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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-05-17 MinutesMUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON Minutes of Meeting Thursday, May 17, 2007 PRESENT: (Chair) Clayton Morgan Gillian Bellefontaine Gord Lee Shane Morris David Reesor Ellwood Ward (Vice-Chair) Shane Morris Andrew Bouma Kerry Meydam Alexander Lyall Lisa Robinson ALSO Leslie Benson, Manager of Transportation & Design PRESENT: Ron Baker, Traffic & Transportation Co-ordinator Constable Keith Richards Stuart McAllister, Road Safety Co-ordinator, Durham Region REGRETS: Tony Cannella, Director of Engineering Services Councillor Adrian Foster Georg Krohn Barbara Joan Montague 1.0 ADOPTION OF MINUTES-(Apri119, 2007) The following motion was proposed: THAT: "The minutes of the April 19, 2007 meeting are approved with one change." That item 6.0 New Business at Direction of Chair, item titled, Bicycle Lanes, should be split into two categories. The last sentence should be put into its own category titled Symptoms vs. Solutions. MOVED: by Dave Reesor; SECONDED by Gord Lee. CARRIED 2.0 ITEMS FOR INFORMATION 2.1 Road Watch-(Gord Lee) Gord Lee reported that from April 19th until today there have been 17 complaint reports submitted across the Municipality. Fifteen were processed and a letter was sent to the vehicle owners. Of the 15, only 3 were received via the Durham Regional Police Website, the remaining 12 were placed in drop boxes. Over the past few months the number of drop boxes on location in the Municipality has diminished by 3, through store closures, renovations and vandalism. The drop box at Country Style Donuts located at Highway 115/35 and Concession Road 3 has been terminated. The Kirby Burger location is no longer open. Just recently the drop box at Armstrong IGA has gone astray. At present there are 11 locations that carry drop boxes. The volunteers who retrieve the information from the drop boxes each weelc have logged 6071~n in their vehicles since the start of the year and with the cost of gas this is becoming a concern; therefore, on-line reporting needs to be promoted. This is the current task at hand. There is a sample mailing in draft which is being sent to Constable Keith Richards and Ron Baker for their input. 2.2 Traffic Watch Update-(Ron Baker) Ron Baker advised that he hasn't received a start date from Dennis Rudman who records traffic speeds for the Traffic Watch Program, which is then forwarded to the Road Watch Committee. He is expected to start soon. Ron will advise. 2.3 Highway 407 Update-(Leslie Benson) There has been no further update since last meeting. Leslie Benson recommended visiting the website www.407eastea.cafnr updated information. 3.0 AGENDA ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION 3.1 Cable @ Bend West of Brown Road-(Leslie Benson) The Operations Department advised that there are no plans for installing cables at this location; instead posts and reflectors were put in at close spacing. The cable is very expensive and the Operations department does not have the specialized equipment to install it. 3.2 Port Granby Bridge-(Leslie Benson) The work to repair the bridge must be tendered and is planned to be repaired this summer. 3.3 Summer Meeting Schedule-(Clayton Morgan) The Committee meets 10 times per year on the third Thursday of each month. They do not meet in December and one month in the summer at the direction of the Chair. It was decided amongst a vote of hands that the Committee will meet in July and not August. 3.4 Meeting Room Schedule-(Donna Van Schyndel) The Committee members felt that room 1 C was unable to comfortably accommodate the number of members on the Committee; therefore, other. accommodations were being considered. The Council Chambers were not available because the chamber is set aside for Council and GPA meetings. The courtroom 2 at the Youth Fire Hall on Church Street in Bowmanville was viewed and a response to whether the Committee can use it is still awaiting a reply. The recording secretary will bring the answer to the next meeting. 4.0 NEW BUSINESS AT DIRECTION OF CHAIR 4.1 Sidewalk Policy Leslie Benson informed the Committee that there is a By-law in place that states if residents have a sidewallc they must clear snow fiom them. The Operations Department is responsible for clearing snow in areas where there are sidewalks but no houses; and must bring in special machinery to do so. Along certain areas of Simpson Avenue there are no sidewalks and residents must walls on the shoulder. The question was raised as to whether sidewalks will be installed. When reconstruction of Simpson Avenue is done in the future, sidewalks will be installed. 