Adjustment to Traffic Calming on Euclid Avenue and

Clinton Street, both from College Street to Bloor Street West

(Palmerston Area Traffic Calming) (Trinity-Niagara)

The Toronto Community Council recommends that:

(1) the provisions of By-law No. 1996-0463 respecting the narrowing of Manning Avenue, Euclid Avenue and Clinton Street, from College Street to Bloor Street West, be rescinded;

(2) the narrowing of Euclid Avenue, west side, from the lane first south of Ulster Street to a point 15 metres south thereof, from a width of 7.3 metres to a width varying from 4.5 metres to 7.3 metres be approved and added to Appendix B of the report (May 25, 1998) from the Director, Infrastructure Planning and Transportation, City Works Services;

(3) That approval be given to narrow the pavement at the locations on Clinton Street and Euclid Avenue indicated in Appendix B of the report (May 25, 1998) from the Director, Infrastructure Planning and Transportation, City Works Services;

(4) That approval be given to alter sections of the pavement on Clinton Street and Euclid Avenue, between College Street and Harbord Street, by the installation of speed humps as identified in Appendix C of the report (May 25, 1998) from the Director, Infrastructure Planning and Transportation, City Works Services, and shown on the attached print of Drawing No. 421F-5216 dated May 1998;

(5) That approval be given to reduce the speed limit from 40 kilometres per hour to 30 kilometres per hour on Clinton Street from College Street to Harbord Street, and Euclid Avenue, from College Street to Bloor Street West; and

(6) That the appropriate City Officials be authorized to take whatever action is necessary to implement the foregoing, including the introduction in Council of any Bills that might be required.

The Toronto Community Council submits the following report (May 25, 1998) from the Director, Infrastructure Planning and Transportation, City Works Services:

Purpose:

To report the results of a poll of residents on Clinton Street and Euclid Avenue (both from College Street to Bloor Street West) concerning traffic calming, conducted by Councillors Joe Pantalone and Mario Silva.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

Funds to cover the costs of removing traffic calming islands and installing speed humps on Euclid Avenue and Clinton Street from College Street to Bloor Street West at the locations described in this report, in the estimated amount of $50,000 are available under Capital Fund Code No. 296702.

Recommendations:

Should Council decide to approve the amendments to the Palmerston Area Traffic Calming Plan and particularly the changes on Clinton Street and Euclid Avenue, both from College Street to Bloor Street West, based on the results of the poll identified in Appendix A, the following should be approved:

1. That By-law No. 1996-0463 authorizing the narrowing of sections of Clinton Street, Manning Avenue, Euclid Avenue, Palmerston Avenue, Ulster Street, and Markham Street, be rescinded;

2. That approval be given to narrow the pavement at the locations on Clinton Street and Euclid Avenue indicated in Appendix B of the report;

3. That approval be given to alter sections of the pavement on Clinton Street and Euclid Avenue, between College Street and Harbord Street, by the installation of speed humps as identified in Appendix C of this report and shown on the attached print of Drawing No. 421F-5216 dated May 1998;

4. That approval be given to reduce the speed limit from 40 kilometres per hour to 30 kilometres per hour on Clinton Street from College Street to Harbord Street, and Euclid Avenue, from College Street to Bloor Street West; and

5. That the appropriate City Officials be authorized to take whatever action is necessary to implement the foregoing, including the introduction in Council of any Bills that might be required.

Background

The Toronto Community Council, at its meeting of May 6, 1998 in considering a communication (April 28, 1998) from Councillors Joe Pantalone and Mario Silva respecting adjustments to traffic calming installations on Euclid Avenue and Clinton Street, both from Bloor Street West to College Street, adopted the following motions:

1. That traffic calming on Euclid Avenue and Clinton Street, both from Bloor Street West to College Street, be considered at the Toronto Community Council meeting of May 27, 1998 as a deputation item; and

2. That Councillors Silva and Pantalone advise the community of the recommended traffic calming changes to be considered on May 27, 1998.

Councillors Pantalone and Silva prepared and distributed ballots to residents of the two streets to gauge neighbourhood opinion on traffic calming measures that were installed in September, 1997 and determine whether alternatives were desired. Works staff tabulated the ballots for the Councillors. The results are discussed in this report.

