that a little bit we always refer to our

1:09:09prioritization which in theory takes sort of the squeaky wheel component out of it we let the data

1:09:15speak for itself we go where the data points us to i suggest streets that like there's those 38

1:09:22streets on the list we're not just telling those people like sorry we're closed we'll come back to

1:09:27you in 2029 there are softer sort of not as intrusive for instance we reference radar speed

1:09:35boards in road flex posts there are some other softer kind of tools we can use to help achieve

1:09:41some improvements to speeds on the roadway without doing the full fledged complete you know

1:09:49start to finish traffic calming process so we wouldn't just abandon those streets they might just

1:09:55not get to the length that like riverview and waverly have experienced okay i really appreciate

1:10:02that and i really appreciate that that there are some tools so does that mean that without

1:10:07necessarily doing all of the studies if there are some areas that you know the number of incidents

1:10:13or accidents warrant measures you may just go and put some measures in place so that's um i don't

1:10:21know if you'll remember back to when we brought forth the traffic calming policy we had the community

1:10:25road safety strategy and so a lot of those softer measures um that steve's referring to are through

1:10:32the CRSS so often we use it as traffic calming is kind of your first pass at eligibility so if you're

1:10:38we collect data we see whether or not you're eligible for traffic calming and if not then we

1:10:42move to some of those CRSS measures what we're seeing now though is that after five years of data

1:10:47collection the data is showing us that the effectiveness of some of those traffic calming

1:10:52measures are comparable to some of the stuff we're seeing in CRSS so though you're not getting a

1:10:58formalized traffic calming review or those types of interventions on your street you're still getting

1:11:02a road safety improvement that's shown to be comparable to something like traffic calming

1:11:09okay sure cancer is still thank you just a point of clarification through the through the chair just

1:11:16so i understand better my brain thinks visually so i think of this as nesting cups the small one

1:11:22inside the bigger one and so on and so on just what you articulated now about the community

1:11:27road safety policy is that the small cup that then proceeds to the next can you help me understand

1:11:33the triage because paul's presentation talked about you know getting studies and counts and

1:11:38things like that how how is this triage does it start where does it start so hypothetically when a

1:11:47an email would come in through traffic at gulf.ca and someone has a concern

1:11:52a lot of that triaging is based off of the concern that they're bringing forth so let's use speed as

1:11:56an example it's what we hear about most typically is people are worried about speed on their street

1:12:01so our next step would then be to collect data on that street to see whether or not there's actually

1:12:06a speeding issue as according to our policy and if it would meet the thresholds in the traffic

1:12:11calming policy then it would be put on a list to be prioritized based off of a whole set of data

1:12:18and put onto that list in the queue for implementation of temporary and then eventually permanent

1:12:24traffic calming if it didn't meet for traffic calming because the data didn't meet those thresholds

1:12:30it would then be reviewed through the community road safety strategy. Okay I would have a couple

1:12:37questions. Sorry, I'm sorry, I just wanted to just add in on that really quickly just I do think we've

1:12:44received feedback over the course of time around sort of just the nuances in terms of communication

1:12:48and maybe what is confusing between you know people trying to understand the differences between how

1:12:53we might technically do something with respect to traffic calming versus community road safety

1:12:57strategy so certainly as we look to come back to council in the future with our updates to our policy

1:13:01we're keeping that type of feedback in mind so that we can maybe help simplify sort of the overall

1:13:07sort of community understanding of it. All right so Dr. Freeman just to answer your question a

1:13:14little bit I like the data-driven approach I think it's wonderful that the speed radar boards

1:13:21and the in-street ballards are as effective as the speed cushions from an accessibility point

1:13:27of view but also because they're so controversial and lots of controversy around you know road

1:13:34narrowing and those things so if the radar board and the ballards work just as well fantastic I

1:13:40think that's great. I can tell you I have heard from some people it surprises me right because we get

1:13:46lots of letters from people but I've also heard from newcomers who come from places where they would

1:13:52never write to government and that had it sort of reminded me that lots of folks in our wards

1:14:00are very proactive and let us know about their concerns and yet there's all these other folks

1:14:05who are equally concerned about maybe road safety who won't be in that list asking for studies etc

1:14:15so I think for them I like the equity lens approach and the data-driven approach. I will ask though

1:14:22when we are looking at major road works and we can anticipate there will be cut through

1:14:28traffic in a neighborhood so I'm thinking of the Gordon Street improvements that are coming right

1:14:32they're coming I think we can't expect that motorists are going to try and get around that

1:14:39long stretch on Gordon that will be under construction so would we then put some traffic

1:14:46calming on a proactive way in the surrounding neighborhoods right so that we're not reacting

1:14:52to a problem but we are thinking ahead on that. Absolutely and I think there's just one other

1:14:58point of clarification when we talk about the traffic calming policy as we are today that really

1:15:04relates more to that resident led initiation of it as opposed to putting in mitigating measures

1:15:09when we know something like a construction project will be happening so they're both traffic calming

1:15:13but they're used for very different purposes so yes we would. Okay great so oh Councillor Billings

1:15:19and Chu I'm just going to give everybody a time check fully knowing you guys have said almost

1:15:24nothing so you've got plenty of time we have three more blocks and we are at 210 so okay Councillor

1:15:30Billings and Councillor Chew. I'll be quick so through you Madam Chair I just wanted to be

1:15:34clear then given that we have the tools that are just as effective as the speed bumps humps

1:15:41cushions whatever you call them does that mean then we won't be implementing those anymore.

