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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWD-85-92 THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF NEWCASTLE REPORT Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE File# Date: NOVEMBER 16, 1992 Res. #6:P 0 Report#:--WD--85-92 File#: -B-.02 . 12 . 17 By-Law# Subject: PEDESTRIAN SAFETY CONCERNS, FOURTH STREET, BOWMANVILLE Recommendations: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report WD-85-92 be received; and 2 . THAT Gillian O'Connell and Hans D. Knecht be advised of Council's decision and be provided with a copy of Report WD-85-92 . ---------------------------------------------------------------- REPORT 1.0 ATTACHMENTS No. 1: Key Map No. 2 : Petition from Gillian O'Connell No. 3 : Petition from Hans D. Knecht 2.0 BACKGROUND 2 . 1 At a regular meeting held on June 8, 1992, Council passed Resolution #C-408-92 : "THAT the delegation of Gillian O'Connell be acknowledged and her concerns be referred to the Director of Public Works for review and preparation of a report to be submitted to the General Purpose and Administration Committee; and THAT Gillian O'Connell be advised of Council's decision. " uus is ,(& REPORT NO. : WD-85-92 PAGE 2 3.0 REVIEW AND COMMENT 3 . 1 Sidewalks The existing sidewalks and the sidewalks proposed by Gillian O'Connell are illustrated on Attachment No. 1. The estimated cost to construct the proposed sidewalks is $83,000 . In order to determine if the sidewalks could be constructed on Fourth Street, it was necessary to do some surveying. Upon asking the surveyors, some of the residents on Fourth Street were advised that the purpose of the surveying was to determine if sidewalks could be built on Fourth Street. This resulted in another letter from the residents on Fourth Street objecting to the construction of the sidewalks . It should be noted that several of the residents who signed the first petition also signed the second petition. 3 .2 Signs 'No Parking' signs have been installed on the north side of Fourth Street near the park entrances and fire hydrants. The signs have been installed under general provisions of Consolidated Traffic By-law 91-58 . The existing 'School Zone' sign has been improved by trimming a tree which blocked motorists ' view and 'Playground' signs have been installed on Fourth Street. 3 . 3 Painted Crossing Path I Painted lines across Fourth Street at Elgin Street would have no legal authority and could mislead a child into thinking they will provide protection. Painted lines of this type could cause a fatality rather than prevent one and are not recommended. Durham Regional Police recommend that the school crossing location should remain at the Fourth and High Street intersection. i 3 .4 Speed Limit Enforcement 'School Zone' and 'Playground' signs should reduce the speed 1 '�� 9 REPORT NO. : WD-85-92 PAGE 3 of motorists and make them more aware of pedestrians . Enforcement of the speed limit is the responsibility of Durham Regional Police, whom residents should contact directly if they feel a problem exists . A speed study by staff indicated that the average speed was 46 km per hour and the 85th percentile was 54 km per hour. These figures indicate that a serious speed problem does not exist. 3 . 5 All-way Stop Report WD-47-92 included an amending by-law to Consolidated Traffic By-law 91-58 to provide for an all-way stop at the intersection of Fourth Street/Vanstone Court and High Street. The all-way stop, as approved by Council and the Region of Durham, has been installed to provide a safer crossing location for pedestrians . Additional all-way stops on Fourth Street at the Elgin or Prospect Street intersections are not warranted. i 4 . 0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4 . 1 From the above, it is concluded that we have responded to all of the concerns raised by Gillian O'Connell with the exception of the construction of the sidewalks . In view of the letter from Hans D. Knecht and the petition, it is recommended that no action be taken to construct the sidewalks on Fourth Street. Respectfully submitted, Recommended for presentation to the Committee, I Walter A. Evans, P.Eng. , Lawrence E. Ko seff, Director of Public Works Chief Administrative Officer RB*ph November 4, 1992 Attachments X010 REPORT NO. : WD-85-92 PAGE 4 pc: Mrs . Gillian O'Connell Mr. Hans D. Knecht 139 Elgin Street 5 Fourth Street Bowmanville, Ontario Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3E8 L1C 2E9 EXIST. SIDEWALK PROP. SIDEWALK oO PLAYGROUND AHEAD SIGN FIRE HYDRANT e---� NO PARKING ARE PARK SCHOOL z c� o = ry FOURTH T. F----� �-> F--� rrrr�� V o n U � " w z z � J w n m SUNICR x V FOU H SF. TON Cf, LE u Rq,9D SUMMERFIELD CT. SUNSI FREDERICK ASE. S THIRD Sr. o loso E EMALL ASE. O SECOND DRAWN BY; JM DATE; JULY 1992 ATTACHMENT NO. 1 KEY MAP WD-85-§2 � 10112 i QQa To: The Town of Newcastle Attention: Patty Barrie Town Clerk I would like to ask the Town Counsel to provide proper crossing and walking conditions for children to attend school anp/or play in the Lord Elgin 'Street Park on _Fourth St. The problem has been there for years but was raised to my conscious- ness when I watched in desperation as my 6 year old almost got run over by a car when we were coming home from playing in the park. My child was careless--the car was just unaware. We need sidewalks and a proper crossing area--white lines that make cars aware and give children a place to cross safely rather than from between parked cars. We need No Parking signs, School Crossing signs and the speed limit enforced. Right now, anyone who goes to the school or park and enters it at Fourth St. must walk on the road and in the winter its even worse as they cannot walk on the grass for snowbanks. We want you to create a focus on the road for the cars as well as for the pedestrians who use this facility It is not just during the busy school hours of 9°60, 12:00, and 3: 30 but also from 4:00 to 6:00p.m. when there are people hurrying to get home from work; yet children are playing in the park. And from 6:00 to 9:00p.m. when there ase people playing baseball, tennis, soccer, basket- ball and children on the swings and climbers;yet cars are parked everywhere along the entrance. As you see .from my only 2 days of petitioning there is much concern in this neighbourhood about the safety of our children. I have also spoken to the principal of Lord Elgin P. S. and lie too is concerned and requested a Crossing Guard this past year but was denied. I hope the Town of Newcastle will also recognized the Safety Hazard we have here and know that it only takes one car and one child to have tragedy and on Fourth Street we have hundreds of both all day long. