September 22, 1998
To:Urban Environment and Development Committee
From:David C. Kaufman, General Manager, Transportation Services Division
Subject:Thirty Kilometre Per Hour Speed Limits Applied in conjunction with Substantive Traffic Calming Projects -
Renewal and Extension of Enabling Legislation
(All Wards)
Purpose:
To initiate the process of applying to the Provincial Legislature for the legislation necessary to renew and extend the City's
authority, which is set to expire in June 1999, to apply a regulatory 30 km/h speed limit on streets where substantive
physical traffic calming measures have been implemented.
Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
Nil
Recommendations:
1. That the City Solicitor, in consultation with the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services, be authorized to apply
for special legislation to remove or alternatively extend the "sunset clause" in Bill Pr 54, an "Act Respecting the City of
Toronto" (the 30 km/h speed limit legislation), and also to extend the legislation to apply to the entire area of the City of
Toronto; and
2. That the appropriate City Officials be requested to take whatever action is necessary to give effect to the foregoing,
including the introduction in Council of any Bills that are required.
Background:
On June 27, 1999, special legislation enacted at the request of the former City of Toronto, allowing the former City Council
to set regulatory speed limits at 30 kilometres per hour (km/h) on streets with traffic calming will lapse, because of a
"sunset clause" contained in the Act. The legislation, Bill Pr 54 known as an Act Respecting the City of Toronto, 1996,
replaced a similar Act of 1994 (which had included a two-year sunset clause). In Ontario, speed limits on streets may not be
set lower than 40 km/h. Speed limits may be set as low as 20 km/h on roads within parks. No other jurisdiction in Canada
has provision for 30 km/h speed limits on streets but it is common in Europe where traffic calming is widely used.
Comments:
Since the initial authority has existed, the 30 km/h speed limit has been used only in conjunction with substantive traffic
calming initiatives, as originally intended. In total, 20 streets measuring approximately 14 kilometres in length have the
reduced speed limit as documented in Appendix A of this report. Other streets are currently being considered for traffic
calming and may result in additional cases of the lower speed limit. At this point in time, the legislation is applicable only
to streets within the former City of Toronto boundaries.
On Balliol Street, the location of the former City's traffic calming pilot project in 1994, the 85th percentile speed (the speed
exceeded by 15% of vehicles) was reduced from 47 km/h to 36 km/h, and the average speed dropped from 40 km/h to 30
km/h. On streets with speed humps, 85th percentile speeds have typically fallen from 40 km/h to 30 km/h, with average
speeds (usually about 7 km/h lower) falling by a similar amount. More comprehensive monitoring of vehicle speeds at
traffic calming locations will be undertaken in the autumn this year to support the legislative application.
Through the limited amount of data that has been collected to date, it has been documented that traffic speeds have been
significantly reduced by traffic calming. A legal speed limit which reflects the driving environment is a matter of sound
engineering design. As is stated in Ontario's "Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices", the Ministry of Transportation's
standard traffic engineering publication:
The indicated maximum rate of speed, determined and legalized by the Road Authority, is the rate of speed that can be
safely maintained by a fully competent driver if all conditions affecting the road, the vehicle and the driver are ideal.
Accordingly, based on the City's experience with traffic calming, the 30 km/h speed limit option isboth a useful and
necessary traffic engineering tool. It is important to emphasize that this tool should only be used for its intended purpose;
that being to designate only those streets where physical measures have been implemented to reduce the safe driving speed
to this level. It is not appropriate to install such signs on a stand-alone basis, or in situations where safe operating speeds
exceed 30 km/h. Currently, the legislation applies only to the former City of Toronto. There is interest, amongst staff,
Councillors and the general public, in extending this provision generally across the new City. This application will provide
an opportunity to standardize the legislative authority through the entire area of the new City.
It is acknowledged that traffic calming is still controversial in Toronto (and elsewhere in North America). Obtaining
legislative authority for the use of the 30 km/h speed limit does not commit the City to use this authority in any area or on
any particular street. A more complete analysis of traffic calming in the former City of Toronto has been requested by the
Toronto Community Council and a report on this matter, including City-wide policy implications, will be submitted this
autumn. In the meantime, it seems prudent to initiate the legislative application to the Provincial authorities as soon as
practicable, so as not to miss the expiry date in June next year.
Contact Name and Telephone Number:
Andrew Macbeth, Manager
Transportation Management
392-1799
David C. Kaufman
General Manager
Transportation Services Division
Barry H. Gutteridge
Commissioner
Works and Emergency Services
AGM/sah
(p:\1998\ug\cws\ipt\ud980183.ipt) - sah
Appendix A: Streets with 30 km/h Speed Limits
StreetLocation
Balliol StreetFrom Mount Pleasant Road to Cleveland Street
Balmoral AvenueFrom Yonge Street to Avenue Road
Barton AvenueFrom Bathurst Street to Christie Street
Boon AvenueFrom St. Clair Avenue West to the former north City limit
Boulton AvenueFrom Dundas Street East to Queen Street East
Clinton StreetFrom College Street to Bloor Street West
Cowan AvenueFrom King Street West to Springhurst Avenue
Earlscourt AvenueFrom St. Clair Avenue West to the former north City limit
Euclid AvenueFrom College Street to Bloor Street West
Farnham AvenueFrom Yonge Street to Avenue Road
Glengrove AvenueFrom Yonge Street to Avenue Road
Harvie AvenueFrom St. Clair Avenue West to the former north City limit
Huron StreetFrom Bloor Street West to Harbord Street
Logan AvenueFrom Gerrard Street East to the former north City limit
Nairn AvenueFrom St. Clair Avenue West to the former north City limit
River StreetFrom Spruce Street to Bayview Avenue Ramp
Springhurst AvenueFrom Dufferin Street to Jameson Street
Spruce StreetFrom Parliament Street to River Street
Wellington StreetFrom Bathurst Street to Niagara Street
Yarmouth AvenueFrom Christie Street to Shaw Street