1:15:53Hi Councillor Billings right right now the vertical measures are part of our existing traffic

1:15:58calming policy but given that we've got all this new data this is our first touch point on the policy

1:16:06I don't want to presuppose an outcome but we might try to pivot away from them or pivot away

1:16:13from them even more than we have currently we'll have to see what kind of feedback we get from

1:16:18the community as we work through this. Okay and then through you Madam Chair what you know as far as

1:16:25the accessible advisory committee is concerned what's their stance on the speed humps and cushions.

1:16:36To date the feedback is not positive around vertical traffic calming measures and that's

1:16:42what in the 2020 policy update we were able to achieve a compromise where we ensured there'd be

1:16:49no more than one per block face and that there would be a route through the neighborhood that

1:16:53did not require going over a vertical measure but their feedback to date has not been

1:16:59super supportive. Okay I agree so um so this I just wanted to be clear with with the update

1:17:09are you proposing or stop proposing that we will see more and more traffic calming on arterial

1:17:16streets? No so traffic calming isn't typically an intervention that's made for arterial roads

1:17:23we might see other vision zero tactics used on those types of roads but no we don't we don't

1:17:28traffic calm arterials. But with those vision zero measures put in place would that not be a form

1:17:37of traffic calming on arterials or not? No not in terms of being a physical measure that we would

1:17:44put into the road so you could hypothetically see something like a radar board on an arterial road

1:17:50but not you wouldn't see a physical like a speed cushion or something like that in the road.

1:17:54Okay thanks. Councillor Chew. Thank you through you Madam Chair. I did want to comment on

1:18:06just provide some comments for when you guys do get around to the community road safety strategy

1:18:11update and this is kind of speaking to Councillor O'Rourke's point on the equity piece.

1:18:17I would also add to that saying that a lot of people like they don't necessarily want to

1:18:25go through the the process of emailing or submitting the forum and that's a vast majority

1:18:33of folks that I deal with regularly and my colleagues as well. Just for like the communications

1:18:41piece if there's a way in which we can formalize a process for counselors to be appointed of contact

1:18:49or liaison like I know we we often email you guys but I think we have to find some ways to

1:18:58formalize it more so it's not just the act of ad hoc discernment as to whether we take in the

1:19:05counselors email like more seriously and you know and how and just I'm trying to wrap my head around

1:19:11how we go about prioritizing the class that all of us make to your team. So if there's a way we

1:19:19can formalize a process including the counselors as a part of that communication and and vetting

1:19:28process it would be appreciated because it provides I guess a more human touch to the process

1:19:37knowing that you know at the end of the day we are the elected officials and we do have to provide

1:19:43that constituency level of care and a lot of that translates to some of the measures that

1:19:52do end up getting implemented on the ground if that makes sense. So it's just more playing to

1:20:00that customer service piece that we as counselors have to deal with on the ground while at the same

1:20:07time being at that board level right so if there's a way to better streamline that that would be

1:20:14appreciated and yeah just to counselor Billings point I think this is just obviously my opinion

1:20:21but it's a sentiment that's felt all over if we can prioritize more horizontal measures versus

1:20:28vertical measures as a policy that would be much more appreciated because I don't think people

1:20:35are looking for quick fixes even though that may be the sentiment at times like what people like

1:20:42to see is if we're going to go out and do the linear projects on top of any road safety improvement

1:20:50we want to do it properly right and the horizontal measures I've been on the date provide for that

1:20:55better optically. Thanks Councillor Chew. Mr. Anderson did you want to respond to in terms of

1:21:06process my understanding is then you receive your request from us or you receive it through the

1:21:11website then you do the studies and that helps you in that prioritization right you look on the

1:21:15priorities across the whole of the city is there anything else you wanted to add? No I can confirm

1:21:22that whether the request comes from Mayor a councillor or a resident we let the data speak to

1:21:28where it works out in their prioritization that speaks back to sort of trying to be as equitable

1:21:34as possible and on the last point about prioritizing horizontal over vertical measures

1:21:40we appreciate the feedback and we'll see how that shakes out when we bring the policy

1:21:45back either Q4 this year or Q1 next year for council's approval.

1:21:50Terrific thank you. Just one more quick comment if it's allowed. Yep. Yeah I appreciate that and

1:21:58this is all in the spirit of feedback. The reason why I emphasize us as a core piece of the

1:22:05communication strategy is just because like for me I often have to discern as well the

1:22:13volume of emails that I get and like I'm trying to do a service to to staff by not forwarding

1:22:20everything that I get so I think there has to be some kind of anticipation that if we are to

1:22:29forward stuff over that it's speaking for a lot of people that aren't being represented

1:22:35necessarily compared to if the resident were to be the one actively emailing you directly

1:22:42so it's just a piece of feedback for your guys's consideration. Okay thanks councillor Chew.

1:22:53All right so next up neighborhood bikeways and enhancing cycling networks which will be followed

1:22:59by the citywide on-street parking review which I am certain will have quite a bit of commentary

1:23:05and so it is 20 past two and I'm just asking us to be mindful of time. Thank you I'm back again to

1:23:12introduce someone that you've probably corresponded with plenty over the past several years. Benita

1:23:18van Miltenberg is our sustainable transportation project manager so she's focused mostly on our

1:23:23cycling network. She's currently getting started on a long-awaited update to the cycling master plan.

