STAFF REPORT

November 18, 1999

To: Etobicoke Community Council

From: Director, Transportation Programming and Policy,

Works and Emergency Services

Subject: Road Classification - Review of Proposed Classifications

(All Wards in Etobicoke Community Council Area)

Purpose:

The purpose of this report is to respond to requests for the review of proposed road classifications for roads within the Etobicoke Community Council Area.

Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

There are no financial implications resulting from the adoption of this report.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that this report be received for information.

Background:

The Etobicoke Community Council, at its October 13, 1999 meeting, in considering the proposed road classification system:

(1) requested that the Works Committee defer consideration of the proposed road classification system to its meeting scheduled to be held on December 7, 1999, in order for the Community Council to have an opportunity to review the report, requested from staff for its next meeting, on the various issues raised by the Community Council, residents and local ratepayer organizations;

(2) requested the Manager, Operational Planning and Policy, to submit a report to its next meeting scheduled to be held on November 9, 1999, on:

(a) possible inclusion of a 'residential arterial' category in the proposed road classification system to distinguish roads classified as 'major arterial' in residential communities from those arterial roads in industrial areas;

(b) a review of the proposed classification of the following roads to ensure that they are consistent with the Road Classification Criteria described in the report (June 29, 1999) from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services:

(i) Dunbloor Road;

(ii) Government Road;

(iii) Lambeth Road;

(iv) Trehorne Drive;

(v) Wincott Drive;

(vi) Aukland Road;

(vii) Martin Grove Road; and

(viii) Highway No. 27;

(c) the classification of Rathburn Road, east of Kipling Avenue, as a collector rather than a minor arterial road;

(d) increasing the criteria describing "typical daily motor vehicle traffic volume (both directions)" on collector roads up to 10, 500 vehicles per day;

(e) the introduction of a 'no right turn on red' restriction at the signalized intersection of Rathburn Road and Islington Avenue; and

(f) the additional concerns and issues raised by residents and local ratepayer organizations; and

(3) referred the presentations by Ms. Janice Etter and Ms. Rhona Swarbrick to the Acting Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services for consideration during the Official Plan process.

Comments:

The review of the proposed new road classification system for the City of Toronto has raised a number of policy issues, particularly with respect to the relationship between this matter and the development of an overall strategic transportation plan. This issue will be dealt with in our report to the Works Committee and in an accompanying report by the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services specifically with respect to issues raised by Community Councils.

A number of changes to the road classification criteria and decision-making mechanism (Committee routing) are being proposed by staff based on feedback from Community Councils, the Toronto Pedestrian Committee and deputants at the various Community Council meetings. These changes will be discussed in our upcoming report to the Works Committee.

Of particular significance is the treatment of legal speed limits for major arterial roads, which were previously described (in Table 1: Road Classification Criteria in the June 29, 1999 staff report) as ranging from 50 km/h to 80 km/h. Recognising concerns that this might suggest that speed limits would be raised on major arterial roads that currently have speed limits of 50 km/h or 60 km/h, this range has been modified to "50 km/h to 60 km/h". There are only a handful of major arterial roads with speed limits of 70 km/h or 80 km/h, and these streets will be identified within the report and noted as exceptions to the range.

Another change arising from the various consultations undertaken with this project has been to modify the description of major arterials with respect to the characteristic "traffic movement versus property access". Instead of "traffic movement primary consideration; rigid property access control", the revised Table 1 will now read: "traffic movement primary consideration; subject to property access control".

Possible Inclusion of a "Residential Arterial" Category:

The inclusion of a residential arterial category in the proposed local classification system has been suggested to identify and differentiate the character and operation of arterial roads with abutting residential land use from arterial roads with commercial or industrial land use. This would potentially allow Council to change the operating characteristic of these roads to reflect their residential character.

The new road classification system has been developed as a policy and decision-making tool for traffic and road operations matters. In the development of the new classification system, land use changes along roads were recognised as a component of how roads are operated and would continue to be operated in the future. For example, many arterial roads in the amalgamated City of Toronto (whether former Metro roads or former City roads) are residential for some or all of their length. Examples are Bathurst Street, Dufferin Street, St. Clair Avenue, Davenport Road, Jane Street, Scarlett Road, Albion Road, Martin Grove Road, Kipling Avenue and Islington Avenue.

