Councillor Burton introduced the report before Council on the Traffic Calming Study.
The Deputy City Manager of Planning, Engineering and Regulatory Services advised Council that members of the Department would be presenting on the annual traffic calming study as an update for Council. He asked the Manager of Transportation Engineering, Afaf Al-Azzawi, to present the findings to Council.
Members of Council posed questions on the results of the survey including what makes streets eligible, when the surveys are completed, the scoring criteria, the priority streets, etc.
Several members of Council questioned the purpose of conducting traffic calming studies when most streets in the City need to have the speed limit reduced for safety reasons.
There was general support for additional funding be made available to the capital budget in January, aiming for 3 years of funding.
Several other points were raised during the discussion including ensuring that nearby streets that have traffic calming measures in place are also included as many will avoid the measures in place and use an alternate route and continue to use high speeds. Another point raised is the hesitation of pedestrians to use crosswalks and zebra crossings due to the fact that they are worried about oncoming traffic and the threat of being hit. It was also expressed that more than 50% of calls that Councillors receive from their residents deal with speeding on City streets, and that as a Council we need to do more for safety. Enforcement was another point raised and the importance of it.
It was agreed that Council would have a future discussion on the reduction of speed limits within the City.
The Deputy City Manager of Planning, Engineering and Regulatory Services advised that this is an information note to give an update on the current status of streets studied. He noted that there will be a public engagement session held in the new year to determine what is important to residents, and that information will be brought back to Council for their review and discussion.
Councillors expressed their appreciation for the review conducted by Staff on this very important issue.