1:23:29I know everyone is like so thrilled I am because and because of her focus on that outside of a few

1:23:36protected bike lanes that we currently have underway feeding into our downtown and throughout the

1:23:40downtown we are pausing any new protected bike lane projects until the CMP update is done and can

1:23:48inform where and what we're going to be building and in what order moving forward. So I think it's

1:23:54important to note that in the meantime we are gathering lots of data and monitoring some of the

1:24:00recent new protected bike lanes that we've built and I will be reporting back to you on that later

1:24:05this year. But one of the other reasons that we're updating the CMP is because we're keen to find more

1:24:12affordable alternatives to building the cycling network and Benita is here today to introduce a

1:24:17new design option that we're interested in exploring through the cycling plan update called the

1:24:23neighborhood bikeway. So I'm going to pass it over to Benita and she's going to walk you through

1:24:26what that is and some great examples. Great welcome. Thank you. Thank you Jenny. I'm pleased to be

1:24:35here today to provide an overview of an emerging type of cycling infrastructure that many municipalities

1:24:40are beginning to implement. Neighborhood bikeways are low volume low speed streets which have been

1:24:46optimized for bicycle travel. These streets prioritize through movements for people walking

1:24:52or riding bikes while discouraging or even preventing similar movements by motorized traffic.

1:24:58They're currently being used in Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Victoria Vancouver and many

1:25:04other cities throughout Canada. Neighborhood bikeways are intended to be comfortable for riders

1:25:10of all ages and abilities. Typically to achieve all ages and abilities status a bike path needs to be

1:25:17physically protected from motorized traffic. This means it's constructed within the boulevard near

1:25:22the sidewalk or if it's on the roadway it's protected by a physical barrier such as curbs and

1:25:27ballards. Neighborhood bikeways however make use of the local road network and operate in a shared

1:25:34condition with vehicles. We've heard through community engagement on numerous projects including

1:25:39the Transportation Master Plan, Community Plan and the Community Road Safety Strategy that people

1:25:45simply do not feel safe biking next to cars. So how do we create an environment where in a roadway

1:25:51shared between bikes and cars can be considered an all ages and abilities facility? Wayfinding signage,

1:25:59pavement markings and enhanced crossings support people who are biking. Traffic calming measures

1:26:04work to slow vehicle speeds and traffic diverters de-prioritize non-essential auto trips lowering

1:26:12the total volume of vehicles and creating a much more comfortable environment for sharing the road.

1:26:19Through these measures shared roadways are made available to a wide range of travellers

1:26:23including children, seniors, those with accessibility needs, newcomers and that key

1:26:29oftentimes difficult to reach demographic of interested but concerned cyclists.

1:26:34The next few slides show some examples of recently installed neighborhood bikeways in

1:26:39Canadian cities. Per Ontario guidelines to be classified a neighborhood bikeway,

1:26:45vehicular travel speed should be 30 kilometers per hour or less and the volume of vehicles per day

1:26:51should be at the very most 1500 but the preferred volume is closer to 500 vehicles per day.

1:27:00Some local candidate streets for example might include Exhibition Street at Powell near Victory

1:27:05Public School or Rickson Ave near Oak Street. These streets currently carry around 1200 to 1500

1:27:13vehicles per day respectively. Arthur Street, South of Aramasa averages closer to about 600 vehicles

1:27:19per day. The image on the screen shows the conversion of Havlock Street in Toronto. Havlock

1:27:25has been closed mid-block and the closure has created space for a bike share hub, enhanced

1:27:30pedestrian crossings and street art. Pavement markings and signage keep the area accessible

1:27:35by bike however it is no longer possible to drive through this intersection vehicles must go around.

1:27:41As you can see the use of knockdown bollards ensures that the area is accessible to emergency

1:27:46vehicles should they need to pass through. Around the corner on Gladstone another design

1:27:53redirects vehicle traffic. The intersection permits some vehicles to turn right while

1:27:58preventing most left turns and all through movements. People walking, cycling and scootering can

1:28:04travel in any direction. Again emergency vehicle access has been retained and in this situation

1:28:10on street parking continues to be permitted. As you can see the measures implemented to

1:28:15facilitate this new street function are minimal construction would have been quick and cost effective.

1:28:22This next slide is one of my favourites that shows Vancouver Street in Victoria,

1:28:26BC and it runs parallel to a much busier route, Quadra. Neighborhood bikeways are typically

1:28:32located on quiet residential roads which run parallel to arterials. The arterial road would

1:28:38require higher order infrastructure such as a protected bike path and fully protected intersections

1:28:43to become comfortable to riders of all ages and abilities. Here the city of Victoria has constructed

1:28:50a traffic diverter which doubles as a pedestrian plaza. It features a seating area, visitor bike

1:28:56parking for nearby residential and institutional buildings as well as some naturalization and

1:29:01stormwater management features. Up the road on the same street the two-way condition shown on the

1:29:10left in 2019 has been converted to one way for vehicles. What's interesting about this example

1:29:16is that the direction of one-way travel reverses block by block. This makes it impossible to use

1:29:22Vancouver Street to travel through the neighborhood. One would only drive on that block if their origin

1:29:28or destination was located there. As such it becomes a functional and inviting through street

1:29:35for bicyclists. In general the benefits of neighborhood bikeways include lower cost and

1:29:41easier implementation especially compared to protected bike paths on busier roadways.

