May 26, 1999
To:Etobicoke Community Council
From:John W. Thomas, P. Eng., MBA, Director, Transportation Services - District 2
Subject:Pedestrian Crossing Concerns:
Horner Avenue at Beta Street
(Lakeshore-Queensway)
Purpose:
To evaluate the request of the members of the Franklin Horner Community Centre to have a pedestrian crossover installed
on Horner Avenue at Beta Street in conjunction with the reinstatement of the 50 km/h speed limit on the section of Horner
Avenue between Beta Street and Gamma Street.
Funding Sources:
The funds associated with the installation of the appropriate regulatory signs are allocated in the Transportation Services
Division's Operating Budget.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1)a pedestrian crossover not be installed on Horner Avenue at Beta Street: and
(2)the existing 40 km/h speed limit on Horner Avenue along the frontage of the community centre be retained.
Background:
Correspondence/petition (Attachment No. 1) was forwarded from Councillor Irene Jones regarding a request from the
members of the Franklin Horner Community Centre to have a pedestrian crossover installed on Horner Avenue at Beta
Street and to have the current 40 km/h speed limit increased to 50km/h. A map of the area is Attachment No. 2.
The Franklin Horner Community Centre, formerly an elementary school, is located on the north side of Horner Avenue
between Beta Street and Gamma Street.
Horner Avenue, in the area of the community centre, is a four lane collector roadway with an average daily traffic volume of
12,000 vehicles.
Discussion:
To qualify the request for a pedestrian crossover an evaluation was completed for HornerAvenue in the area of Beta Street
based on pedestrian and vehicular volumes and pedestrian delay warrants.
To determine the pedestrian crossing demand, pedestrian classification counts were conducted on HornerAvenue between
Aldercrest Road and Gamma Street.
The volume warrant utilizes twelve-hour vehicle volumes and eight-hour pedestrian crossing volumes as criteria for the
evaluation. The studies revealed an average eight-hour volume of 82pedestrians crossing Horner Avenue (without
difficulty), in the vicinity of Beta Street. Based on the existing twelve-hour vehicular volume of 9,075, a net eight-hour
pedestrian volume of 260would be required to fully satisfy the warrant. Therefore, the recorded vehicular and pedestrian
volumes fail to satisfy the volume warrant by 68%.
In terms of the delay warrant, the percent compliance could not be determined since the minimum eight-hour pedestrian
volume of 200 required for the evaluation was not recorded. A pedestrian volume of less than 200 does not normally require
a pedestrian crossover.
The 40 km/h speed limit should be retained given that the request for the increase in the speed limit was in conjunction with
the installation of a pedestrian crossover.
Conclusions:
The results of the pedestrian crossover evaluation revealed that the pedestrian volume and crossing delay in the vicinity of
the subject location are well below the minimum requirements for the consideration of this traffic control device.
Given the request for the increase in the speed limit to 50 km/h was in conjunction with the installation of a pedestrian
crossover the 40 km/h speed limit should be retained.
Contact Name:
Kevin Akins, Traffic Technologist, - Transportation Services - District 2
(416) 394-6046; Fax (416) 394-8942
John W. Thomas, P.Eng., MBA
Director, Transportation Services - District 2
Attachments
cc: St. - Horner Ave
