STAFF REPORT

November 15, 1999

To: Works Committee

From: Barry H. Gutteridge, Commissioner, Works and Emergency Services

Subject: Spadina Avenue and Baldwin Street - Traffic Control Signals and Turn Prohibitions

Ward 24, Downtown

Purpose:

To respond to a request to install traffic control signals at Spadina Avenue and Baldwin Street or to relocate existing traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue from Nassau Street to Baldwin Street; and to introduce turn prohibitions on Spadina Avenue at Baldwin Street to allow for construction of permanent medians along the streetcar track allowance.

Financial Implications:

The funds required for implementation of the recommended changes to the turn prohibitions and installation of additional temporary bollards, estimated at $ 1500.00, are available in the Transportation Services 1999 Current Budget.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) the existing prohibition of eastbound and northbound left turns at Spadina Avenue and the west leg of Baldwin Street, currently in effect between 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Friday and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, be extended to be in effect at all times;

(2) the existing prohibition of westbound left turns at Spadina Avenue and the east leg of Baldwin Street currently in effect between 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Friday and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, be extended to be in effect at all times;

(3) subject to approval of recommendations (1) and (2), temporary bollards be installed to close the openings currently provided at Baldwin Street; and

(4) the appropriate City officials be authorized to take any necessary action, including the introduction of any Bills, to give effect thereto.

Background:

The Spadina LRT streetcar line commenced operation on Spadina Avenue on July 27, 1997. Due to a continuing pattern of collisions between vehicles and streetcars, temporary barriers were installed in September 1998 to prevent vehicles from crossing the streetcar track allowance on all mid-block sections from Front Street to Spadina Circle with the exception of nine unsignalized intersections where openings were provided. Since the pattern of collisions continued, in July 1999 all openings in the temporary barriers were closed with the exception of Baldwin Street. At the time that the Toronto Transit Commission and City Council were considering the extension of the temporary barriers, it was requested that staff report on the feasibility of installing traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue at Baldwin Street or relocating the existing traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue from Nassau Street to Baldwin Street.

Currently, a design is being developed for permanent medians to replace the temporary barriers on Spadina Avenue. At a recent community meeting to discuss the design of the permanent medians, the issue of traffic control signals and access to Baldwin Street was once again discussed. To complete the design of the permanent medians, a decision must be made as to the level of access to be provided at Baldwin Street.

Comments:

During the busiest eight-hour period of a typical weekday approximately 12000 vehicles, 400 streetcars, 5000 pedestrians and 500 cyclists use the intersection of Spadina Avenue and Baldwin Street. The two legs of Baldwin Street, which are separated by approximately 25 meters, form a "near-right" off-set intersection. Baldwin Street at Spadina Avenue is controlled by "Stop" signs. The west leg of Baldwin Street operates two-way from Spadina Avenue to a point 98.4 metres west of Spadina (the Kensington Market parking garage) where it then changes to a one-way westbound operation, while the east leg of Baldwin Street operates one-way westbound. Currently, northbound, westbound and eastbound left turns are prohibited from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday to Friday and from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays. At other times, all movements at this intersection are permitted.

Traffic Control Signals

We have reviewed the feasibility of installing traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue at Baldwin Street or relocating the existing traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue from Nassau Street to Baldwin Street. Neither of these options are feasible due to the spacing of existing signals on this section of Spadina Avenue, the offset nature of the intersection, and the significant geometric and operational changes that would be required at this location and the adjacent intersections of Nassau Street and St. Andrews Street.

The minimum recommended spacing between adjacent traffic control devices is 215 metres. This is the minimum distance at which drivers can detect a control device or a hazard in a cluttered environment, recognize it, and perform the required action safely. From the west leg of Baldwin Street, existing traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue are located approximately 85 metres to the south at St. Andrews Street and approximately 85 metres to the north at Nassau Street. From the east leg of Baldwin Street, the spacing to St. Andrews Street and Nassau Street is approximately 60 meters and 110 meters, respectively. The installation of traffic control signals at this spacing could lead to visual confusion for motorists, concerns with safe stopping distance for vehicles, congestion due to insufficient storage for vehicle queues between the intersections, and the resultant safety concerns of all of these issues. Also, transit service would be negatively impacted by the delays associated with an additional signal and by the relocation of transit stops.

Although this minimum distance is occasionally violated in the downtown area, the spacing between signals in this case would severely hamper the signal operation at all three intersections on Spadina Avenue. Currently, there are some locations where signals have been installed close to each other. A couple of examples are mid-block pedestrian traffic control signals on Yonge Street, north of Shuter Street and on Queen Street West, west of Yonge Street. Because these signals only serve pedestrians and not side-street vehicle traffic, a number of mitigating measures have been adopted to control vehicle queue lengths and their movements. However, at Spadina Avenue and Baldwin Street it would be impossible to control north-south vehicle queues due to the vehicles entering Spadina Avenue from Baldwin Street.

The issue of signal spacing applies whether additional traffic control signals were installed at Baldwin Street or if the existing signals at Nassau Street were to be relocated.

