November 19, 1998.

To:Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee

From:City Clerk

Re:Oversized Street Name Signs - International Year of Older Persons (1999)

Recommendation:

The Budget Committee on November 18, 1998 reports having received as information the transmittal letter (November 6, 1998) from the City Clerk forwarding the recommendations of the Seniors' Task Force with respect to the installation of oversized street signs.

Background:

The Budget Committee on November 18, 1998, had before it the following:

(1)transmittal letter (November 6, 1998) from the City Clerk, forwarding recommendations of the Seniors' Task Force regarding oversized street name signs - International Year of Older Persons (1999),; and

(2)a communication (September 18, 1998) from the General Manager, Transportation Services, advising, in response to Councillor Anne Johnston's letter of June 23, 1998, that the cost of implementing oversized street name signs at all major and minor arterial road intersections throughout the City of Toronto is estimated to be approximately $1,850,000.00 for 620 locations; that a trial installation will be conducted in 1999 in order to gauge public reaction to and acceptance of the oversized street name signs; that $250,000.00 will be included within the 1999 Capital Budget submission for this pilot project; and assuming the response is favourable, a seven year retrofit program is anticipated in order to minimize the financial impact of this work.

City Clerk

Barbara Liddiard/cp

Item No. 26

Attachment

c.Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Director of Budgets

Chief Administrative Officer

Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services

General Manager, Transportation Services

Committee Secretary, Urban Environment and Development Committee

(Transmittal letter dated November 6, 1998 addressed to the

Budget Committee from the

City Clerk)

Recommendation:

The Seniors' Task Force on November 4, 1998 recommended that:

(1) The Urban Environment and Development Committee and the Budget Committee be advised that as a project of the Seniors' Task Force for the International Year of Older Persons (1999), it supports the inclusion of $250,000.00 in the 1999 Capital Budget for the installation of oversized street name signs.

The Seniors' Task Force also recommended that:

(2) Consultation take place with experts in this field prior to any decisions being made on the size and lettering on the sign; and

(3)The Seniors' Task Force would like the opportunity to review proposals and samples of the oversized street name signs, if possible, at its next meeting scheduled for December 8, 1998.

Background:

The Seniors' Task Force had before it a communication (September 18, 1998) from David C. Kaufman, General Manager, Transportation Services, advising, in response to Councillor Anne Johnston's letter of June 23, 1998, that the cost of implementing oversized street name signs at all major and minor arterial road intersections throughout the City of Toronto is estimated to be approximately $1,850,000.00 for 620 locations; that a trial installation will be conducted in 1999 in order to gauge public reaction to and acceptance of the oversized street name signs; that $250,000.00 will be included within the 1999 Capital Budget submission for this pilot project; and assuming the response is favourable, a seven year retrofit program is anticipated in order to minimize the financial impact of this work.

(Communication dated September 18, 1998 addressed to

Councillor Anne Johnston, Chair, Seniors' Task Force from the

General Manager, Transportation Services)

This letter is in response to your June 23, 1998 letter to Barry Gutteridge, Commissioner, Works and Emergency Services, regarding a request from the Seniors; Task Force to replace the street name signs on arterial roads with signs with larger lettering. We have completed a review of your request and are pleased to provide the following information:

We recognize that the proportion of senior citizens in our population is increasing, and the vision of elderly is often weaker than that of younger people. One measure we can introduce to accommodate the needs of the aging population is the installation of larger (oversized) street name signs, especially at major intersections.

We have developed a proposed plan of sign manufacture and installation, which is described briefly in the following paragraphs. The cost of implementing this signage plan at major intersections throughout the City of Toronto is estimated to be approximately $1,850,000.00. Before embarking on an annual retrofit program, we propose to conduct a trial installation in 1999 in order to gauge public reaction to and acceptance of the oversized street name signs. We will be including a $250,000.00 item within our 1999 Capital Budget submission for this pilot project. Assuming the response is favourable, we anticipate a seven year retrofit program in order to minimize the financial impact of this work.

The placement of oversized street name signs is most appropriate at the intersection of major streets in Toronto. These intersections are almost exclusively controlled by traffic control signals which provide the necessary structural support for the oversized street name signs. The most effective placement of an oversized street name sign is on a pole mast arm at the far side of the intersection. The oversized sign would be highly noticeable at this location because it would be located next to a traffic control signal head. This would also be consistent with the practices in the adjacent municipalities of Mississauga and York Region.

A four foot (1.2m) long sign could be installed at traffic control signals in the downtown and urban areas of Toronto, typically in the former cities of Toronto, York, and East York, and downtown Etobicoke. Suburban locations could accommodate a larger six foot (1.8m) long sign. Many locations would require the installation of a new mast arm to accommodate the additional weight of the sign in conjunction with existing traffic control signal equipment and other existing signage such as turn prohibition signs.

The cost to install oversized street name signs at the approximately 620 major intersections in the City of Toronto is estimated to be $1,850,000.00. This would provide an oversized street name sign at all major arterial and minor arterial road intersections.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss this in further detail, please contact Peter Bartos, P. Eng., Transportation Engineer, at 778-2225.