4.2 Intersection of Nash Road & Varcoe Road-Courtice The volume of traffic is heavy at times and forces traffic to become congested. Ron Baker advised that Totten Sims Hubicki created a report a few years ago when Tim Horton's opened. Stuart McAllister advised that the extra volume of vehicles occurs at certain times of the day and he advised that there are plans in the future to completely realign this area which should delete some of the added traffic. This has not been approved yet. ~_ <. ~, ;d t r,'. x54..°4~ ,~.~. % ..~ w t 4.3 Mill Street & Highway 2-Newcastle There was a complaint that the walk buttons were not functioning properly therefore Stuart McAllister will check to see if the walls signs that indicate "push the button" are intact. He will also check to see if the south east corner button is situated behind the pole, and if so make the necessary adjustments. 4.4 Edward Street-Newcastle There was a complaint about the speed of vehicles that travel down Edward Street which is believed to be due to the construction of the Aquatic centre at Edward and Rudell Streets. 4.5 Email from Teresa Vanhaverbeke Gord Lee received an email regarding the Mill and Edward Street intersection which stated that it was aheavily-crossed intersection utilized by a large number of pedestrians especially children from various schools. The resident would like a reply to her email to see what type of traffic calming device is warranted. There is a meeting in Newcastle tonight which will deal with this matter. Gord will forward this email to Ron Baker and Stuart McAllister for them to send a response. 4.6 Concession 3 & Highway 57 Alignment Leslie Benson advised that she is not aware of the exact timing of the realignment, however, the cul-de-sac to the north west (phase 2 of the development) would be scheduled prior to, or when the re-development of the hydro site is planned. 4.7 All-Way Stop at Trulls Road & Pebblestone Road-Courtice The Operations Department visited the site and Ron advised that the approved all- way stop will occur in the near future. Previous checks were performed in this area and it was reported that the speed limit is 60 KPH and the average speed was recorded at 65 KPH. 4.8 Port Darlington Road & Liberty Street (south of the 401) At times traffic is backed up at this intersection making it difficult to make a left hand turn and it was suggested that a convex mirror could be installed however; Stuart McAllister advised there have been no incidents recorded to date and fears that vandalism may occur to the mirror if installed in such a visible area. ~,~' `` }Ait' ~ ~ .~ ~ r ~~~ Fr ,~, r lip 4.9 Access to the 401 at Baseline Keith Richards advised that the accident statistics are low at this location. This falls within the jurisdiction of the MTO and they have a corridor study in the works. 4.10 Speeding in Newtonville Keith Richards informed the Committee that radar was in various areas in Newtonville and it was reported that vehicles were traveling on an average of 80 KPH in a 60 KPH zone. There have been two Road Watch complaints for this area. Residents may sign out the radar gun to check speeds. 4.11 Signage in Clarington The Committee felt that overall the Signage for speed limits in Clarington is poor but according to the Highway Traffic Act, if the speed limit changes by 10 KPH, advance Signage is not required; however, it is required when the limit changes by 20 KPH or more. When 80 KPH drops to 50 KPH ahead a sign is required. 4.12 Advertising Signs/Election Signs Committee members agreed that advertising/election Signage is posted everywhere including Bell and Veridian poles. Apparently if you call Bell or Veridian and advise them of the phone number on the sign and they will contact that number to have the sign removed. Stuart McAllister advised that it is difficult to regulate signage and they don't have enough staff to enforce this. The By-law Division of the Clerk's Department can be contacted if any sign is blocking the line of site of a stop sign. Per Stuart, By-law amendments are in the works in order to restrict election Signage for Clarington. The Region is discussing this as well and would like to see amendments both Regionally and Municipally. 4.13 Enforcement Vehicles Constable Keith Richards advised the Committee that enforcement vehicles are being changed Region-wide. The response has been great towards the new black and blue cruisers even though the residents are accustomed to the white cars. They will now be purchased from different dealers and not just through General Motors as in the past. They will be equipped with radar in the front and rear. New vehicles will be introduced each month in various colors. The radar range is approximately 1 KM away. s _ .~ _ _ _. n _ _ _ _ ~ ~ __.__ . _ _ .._. ~ _ W . _.. __ .. ____ _ _ _ W____ ___.. _. _.._~~ ' ~ _ ` 5.0 NEXT MEETING DATE- June 21, 2007-7:00 P.M. Committee Room 1C-Enter via Municipal Administrative Centre, 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, through the north door on Church Street (Library entrance doors). 6.0 ADJOURNMENT MOVED by; Alexander Lyall THAT: "The meeting be adjourned at 8:15 p.m."