1:29:47Neighborhood bikeways reduce or prevent cut through traffic creating more quiet,

1:29:51pleasant streets for residents who live and travel in these areas. There are typically

1:29:56few impacts to on-street parking or street trees. Issues such as grading and winter maintenance

1:30:02are often less complex and overall neighborhood bikeways can positively contribute to numerous

1:30:07city objectives such as traffic calming, safer streets, tree retention and stormwater management.

1:30:14Some challenges with this type of infrastructure. In order to operate properly the traffic volumes

1:30:19and speeds must be very low. This is achieved through traffic diversion and restricted turning

1:30:25movements which of course will have an impact on how residents drive through their neighborhoods

1:30:30and potentially even access their homes, schools or places of work. Community engagement at the

1:30:36design and construction stages could be lengthy and contentious. There is the potential for spillover

1:30:42traffic on adjacent roadways and some vehicle trips may be slightly longer than they previously were.

1:30:49Our cycling master plan will carefully consider these facilities and may recommend either adding

1:30:54new network connections or upgrading existing signed routes to become neighborhood bikeways.

1:31:00So I'll just leave you with some questions today and I'm happy to take questions as well.

1:31:04We're wondering where you might anticipate this type of facility could be well received

1:31:08by residents in your ward. What areas might be contentious? We're also curious to hear what

1:31:14you like and dislike about this type of facility. Thank you. Okay council who'd like to go first?

1:31:22Councillor Goller. Thank you and through your chair of work. I think it's

1:31:29wonderful. I think that it hits both the traffic deterrence for the people that live on that street

1:31:37so they no longer have the high flow of traffic and it really addresses a lot of the concerns

1:31:41that I'm hearing from folks that do want to use bicycles year round but the winter maintenance

1:31:48of bike lanes or sidewalks is very difficult if you have an entire road. Could you tell us

1:31:54what would be the next steps in terms of mapping how some residential streets could be

1:32:00integrated into the active transportation network? Yes so as Jenny mentioned our cycling master plan

1:32:07update is commencing shortly and through that study we'll take a look at the existing network

1:32:13that was proposed in 2013. It'll be combined with the transportation master plan spine cycling

1:32:19network and then we'll also look at the off-road the updated Guelph-Trolls master plan off-road

1:32:24cycling routes. We'll integrate the three networks and then identify where there are gaps in the

1:32:29network that need to be fulfilled and reevaluate the proposed types of infrastructure for each of

1:32:35those individual routes and that will all be done to align with the updated Ontario traffic manual

1:32:40book 18. Thank you so much I really look forward to seeing that work in progress. Thank you chair.

1:32:46Okay Councillor Caton. Thank you through you chair. I love it I think it's great. I think

1:32:54sometimes with the different inclinement between us and Vancouver some of the biking lanes and

1:33:02things like that become less feasible because they don't have as much on-car parking they've got a lot

1:33:06bigger transportation systems in general than we do and I know that we kind of have to beef up our

1:33:11transit system to kind of get to that level. I would be really interested in seeing some of these

1:33:17changes in the areas where we have listed as bicycle streets now that tend to end up being car

1:33:24throughways like the kind of because we have so few major arteries especially up in the north end

1:33:32people tend to like squeeze through the the back roads to kind of get to where they need to be

1:33:37and those tend to be the areas where we have schools and so the kids are not biking to school

1:33:43because a lot of the cars are kind of like using that area to kind of get through and avoid having

1:33:48to go down Victoria versus Woodlawn and things like that so it would be great to see how some

1:33:55changes there would get the drivers back on those other roads rather than kind of skirting through

1:34:01the back roads and allow them to be more pedestrian and bike friendly. Okay thanks Councillor Katelyn.

1:34:11Councillor Downer and then who's still? Yeah similar to Councillor Katelyn I can think of

1:34:17multiple areas a more at five where this would work well we have a university a lot of cyclists

1:34:24two high schools we have a busy commercial area with stone road malls so there's there's a lot

1:34:30like I think of bricks and I think of water and I know work has been done on college right now but

1:34:36there's more in the neighborhood streets that people use as backways and but the streets are

1:34:43wide like some of them but they're used as bikeways and you know I think of forest and caladonia I

1:34:50just think of a lot and then in the McIntyre community as well and iron wood where there's a lot of

1:34:55students is I think there's a lot of opportunity there the other thing that I think I'd love to see

1:35:01is is this incorporated into new subdivisions when we get to Claire Mulpey and the what's the new one

1:35:12coming up on the GID lands yes like these should be incorporated proactively rather than waiting

1:35:20till we get complaints from from constituents because the roads are wider or whatever like

1:35:27that we could this is something that would be attractive I think for many people moving into

1:35:31new neighborhoods Councillor Bustel thank you and through Madam Chair just I'd agree with what my

1:35:39colleagues have said and just a question of whether or not there's a way or I assume this is

1:35:45linked to safe routes to school so achieves the alternate routes to school and school safety

1:35:52objectives as well yes thank you for your question certainly it will depend of course on the nature

