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Home My WebLink About2024-01-24Clarington If this information is required in an alternate format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131 Active Transportation and Safe Roads Advisory Committee Minutes Date: January 24, 2024 Time: 7:00 pm Location: Microsoft Teams Members Present: Rick Stockman (Chair), Connor Houston (Co -Chair), Jim Boate (joined at 7:15 p.m.), Councillor Sami Elhajjeh, Bart Hawkins- Kreps, Ron Hooper, Lori Moore, Richard Oldfield, Brad Whittle Staff Present: Rob Brezina (joined at 8:00 p.m.), Catherine Verhoog Regrets: Hawa Mire 1. AGENDA 1.1 Additions to Agenda 1.2 Acceptance of Agenda Motion to accept the agenda. Moved to approve by Lori Moore, seconded by Bart Hawkins-Kreps. CARRIED 2. MINUTES 2.1 Corrections None 2.2 Approval of Minutes Motion to accept the minutes of September 27, 2023. Moved to approve by Ron Hooper, seconded by Bart Hawkins-Kreps. CARRIED Page 115 3. DISCUSSION ITEMS 3.1 Committee Membership Updates (Rick) Hawa is taking a leave of absence from the Committee as she is on maternity leave but wishes to stay on the Committee. Brad Jakobsen is no longer on the Committee and the Clerks Department have removed him officially. 3.2 September 27 Meeting Follow Up Items: 3.2.1 Traffic Calming Policy (Slav) Slav is not present, but Bart relayed that Slav informed him in January that the policy is being worked on. 3.2.2 Bike Repair Stands (Jim) No plan or program for the repair stands that Jim is aware of as per Rick. Richard spoke with the gentleman from the Tyrone Mill and he indicated that he would really like to have a bike repair stand there. Richard has called around but has not been able to obtain any information regarding the stands. Jim reached out to Waterfront Trail executives, and they indicated that they are involved in only the bike stands, not the repair stations or signs. Buy -in from the Municipality is needed for the installation of any new repair stands or signage. The cost of the stands at $2,000 to $5,000 was discussed as well as what amount of use the stands see. Jim will locate the stands that are in Clarington and will research other municipalities and where the funding was obtained from. Connor will inquire with the Region's Active Transportation Committee, and Ron will reach out to CLOCA regarding their stands. 3.2.3 Holt Road/Energy Drive Safety Concerns (Rob) The section of road is under the jurisdiction of Ontario Power Generation (OPG). Rob will try and leverage his previous contacts with OPG and see if it is something that they have looked at as well. Jim brought up that Energy Drive leading up to Holt Road is being used as part of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail by a lot of visitors out of the area and it is just signage that is needed to assist them through this area and to remain on the trail. Page 215 3.3 2024 Bike Month Volunteers (Connor) Volunteers would be coordinating with the Region on behalf of Clarington for the Region's Bike Month's celebrations and activities. Lori and Ron have volunteered, and Connor will forward on their contact information to the Region. 3.4 Durham Region Active Transportation Update (Connor) Connor gave a brief description of four presentations that were made at the Region's meeting on complete streets, Region of Waterloo's "Making Sustainable Transportation Easy", Durham Medway, and Vision Zero. The presentation by Vision Zero reported that Clarington has two of the top ten highest bike collision intersections across the region over a ten-year period. The locations are at Highway 2 and Clarington Boulevard, and Liberty Street and Concession Street. 3.5 2024 Activities and Community Events Lori and Bart have volunteered to assist and participate in a Sub -Committee. Ron has offered to liaise with Laura Knox in Economic Development to select the events that would be appropriate for the committee. Ron can also ensure that space is available at the various BIA events and make the Committee aware of the dates of the events. Bike and Hike for Marigold Hospice. Celebrate Sport in Clarington takes place in March — Rick will share the email with the Committee. Richard likes the idea of pop -ups along the various trails. Lori, Bart, and Ron will form a sub -committee and will provide guidance for setting the kiosk up at events. 3.6 Clarington Cycling Club Motion offering to donate $300 to the Municipality for Trail Etiquette Sign (Rob) The funds would be received as a donation to the Municipality and held until they are needed. Part of the scope of the new wayfinding system strategy, to be concluded in the fall, includes trail signage. As a member of the executive for the Cycling Club, Rick has suggested that the club hold onto the funds until such time as the wayfinding strategy has been approved and signage has been decided on, and he will bring that before the Cycling Club. 3.7 Speed Limit Concerns (Connor) Connor shared his positive experiences regarding traffic safety developments in the community, emphasizing the proactive steps taken by municipal staff Slav Potrykus and Ryan King. He expressed hope for imminent changes, particularly praising the implementation of stealth radar, which provided insights into local driving habits. Data revealed that most drivers travel below the 50 km/h limit, with the 85th percentile speed recorded at 38 km/h. This suggests a discrepancy between the current Page 315 speed limits and natural driving behavior, indicating that residents feel safer at lower speeds. Connor noted that similar trends were observed across Clarington's urban residential streets, where about 70% of 85th percentile speeds are below 50 km/h. This supports the need for a Traffic Calming Policy and possibly reassessing speed limits to reflect actual driving behaviors and enhance safety. He thanked Slav, Ryan, and Rob for their professional approach to addressing the neighborhood's traffic concerns. Rob indicated that the 2024-2027 Strategic Plan includes the development of a traffic calming plan to address neighbourhood speeding and parking concerns as a priority for the Municipality moving forward. Slav and Ryan do have a small operational budget to address immediate traffic concerns that could be alleviated by the placing of bollards etc. 3.8 Safety Improvements to West Beach Road (Lori and Bart) Lori and Bart are requesting support from Committee members regarding the safety concerns on West Beach Road with the configuration of the road and the access for the Waterfront Trail near the dog park. Connor pulled up the Strava data and it indicated that there are over 3,000 trips a year taking place in this area, which is probably a low estimate as not all users participate in the Strava data recording. Rick will draft a letter to Council, with Lori and Bart's correspondence attached, to present the Committee's concerns that traffic calming measures are needed to be completed in the immediate future, not five or ten years down the road. The drafting of this letter is approved by a majority of Committee members. The letter will be circulated to members for review and comment prior to being submitted to Council. 4. OTHER BUSINESS 4.1 Active Transportation Master Plan Connor reminded members to review the information in the email provided and provide any feedback to Rob, or directly on the map by inserting comments. 4.2 Lighting at Nash Road and Bowmanville Avenue This section of road is slated for urbanization and regional road improvements in the future. There is shared jurisdiction with Region of Durham and staff is reaching out to look into collaborating with the Region to have lighting installed. 5 FUTURE MEETINGS SCHEDULE/DATE OF NEXT MEETING Date to be determine in April 2024. Page 415 6 ADJOURNMENT Motion that the meeting be adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Moved by Jim Boate, seconded by Ron Hooper. CARRIED Page 515