The east and west legs of Baldwin Street are offset by approximately 25 metres. Signalizing an off-set intersection brings various inherent problems with respect to vehicle/pedestrian conflicts, drivers determining the right-of-way within the intersection and overall confusion to drivers. To alleviate these concerns, in the last few years we have generally signalized only one leg of the off-set intersection. In this case, the east leg of Baldwin Street has higher traffic volumes at Spadina Avenue. However, the main concern expressed by the community is the access to Kensington Market on the west side of Spadina Avenue. If traffic control signals were installed at the west leg of Baldwin Street, as a "T"-intersection, access from the east leg of Baldwin Street would be restricted to westbound right turns only. The other option would be to provide a "three-phase" traffic signal operation (i.e.: north-south phase, eastbound phase and westbound phase). However, this signal phasing would not be possible due to the significant impacts on TTC service, level of service to pedestrians, and minimal storage for the extended vehicle queues that would result on Spadina Avenue.

If it was decided that traffic control signals should be installed at Baldwin Street, regardless of the above factors, there are other geometric and operational changes that would be required. If additional traffic control signals are installed at the west leg of Baldwin Street, a protected signal phase for the northbound left-turn movement would be required to prevent conflicts between streetcars and turning vehicles. This would require the construction of an exclusive northbound left turn lane on Spadina Avenue at Baldwin Street, which would involve a widening of the pavement on the east side. This would then affect both the parking bay and the sidewalk width on the east side of Spadina Avenue. If the existing traffic control signals at Nassau Street were relocated to Baldwin Street, these changes would again be required but additional changes would have to be made at Nassau Street. There are currently streetcar stops and platforms for northbound and southbound at Nassau Street which would have to be relocated to Baldwin Street. Also, the protected "U"-turn signal phases and exclusive lanes for the "U"-turn movements at Nassau Street would be eliminated.

In conclusion, the installation of traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue at Baldwin Street, or the relocation of the existing traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue from Nassau Street to Baldwin Street, is not feasible and would have considerable adverse impacts on traffic operations, transit service, parking and pedestrians.

Permanent Medians

As noted earlier, a design is currently being developed for permanent medians to replace the temporary barriers that have been installed on the mid-block sections of Spadina Avenue between Front Street West and Spadina Crescent. With the current temporary arrangement, openings have been left in the barriers to allow access to and from both the east and west legs of Baldwin Street during offpeak periods only. This is the only mid-block location where vehicles are capable of crossing the TTC track allowance.

In the time period between the completion of the temporary barriers in July of 1999 to October 14, 1999, there have been 3 collisions between streetcars and vehicles turning across the tracks at Baldwin Street. The overall rate of collisions between streetcars and vehicles on Spadina Avenue, which was an average of 2.9 collisions/wk prior to the completion of the bollard installation, has dropped significantly. There is continuing concern over the safety of the situation at the openings at Baldwin Street.

With the construction of permanent medians on Spadina Avenue, it is recommended that these last openings in the barrier be closed to eliminate the conflicts between streetcars and vehicles. To allow this to happen, the existing prohibitions of northbound and eastbound left turns at Spadina Avenue and the west leg of Baldwin Street,and westbound left turns at Spadina Avenue and the east leg of Baldwin Street, which are currently in effect during peak periods, Monday to Friday, and mid-day on Saturdays and Sundays, should be extended to be in effect at all times.

The following table summarizes key traffic movements that would be eliminated with a permanent barrier at Spadina Avenue and Baldwin Street (because left turns are prohibited during peak periods the volumes represent an average off-peak hour only):

Access to Kensington Market

We appreciate the concerns that business owners and residents have, especially the merchants in the Kensington Market, with respect to access to/from their neighbourhoods, which are currently prohibited only during the weekday peak and weekend mid-day periods. Albeit not as convenient, there are feasible alternate routes available for motorists destined to/from Baldwin Street. For northbound or westbound motorists destined to the west leg of Baldwin Street a viable, safe and efficient alternate access is available by travelling approximately 90 metres northbound to Nassau Street, performing a U-turn under a fully protected signal phase and travelling southbound back to Baldwin Street. Also, westbound left-turning motorists could follow the same route and U-turn at Nassau Street, while eastbound left-turning motorists could travel south to U-turn at Dundas Street West.

Based on the existing traffic volumes noted in the above table, the addition of redirected traffic would have minor impacts on the operations of traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue at Nassau Street and at Dundas Street West.

To better warn motorists of alternate routes we will install guidance signage, i.e.: "Kensington Market - U-turn at Nassau Street" to direct them to appropriate traffic signals. The installation of these signs would be installed with the permanent medians in consultation with the Ward Councillors.

Conclusions:

It is not feasible to install traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue at Baldwin Street, or to relocate the existing traffic control signals on Spadina Avenue from Nassau Street to Baldwin Street, due to the insufficient spacing to existing traffic control signals, the offset nature of the intersection, and the required operational and geometric changes at the intersections.

Extension of the existing turn prohibitions on Spadina Avenue at both the east and west legs of Baldwin Street would eliminate the streetcar and vehicle conflicts which continue to occur at that location and would permit the construction of permanent medians extending between Nassau Street and St. Andrews Street.

Alternative access is available to Kensington Market by using the protected left turn/"U"-turn facilities provided at both Nassau Street and Dundas Street.

Staff of the Toronto Transit Commission have been consulted and concur with the recommendations of this report.

Contact:

Jacqueline White, P.Eng.

Manager, Traffic Operations, District 1

Phone: 397-5021

Fax: 392-8504

David C. Kaufman

General Manager, Transportation Services

Barry H. Gutteridge

Commissioner, Works and Emergency Services

DB/JW/