1:36:00of the road that the school itself is located on so if you know I think of the schools on

1:36:05Grange there's quite a high volume of vehicle travel on Grange so I don't know that it would be

1:36:10for instance that location specifically would be appropriate for a neighborhood bike route

1:36:14where as I mentioned Victory Public School on exhibition it's a much lower volume street overall

1:36:20so because the goal is to bring the volume of vehicles down below that 1500 closer to 500 vehicles

1:36:27per day threshold we do have to consider where it's logical to apply that type of traffic

1:36:34diversion to focus those trips it was sort of alluded to earlier but the goal is really to

1:36:40ensure that local roads remain local and that our arterial and collector roads continue to

1:36:46support the volume of vehicles that they're designed to having said that there's I think a

1:36:52great potential for integrating neighborhood bike routes into safe routes to school especially for

1:36:57those schools that are located on more local roadways excuse me I have just an answer to your

1:37:08question as well I'm trying to hold in my mind the vision zero conversation that we had earlier

1:37:19this month that actually talks about slowing down traffic on arterial roads and this conversation

1:37:26because if we want to move the traffic to arterial roads then those arterial roads need to be moving

1:37:31right they need to be safe but but traffic needs to be moving we need the truck routes etc

1:37:37so I think that the traffic in our residential neighborhoods is a symptom of congestion on

1:37:45some of the arterials so I just want to be mindful of that when we're talking about vision zero and

1:37:50we're talking about reducing volume on residential roads that I think we need to address both so

1:37:56that said I love taking my bike through old university to avoid the hill on Gordon and

1:38:05at night I feel like Elliot in ET so it's it's not busy there at all so do those roads require

1:38:13any infrastructure or does just signage is just signage sufficient so I've never really had

1:38:20a conflict there so that's obviously a place it's being used as de facto bike routes right

1:38:28and it's a much more pleasant way to go than straight up Gordon so I think there are a lot of

1:38:32places but I do think we need to be mindful particularly in new subdivisions that aren't

1:38:38necessarily built for this yet where we don't have a lot of north south connectivity I just

1:38:46want to be mindful of how the whole circulatory system is working basically they're beautiful I

1:38:54totally agree that in Claremont B and the GID it should just be standard and was my understanding

1:38:59that TMP was going to apply to those those anyways yeah so I was just wondering about the examples

1:39:05of Hamilton Toronto auto weather much larger populations and I'm just thinking about whether

1:39:10you can go with a lighter touch on some of the roads in Guelph and achieve the same outcome

1:39:16so that's my feedback they look beautiful and definitely work with schools to get our young

1:39:23people walking and cycling so that that becomes a habit for them that's my feedback

1:39:28all right so thank you very much for your work and we look forward to this innovation that's

1:39:35pretty great thank you hey up next is the citywide on-street parking review

1:39:43yes I'm back last time so great thank you for Benita to giving us that great overview

1:39:49I think that was really great feedback so thank you for for for that now switching from bike lanes

1:39:56to another key user of our street space let's talk about everyone's favorite subject on-street

1:40:01parking love it or hate it it's time for Guelph to have a comprehensive framework on how we deal

1:40:06with on-street parking throughout the city and not just downtown and you've asked for this and we

1:40:12heard that we recommended it in our transportation master plan and it's now time for us to start

1:40:16working on what that should look like so my next staff member will be Helia Ogabi she's one of my

1:40:24most recent hires she's been here now for almost a year and she's our parking and transportation

1:40:29policy advisor so Helia will be new to most of you but I think you're soon going to become

1:40:34very familiar with her and she's going to introduce our citywide parking study and invite

1:40:38some more input from you to inform that study over to you welcome Ms. Ogabi just a quick note to

1:40:49counsel we potentially lose quorum at three o'clock as one of our members needs to leave so just be

1:40:55mindful of time uh thanks to or thanks Jenny for the introduction hello members of council it's great

1:41:03to meet you today I will be leading the citywide parking study this year the development of a

1:41:08citywide parking study is recommended within Guelph's transportation master plan this study

1:41:13will assess the distribution of public parking supply across the city and address parking needs

1:41:18in alignment with multimodal transportation planning the study area of this work involves

1:41:23all areas within the boundaries of the city the scope the scope also encompasses review an update

1:41:30to the downtown parking master plan 2023 to reflect policy and regulatory changes resulting from bill

1:41:36185 the purpose of this strategy is to inform if how where and when the city will manage a residential

1:41:44on-street parking invest in off-street parking and balance parking demand with other transportation

1:41:50investments the project details are still being finalized I'm pleased to be here today and seize

1:41:56this opportunity to have a pre-kickoff engagement with the council and to hear your thoughts on

1:42:01the study particularly on these two questions on the screen what and where you hear the most from

1:42:08your constituents about on-street parking and what outcomes you expect to see from the parking

1:42:15study this year thank you okay so it's back to us council hmm I know we hear a lot about parking

1:42:26go ahead Councillor Goller kick us off thank you and through chair O'Rourke thank you for the presentation

1:42:34and for kicking this off with a pre-engagement what I hear most where I hear most are from

1:42:41folks that live on older residential streets and narrower streets that have the biggest issues

1:42:50with with parking so in the newer developments and subdivisions with townhouses where you don't