Comments:

Palmerston Area Traffic Calming Plan

The former Toronto City Council, at its meeting of October 7 and 8, 1996, approved a traffic management plan for the Palmerston area, bounded by Grace Street, Bloor Street West, Bathurst Street and College Street. Specifically, the plan involved the narrowing of sections of the pavements to create mid-block chicanes and narrowed intersections by means of modular traffic islands on Clinton Street, Manning Avenue, Euclid Avenue, Palmerston Boulevard and Markham Street. This approval was the culmination of several years of effort by the Palmerston Area Residents' Association (PARA) to address concerns related to vehicle speeds and pedestrian safety in the neighbourhood. The implementation of the plan was subject to the approval of funds, which were subsequently secured in the 1997 budget.

Prior to installation, former Ward 4 Councillor Martin Silva conducted a poll of Manning Avenue residents, which resulted in the deletion of this street from the plan in July 1997. In consultation with the Councillor, it was decided that installation of the plan would proceed in phases, with the first, in September 1997, being Euclid Avenue and Clinton Street. In conjunction with the traffic calming islands, changes were made to parking, to shift from the east side of the streets to the west side in specific locations. Two speed humps were also implemented as part of the plan, one on Clinton Street and the other on Euclid Avenue, both north of College Street. As a result of the implementation of the traffic calming plan, the parking supply on Clinton Street increased by approximately 10 spaces, and on Euclid Avenue the parking supply decreased by approximately 15 spaces.

Poll of Residents

As part of an on-going consultation process to assess residents' views of the traffic calming measures that were installed on Clinton Street and Euclid Avenue, Councillors Pantalone and Silva designed and distributed ballots to residents of the two streets.

Four separate ballots were prepared for the street sections as follows:

Clinton Street from College Street to Harbord Street

Clinton Street from Harbord Street to Bloor Street West

Euclid Avenue from College Street to Harbord Street

Euclid Avenue from Harbord Street to Bloor Street West

The questions on each ballot, and tabulated responses, are shown in Appendix A of this report. The ballots were distributed by the Councillors prior to April 20, 1998, and responses were requested by 4:30 p.m. on May 1, 1998.

Unlike the more formal polling procedures that would be carried out by Works staff pursuant to the Speed Hump policy, it should be noted that staff did not prepare the questions or lists of potential respondents (i.e. those on the affected streets 18 years of age or older). The role of staff, in order to assist the Councillors, was simply to collect the ballots, distribute additional ballots if requested by residents (about 20) and tabulate the results.

All ballots received prior to the stated deadline were considered. Approximately 5-10 ballots were returned incomplete (i.e., none of the options were checked), and these are not included in the total number of responses shown in Appendix A. Ballots which were partially completed (i.e., all of the questions were not answered) were included in the valid responses, and the responses to the completed questions considered.

Comments on Alternative Traffic Calming Measures

Residents on the sections of both Euclid Avenue and Clinton Street from College Street to Harbord Street were offered the alternative of installing speed humps in addition to whether or not they favoured the removal of the existing islands. Staff provided speed hump plans but these were modified by the Councillors. The plans that were included with the polls showed the locations for speed humps, which are also illustrated in the attached Drawing Nos. 421F-5216 and 421F-5217, dated May 1998 and identified in Appendix C.

The spacing between humps is not as close as is usual in other recent Toronto speed hump installations, or as recommended in the speed hump policy. In particular, the speed hump policy recommends 60 metres to 90 metres between humps, with 30 m to 50 m between intersections and the first hump in a series. The councillors' plan has spacings as follows:

The effect of locating speed humps at greater than the recommended spacings is that motor vehicle speeds are likely to increase significantly between humps, especially on Clinton Street where only four humps are proposed, rather than the five proposed for Euclid Avenue.