We chose to develop a simpler classification system with five categories rather than a more complex system to bring clarity to the decision-making process for Councillors, staff and the public. Explicit disaggregation of road classifications by land use (for example, residential, industrial or commercial arterials) would complicate the road classification system without providing any additional benefit to Council on how these roads should be operated. For example, what proportion of properties need to be residential for a street to be called a residential arterial? What happens if one side of a street is residential and the other is industrial? Would residential arterials be further subdivided into "residential major arterials" and "residential minor arterials"?

Instead, it is felt that the way to recognise residential characteristics (or any other land use, for example "main street commercial") on arterial roads is through the mechanisms which already exist. For example, City Council has the authority to do the following:

· Speed limits and numbers of traffic lanes can be controlled;

· School zones and community safety zones can be established;

· Pedestrian cross-overs or traffic signals can be introduced; and

· Truck restrictions, while generally not appropriate on arterial roads, can be implemented at particular locations.

As a result, we believe that City Council has the tools available to it to modify the operating characteristics of roads to reflect the land use abutting the roads and that an explicit disaggregation of the proposed road classification system to reflect land use is not required.

Increasing the Traffic Volume Range of Collector Roads to 10,500 Vehicles per Day:

The proposed road classification system, as illustrated in Table 1: "Road Classification Criteria" of the June 29, 1999 report, shows a "typical" range of 2,500 to 8,000 vehicles per day for collector roads. Local roads generally have less than 2,500 motor vehicles per day. Minor arterial roads have a range of about 8,000 to 20,000. These ranges are only guidelines for identifying a possible candidate road classification and as such a number of roads in each class have motor vehicle traffic volumes falling outside these ranges. As noted in the main report on road classification, a number of factors besides traffic volumes are used to classify roads.

Toronto's local roads, on average, have traffic volumes of about 900 motor vehicles per day. Collector roads have about 4,500 motor vehicles per day, while minor arterial and major arterial roads carry respectively about 14,000 and 29,000 vehicles per day on average. Increasing the upper range of collector roads to 10,500 would add more roads to the collector class and reduce the number of minor arterials, while introducing a large spread between the lower and upper limits of the range. The highest volume collector roads would have more than four times as much traffic as the least busy. On minor arterials, however, this ratio would be less than two. We believe that the currently proposed traffic volume range for collectors and minor arterials is appropriate and should not be revised.

In conclusion, it is recommended that the range for collector roads be left unchanged at 2,500 to 8,000 motor vehicles per day, but that this not restrict some streets carrying more than 8,000 vehicles per day being classified as collector roads when other factors support the lower classification.

Introduction of "No Right Turn on Red" at the Rathburn Road/Islington Avenue Intersection:

The Director of Transportation Services, District 2 will investigate this request and report to the Etobicoke Community Council.

Additional Concerns and Issues Raised by Residents and Local Ratepayer Organiations:

A number of issues were raised by deputants at the October 13, 1999 Community Council meeting. They were generally philosophical in nature, relating to the concept and principles of road classification viz-a-viz the development of the new Official Plan and an overall strategic transportation plan and will be addressed in the upcoming report to the Works Committee from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services and the accompanying report from the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development Services.

Reclassification Requests for Individual Streets:

Each of the streets identified by the Etobicoke Community Council and a number of other streets for which reviews were requested have been reviewed and the results are summarised in Table 1 (Attachment No. 1). Recommended changes to classifications arising from this review will be identified within the staff report to the Works Committee, tentatively scheduled for February, 2000.

Contact:

Andrew Macbeth, P.Eng.

Manager, Operational Planning and Policy

Tel: 397-5778

Fax: 392-4426

E-mail: amacbeth@toronto.ca

T. W. Mulligan

Director, Transportation Programming and Policy

Transportation Services Division

AGM/fc

List of Attachments:

Attachment No. 1

Table 1: Review of Proposed Road Classifications- Etobicoke November 18, 1999

* Change to proposed classification recommended