1:43:01have the the wide streets so it's this mix it it seems that in the middle for a while we were

1:43:08building streets that could accommodate more cars and it wasn't as much of an issue but in both new

1:43:14sub developments it's a big problem for folks the availability of on-street parking and it

1:43:22also when there's new developments when there's a new tower being built even if it's a small

1:43:27apartment tower on an already stretched street then this becomes an issue so yeah I would say that

1:43:37across ward two it is it is a big challenge for for folks not being able to park finding work to

1:43:46park and one of the outcomes that I am hoping for is the ability to restrict who can park on street

1:43:57whether it is a permit system for people on that street to be able to register

1:44:03and then this way we can actually manage the future need for traffic I think because there's no

1:44:10regulations many developers can say that they're going to not need as many parking spots then they

1:44:17build and then they're looking for places for the residents to park if it was clear that there's no

1:44:23street parking on street parking available unless you get a permit then there's only three permits

1:44:29available on that street then people can go wide eyes wide open when they're going to buy a property

1:44:35knowing that they may not have any ability to find on street parking and I know that there's challenges

1:44:41with drop-offs and people visiting homes but I'm really hoping that we can find a way to

1:44:49focus the available available on street parking spots to people that live in that neighborhood

1:44:55and who don't have a driveway or or in those cases but very excited and I'm really hoping

1:45:02that we can come out with a citywide permit system that gets rid of that speculative well I may be

1:45:10able to find a spot on street when I get my second or my third car thank you thanks Councillor Goller

1:45:17Councillor Bustil I'm going to say ditto to all of that I wrote down geolocation that there's

1:45:24respect to the older areas limited parking you know geographically and then just this is not

1:45:33about the parking study but frustration and complaints from both sides from individuals saying

1:45:39I don't understand this parking thing I got a ticket you know and calling me and then on the

1:45:44other side residents saying you know there's parking that's illegal that's not enforced I know

1:45:49it's not your area but you know just that communication and the enforcement enforcement

1:45:54I have complaints about Elmira Road between Flaherty and Willow Road that provides parking huge

1:46:01amounts of parking on the road and frustration that there's these huge homes with huge driveways

1:46:08and huge garages and you're providing the city is providing free parking on that road same thing

1:46:14about the permits not my area I'll send them to Kathy but one of my staff complaints about

1:46:20Janefield that we as council has approved infill and yet the individual who's a student who lives in

1:46:27one of the townhouses is not able to find parking on the road any anymore so some kind of permit I

1:46:34would absolutely absolutely agree that we really put a focus on this and that's it thanks Councillor

1:46:43Councillor Katelyn. Thank you through you chair one of the bigger issues that I hear about a lot in

1:46:50my ward is on street winter parking because Ward 1 has not a lot of active transit services and there

1:47:01are a lot of neighbourhoods where townhouses are kind of squished together so you've got multiple

1:47:07families kind of living in a smaller property that doesn't have enough driveway space to maintain all

1:47:12of their vehicles so having some kind of a an on-street winter parking and a system where we

1:47:21can let them know to be off for like like this last winter was we had some sustained days where we

1:47:26had to do a lot of snow removal some winters we don't it's kind of all up in the air so having

1:47:31some sort of system where people can know when they can park on the street versus when they can't

1:47:37and I agree ditto to councillors Busetel and Gowler on having some kind of a permit system for

1:47:43on-street parking also the other thing that I hear a lot about is parking around the school areas

1:47:51for drop-offs and having a system where and I know we don't have enough by-law officers to be able to

1:47:58do this throughout all of the schools but if there is any kind of maybe automated way to

1:48:07view the no parking zones that are around the schools so that that area is being looked at

1:48:14regularly I think that that would be appreciated from the Ward 1 residents

1:48:20thank you councillor downer I think what I see sort of over the years is this growing contradiction

1:48:29between minimum parking standards with the assumption that people have less cars or will have less

1:48:37cars and you see it particularly in around the university with this assumption that students

1:48:43don't have cars what they do they don't take them to school they bring them and then they

1:48:49walk or take the bus or ride to school so they don't use them locally but I think even a lot of

1:48:54people and I think if you even look at those around council who maybe bike or walk or get here

1:49:01they still have a car as a backup and so this assumption that people are going to get rid of

1:49:06their cars and the minimum parking standards around infill development three plexus four plexus five

1:49:16plexus yes they're gonna they're gonna want street parking space and we've seen this you know playing

1:49:25out on Arthur Street what's going to happen and you're seeing it playing out in other areas where

1:49:30there's limited on street parking and yeah you're going to have to go to permit parking but is there

1:49:35going to be enough permit parking and then where do you where to guest park and so to me we're sort

1:49:41of at this contradiction where we're promoting these minimum parking standards and for infill

1:49:50and yet there's with the assumption either that they have no cars or they're not going to have cars

1:49:56where they're going to be able to park on the street and that's not going to be always the case it's

1:50:01not it's not playing out the way these assumptions that we've had thought they were going to play out

1:50:08and I just see it sort of getting to be a bit of a worse situation in the older neighborhoods around

1:50:14the downtown particularly and I think in the newer neighborhoods where

1:50:21where they they don't have is they don't have a gain they're they're much they're not in this more

1:50:25suburbia big driveways with the big bungalows and big driveways they also have small driveways