A further deviation from established practice in Toronto is the proposal to install speed humps just prior to stop signs (at Jersey Avenue on Clinton Street and at Ulster Street on Euclid Avenue). Speed humps can be expected to reduce speeds to approximately 15 to 20 kilometres per hour. Stop signs, however, require drivers to come to a full stop, so locating speed humps at these locations should be unnecessary. In addition, it may send the wrong message: that it is permissible to roll through the stop sign so long as one has slowed down for the speed hump. The Clinton Street/Jersey Avenue location is of particular concern because of the proximity of the Clinton Public School and the security that the stop sign gives school children and others crossing at this point. The possibility of residents requesting that the Stop sign be removed once the speed hump has been installed at this location seems remote. If the speed humps are installed as requested, considerable monitoring and evaluation would be necessary.

Poll Results

As noted above, the results of the ballots are summarized in Appendix A. Based on these results, Councillors Pantalone and Silva have indicated that the following course of action should be pursued.

Clinton Street from College Street to Harbord Street

- remove islands, restore parking to original side and install speed humps.

Clinton Street from Harbord Street to Bloor Street West

- remove islands and restore parking to original side.

Euclid Avenue from College Street to Harbord Street

- remove islands, restore parking to original side and install speed humps.

Euclid Avenue from Harbord Street to Bloor Street West

- retain existing islands.

Should Toronto Community Council and City Council concur with this approach, the recommendations set out above should be approved to rescind existing roadway narrowings and parking regulations, where applicable, and authorize the speed hump installations and restored parking provisions.

The removal of the traffic islands and installation of speed humps constitute alterations to public highways pursuant to the Municipal Act. In accordance with these provisions, new installations of this nature would typically be subject to a public hearing at the Community Council, following the advertisement of Council's intention to pass a by-law authorizing such alterations. In this case, however, I am of the view that it is more than reasonable to consider the proposed measures as a continuation of the on-going process for this overall traffic calming plan. The measures represent amendments to the approved plan, which was duly processed, and are intended to serve essentially the same purpose. In view of these considerations, and the fact that the amendments to the plan are subject to public deputations, there would not appear to be a requirement to readvertise. Similarly, the policy regarding speed hump installation calls for staff to administer a poll of adult residents on the affected streets, with 60% approval the target for a favourable poll. In view of the polling done by the Councillors, a formal staff poll in this instance would seem redundant.

This work is approved without condition in accordance with Schedule A of the Class Environmental Assessment for Municipal Road Projects.

Contact Name and Telephone Number:

Nigel Tahair, Transportation Technologist, 392-7711.

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(A copy of Appendix A headed Results of the Palmerston Area Traffic Calming Survey, is on file in the office of the City Clerk.)

Appendix B

Clinton Street and Euclid Avenue Traffic Calming Plan

Pavement Alterations

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Appendix C

Clinton Street and Euclid Avenue

College Street to Harbord Street

Proposed Speed Hump Locations

The Toronto Community Council also submits the following communication (April 28, 1998) from Councillors Pantalone and Silva:

Recommendations:

1. that traffic calming on a) Euclid Avenue (College Street to Bloor Street West) and on b) Clinton Street (from College Street to Bloor Street West) be considered at the Toronto Community Council meeting of May 27, 1998 as a deputation item; and

2. that Councillors Mario Silva and Joe Pantalone advise the community of the recommended traffic calming changes to be considered on May 27, 1998.

Discussion:

Toronto City Council, at its meeting of July 5, 1996 passed a by-law concerning the installation of traffic calming measures on Euclid Avenue and Clinton Street between College and Bloor Street West.

At the time of the implementation of this, the community was promised a vote on whether to continue the measures and on whether adjustments were required. We have sent out ballots on this issue with assistance from City staff. The returns are all to be in by May 1, 1998.

In order to achieve all necessary changes, sometime in June 1998, it is essential that the Community Council consider this matter on May 27, 1998 as a deputation item. We, with City staff's assistance, will advise those affected of the proposed changes.

Staff from Works and Emergency Services have been consulted and are in agreement with this course of action.

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The Toronto Community Council reports, for the information of Council, having also had before it during consideration of the foregoing matter, the following communications, and a copy thereof is on file in the office of the City Clerk:

- (May 13, 1998) from Ms. Mary Kainer

- (May 26, 1998) from Mr. Robert Bowers

Ms. Mary Kainer, Toronto, Ontario appeared before the Toronto Community Council in connection with the foregoing matter.

(Copies of maps appended hereto are on file in the office of the City Clerk.)