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Gillian O'Connell 139 Elgin Street Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3E$ I i ATTACHMENT No. 2 WD-85-92 I i Ko�t9h �Ket�h ® Pn:�)PoSec� chancles U I �r 0.5P c C-t fit. SEkoc C 1 n ro (kCA 19; �o Win fit . � ICI � Dear Neighbor, I am asking for your support for: 1- 99 2- k on �Flg S�reet be continued to Fourth Street ewa on o t treet. 2- a crossing path be painted on the road across Fourth Atreet 3- no parking signs be placed near the crossing area 4- the school crossing sign moved to where motorists can best see it on Fourth Street 5- speed limits posted and enforced Signature Address c.� CSY . ZLv7t ��Lz" t/Gi :L;. erg, ria r�v �.L.7 I u SA / � i s o t, Ja e 2 —/ )&/ 3 � rd S � i J� i Cl/` 1�J� 'moo lil�"� J�- W rvN i i fq-7 &kA i — 1016 �717 / i w Ln 1017 -4-L ya� - elatodi J 4 Yv t�Y - I i 7 131'? 5y V-1- r1, )./e 3 S4- I Sj- Ai -- - - - - -- Chi id 10 ooe —-- — — Cka-a-� --— — i F r n ' � I 3 i � � a aru cc� s '7 3 �✓1�-t-t _.. 1 � A<,J t I 1 n, ?QI SE? 9 21 X11 '9Z Lob Py August 29 1992 Patty Barrie h"'':,'..:'.,.';'„ Town Clerk, Town of Newcastle �� �. '-.., .' ._. .._,.'.. .:, i Dear Ms. Barrie: It has come to my attention that the Town is in the process of building a sidewalk along my street in northern Bowmanville. I was somewhat surprised by this since neither I nor my immediate neighbours were consulted or in fact see the need for a sidewalk along Fourth Street. To illustrate our concern to the council, I have collected the signatures of the residents most affected by such a sidewalk. The petition is enclosed. Please direct it to the Council, Public Works, or any other concerned parties. Sincerely, EISPL17 Hans D. Knecht CLERK .__ ! 5 Fourth St. ~--- f Bowmanville ACK. BY......�--_ - 623-7687 ORIGINAL CO". s S >'O: i -.. / ~ � I ATTACHMENT NO.. 3 ---- - y ------- WD-85-92 ------ i August 20 1992 1 of 2 Patty Barrie Town Clerk, Town of Newcastle It has, in the last few days, come to our the attention that a petition has been sent to the Town regarding the safety of our children. Some residents in the general area of Lord Elgin Public School presented this petition to the council. We are residents who would also be directly affected by the contents of that first petition. We are fully aware of the traffic problem and the danger to children, particularly in the area around the Lord Elgin school. Traffic increases at certain times of day, and high speed autos are more common than we like. The complete lack of off-street parking near the school, with its attached playground and ball diamond, are contrib- uting to the problem. Children are dropped off and picked up by parents who of necessity block other traffic and add to the problem. We feel that some kind of walkway should be established in the area of the school and an off-street loading zone established. A marked crosswalk from Elgin St. across Fourth St. to the school walkway would add to the childrens' safety. The addition of three-way stop signs at the end of Elgin 3 St. and perhaps also Prospect St. would provide a deterrent to the cars fi presently speeding along Fourth St. as a shortcut between Highway 2 and Liberty Street North. During heavy traffic periods it requires at least 7 minutes to traverse the core of Bowmanville on Highway 2, but only about 3 minutes to bypass the core and travel along Fourth. Adding stop signs would change that and slow down the traffic. Consistent speed enforcement, . and a 40 km/h limit, would further slow down the cars and increase the safety,for our children. 4 x, Installing sidewalks along the front of the homes on Fourth Street will NOT improve the traffic conditions. It may also give the drivers the impression that pedestrians are safe, and thus encourage higher speeds. The western d end of Fourth Street normally is traversed by perhaps 6 to 8 children. Since Fourth Street will NOT feed children from the new homes soon to be built north and west of the school, it is unlikey to see a large increase in children winding along it. Residents feel that the large expense of a sidewalk is an unnecessary one for the Town to undertake, and are concerned with its effect on mature hedges, trees, lawns, and landscaping' to the boulevard around the school, and some stop signs, may solve the problem best. Several residents of Fourth Street signed the earlier petition, and have since noted that the addition of a sidewalk in front of their property was added to the petition after they signed it. They, too, see no need for sidewalks along Fourth Street, although we all agree that traffic must be slowed down and managed better. 2of2 'Ye, the undersigned residents, do not wish to see a .a sidewalk along Fourth Street, Name Address AL tA&& /' v c 721r l�f� /-out?TK r 'GU ,fit, �/' a C�qr''✓;�`' ��C97.�fL We, the undersigned, did sign an original petition concerning safety at the school, but were not informed of the proposal to build sidewalks along Fourth St. at that time. We do not wish to have this sidewalk built.. Name Address i i 1013