1:50:32like the downtown neighborhoods and so there's more reliance and on street parking and and then

1:50:39there's infill going in there and I just see a something's happening that's not that's not working

1:50:47out around parking with houses and infill and streets just something to think about when you're

1:50:53doing your study I don't know okay um I'll Councillor Chew did you have comment otherwise I will

1:51:01do mine and we'll close you want to go ahead yeah I'll make it brief um just to answer the two

1:51:08questions uh I think at the end of the day people just want to have at least residents who were

1:51:16primarily uh advocating for they just want to ensure that there are clear expectations as to what

1:51:24the off on street parking is meant for um you know a lot of the times like it's I think like

1:51:32to people's credit like they do get it when we have the winter restrictions like we don't see cars

1:51:39and if it is it's the odd ones that usually get ticketed but when the off street parking or when

1:51:46the winter restriction is is taken off then you start to see that surge of parking and I think

1:51:52just speaking uh yeah so I think like the like the policies that we have in place like it does

1:52:00make a difference and like word does get around as to what the expectations are I think a lot of

1:52:05it is a communications exercise um and with regards to the university students you know I

1:52:12I was a student not too long ago um and like I didn't have a car for the longest time as well

1:52:19and there is that cultural expectation that you take transit um especially if you're off campus

1:52:24so I think we just have to reinforce that messaging uh especially if we're moving

1:52:29more towards the permitting system um in the downtown course and then older um neighborhoods

1:52:35with the older street network um the the last point is for the parking study it would be very

1:52:44I think it would be really refreshing to get a sense as to what the nuances are of

1:52:51every each part of the city's like geographic area and how the parking environment differs because

1:53:01the conditions in the south and where I am is much different than it is in the downtown core

1:53:07so there's even just some acknowledgement like that's pen and paper as to what's the what is the

1:53:13inventory of this of of the city and like that would be a good starting point for all of us to be

1:53:20able to kind of go back to our constituents and help them reflect on okay this is how this is why

1:53:26things are the way they are right because they didn't happen for you know it didn't happen for a reason

1:53:31why the streets in the downtown was designed uh the way it is uh because back in the day people

1:53:37used to walk in you know there used to be a transfer this but that's no longer the case

1:53:42so there's a reason why historically there's a conflict of interest with uh residents needing

1:53:48a place for their car and people that are coming in that are trying to get a hold of you know what

1:53:54is expected of them if they decide they're going to move into an apartment downtown like their

1:54:00people are going to have to make tough decisions right like my friends are doing that right now

1:54:04they've decided to sacrifice one of their cars so they can live across the church

1:54:10but that's the reality that that is acknowledged and it's just going back to the broader point

1:54:16of making sure expectations are clear right so if we can reinforce that through the study and through

1:54:22our our master plan study work then I think we're we're good um yeah that's my two cents

1:54:32thanks councillor chou um so I've said it before probably every planning meeting in the last six

1:54:38years I really think the developments need to provide sufficient parking otherwise it becomes

1:54:44an externality that the city has to deal with and that taxpayers have to pay for so the cars aren't

1:54:51going away people may substitute some rides uh you know and take transit on some occasions

1:54:57even even families that want to have a cargo bike are going to need to put the cargo bike

1:55:02in the garage or somewhere we've got families where somebody works in trade so we are we and

1:55:08we're not always necessarily approving them so we're a bit over a barrel on some of these

1:55:12developments developments that are so tight there's so little visitor parking there's so little space

1:55:18in the driveways I'll give the example of decor so drive that you know mother's day somebody's come

1:55:26to visit they can't park in that whole section they can't park anywhere the long connection

1:55:32victoria is certainly can't park on victoria or arcale and so this is a bit of a quality of

1:55:40life issue in terms of making sure that our developments have sufficient parking even this

1:55:46winter you saw you know snow piled in certain visitor spots so I don't know that we need as

1:55:53much parking as we've had historically but especially in newer subdivisions where the setbacks are

1:56:00shorter and there's less parking and there's more driveways there's very little on-street parking

1:56:05and then if they're they're bound to read by arterials then people literally have nowhere to go so I

1:56:13think you're asking the million dollar question this is so challenging so the other thing is when

1:56:21you have lots of overflow parking because you don't have enough for the individual home or development

1:56:27then people park on the street and cyclists and pedestrians feel that that is more unsafe right

1:56:33so there's a conundrum I will say also we need to have sufficient on-street parking near parks

1:56:40because lots of people will go to play soccer all over the city right soccer or softball or all of

1:56:46those things and I've not seen a coach with all their equipment on their back riding the city bus

1:56:53to get to parks so I think we need near our green spaces to have some some parking as well it's

1:57:00wonderful when it's shared with the schools so we need to do more of that co-location

1:57:06and then in terms of being able to park on the street it's challenging because a permitting

1:57:13system would give certainty to residents I don't know that we would ever have enough

1:57:19spaces on street spaces but then what happens to folks who are visiting in that area so lots of

1:57:27other cities have figured it out I don't have the answer we're hoping you have the answer but it's

1:57:32definitely a challenge and I think part of the solution is making sure that new developments

1:57:37have sufficient parking anything else okay so oh Councillor Billings yep you have the last word

1:57:47we have eight minutes oh no no it's really just about you know most of the complaints I get of

1:57:55course are during the winter months no overnight street parking so if we go down the road of having

1:58:01more and more permits for on-street parking then what happens with respect to a winter event

1:58:09are we still expecting these people to to move their cars and move their cars to wear

1:58:16so I was just wondering what do other municipalities do are there not municipalities that allow the

1:58:24parking overnight during the winter and then I don't know did they just shovel them

1:58:30the snow banks away from the car what do other municipalities do that allow the overnight street

1:58:37parking during the winter especially when there's winter events thanks Councillor Billings for the

1:58:45question and through you to work so part of the scope of the study is looking at best practices

1:58:53in other Canadian municipalities which you know experience similar weather patterns and how they

1:59:00and how they deal with parking demand particularly the residential parking

1:59:08so that's part of the study we're going to look at that and parking is you know a challenging issue

1:59:17but there's always ways to improve the the current situation and we've heard about the

1:59:23complaints about um winter overnight parking so that's great that you brought this today to the

1:59:30workshop and we'll take this back and definitely look into it once we pick off the study okay thanks

1:59:39Mr. Gaiman to the chair and I know we're about to wrap it up and Mr. Anderson was was hoping to

1:59:43have a few minutes to kind of go through a few more items but I just want to add with anything

1:59:47that we do propose with changes there could be of course also impacts to our budget modeling so

1:59:52something like winter overnight uh on street parking there's budgetary impacts to decisions

1:59:57like that so that's the type of thing we'll also bring forward to council so you can understand

2:00:00sort of the fulsome financial side of any of those policy decisions as well great thank you

2:00:07so seeing no further comments from council I would oh Councillor Goller yep I just want to give

2:00:13Mr. Anderson a chance to wrap up so you go ahead well just to request because there were some

2:00:18questions and an interactive discussion would it be possible to have maybe an email back and

2:00:23forth I I'm I don't want to limit the ability of council to provide further feedback if you're

2:00:29looking for some at this point through your chair of work of course absolutely any time we can also

2:00:35set up uh calls meetings any of those things and then of course we're going to have a whole number

2:00:39of community engagement events coming up um as we get through this study all right so we've got a

2:00:48little bit of grace Mr. Anderson okay we have made it past our formal presentation we've heard

2:01:01lots of discussion today as Terry just noted it doesn't end today you'll still get a chance after

2:01:063 p.m. today and I think you know how to get a hold of us um and it was great to hear although we

2:01:12had sort of five distinct topics today council picked up on how they all do kind of connect

2:01:17with um each other and that's why we kind of brought them all to you today and we really

2:01:22appreciate your time and your feedback um to just understand there is a bit of a method to our madness

2:01:29times and these things are complex and as we learned this morning uh we're trying to do all this

2:01:35in very challenging budget times as well so we as staff are hyper focused on being super vigilant

2:01:41with the budget dollars we have we're appreciative of what council gives us and we we are really

2:01:47trying to use data and equity to push interventions to where they are needed the most so I just wanted

2:01:54to articulate that I don't know we're kind of wrapping up here we did give a second chance

2:02:00of people to sort of maybe had a thought um you know maybe you heard some conversations in the bike

2:02:06ways that made you think about something earlier if there was any sort of general comment you wanted

2:02:11to to get out before we wrap up otherwise I'm happy to pass it off to Terry for final words

2:02:18so we could do a lightning round if my colleagues have a one minute

2:02:23close to answer your last question to anybody is anybody not going to sleep tonight because

2:02:28there was something they wanted to say and did not okay I see head shaking no we have the invitation

2:02:35from our staff to send them comments questions as we always do the question is what stood out to you

2:02:44to me it's the professionalism the data driven approach the looking at other communities looking

2:02:52at what works in the most cost effective way I think that appendix is amazing so thank you for that

2:02:58and thank you all for your work you do uh it leading up to this workshop but the work that you do

2:03:04every day so go ahead mr gayman okay thank you chair rick again I appreciate everyone's time

2:03:09today thank you for the opportunity to share with you a little bit more who we are in engineering

2:03:13and transportation services um of course a deeper dive on the transportation side specifically we

2:03:18value your feedback and the input from your constituents and we want to hear all of that

2:03:22information I'll reiterate a few things you heard it we use warrants we use data we have processed

2:03:28put your put your questions put your constituents into the process so that we can help with the

2:03:32prioritization we have big policy decisions coming up so we're coming back to you with parking

2:03:37cycling you heard Jenny say you know we're pausing some of our cycling improvements while

2:03:42while we get to the new cmp unless it's focused on the downtown area so we're not taking away lanes

2:03:48of of cars or other parking spaces while we work through that type of work so those are the types

2:03:52of things that we're balancing those are the types of things I hope you take away today and again that

2:03:57that reiteration of the the trust and expertise in your professional staff who you can rely on to

2:04:02make the best decisions and those prioritizations for the city so thank you very much we appreciate

2:04:07your time and we'll wrap it there thank you very much mr gayman before I call for adjournment I just

2:04:13want to thank mr sandor for clerking today it's his first time uh as our clerk and so thanks

2:04:20very much for doing a good job we didn't pull any you know fancy procedural moves on you uh thanks to

2:04:25my council colleagues for being here today will someone move adjournment okay councillor downer seconded

2:04:32by councillor caton uh is anyone opposed to adjournment nope have a lovely afternoon take care