In Tuesday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting, BWG Council received the Safe Street Audit from Community Services staff, along with a request for consideration for additional funding in 2021 budget to improve the town’s transportation system.
The audit included an in-depth look at lighting, traffic lights, sidewalk maintenance, tactile plates at intersections, line markings, roadway signage and speed control.
Lighting and Traffic Lights
The audit proposed increasing lighting in areas where vehicular traffic and vulnerable users would benefit.
In 2016, the town replaced all street lights with newer Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting as part of an energy management initiative. The fixtures provided the same level of light at lower energy consumption, resulting in lower electricity costs for the town.
In the report, staff reviewed key intersections along Holland Street, where there are higher traffic levels and an increased opportunity for improved infrastructure, and identified a number of future projects.
Lighting in the Reagens Industrial Parkway area is currently being reviewed, with the audit to be completed later this year.
Lighting projects in town installed prior to 2018 meet the standards of the day, but require upgrades to meet current specifications. Staff recommended that council endorse a phased-in approach to lighting upgrades.
As for traffic lights, several systems in town are ageing, with infrastructure older than its 18-year life cycle. The town is planning a thorough inventory, to review and ensure the signals are working in peak form.
Traffic flow along the main roads in Bradford is a key priority for council. Focusing only on the Holland Street corridor, the report proposes upgraded signal infrastructure for Toronto, Barrie/Simcoe and Colborne Street intersections.
Staff presented three options for moving ahead with the lighting and traffic control systems in town:
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Continue with the current practices of upgrading lighting and traffic control systems during roadway upgrades as part of capital projects or development.
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Increase capital funding to include $250K for intersection and street lighting upgrades.
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Combine Options 1 and 2, to provide the on-going funding to add lighting to capital asset replacement plans for future projects.
Staff recommended Option 3, giving an example of the signalized intersections in the downtown core. The control systems require an estimated $175K each in order to upgrade to current guidelines, but a completely new upgraded system would cost $250K, said Manager of Transportation Joe Coleman.
"The $250,000 would be the whole intersection," including light heads, new poles and traffic controllers - " a better bang for our buck," Coleman said.
Upgrading the lights would allow the systems to be linked, providing better coordination of red lights and traffic flow, although the cost does not include the coordinating system itself.
Coun. Raj Sandhu questioned why the town would consider replacing the lights now when the municipality is looking at the complete reconstruction of Holland Street. "It would save our residents money," if the projects were left until reconstruction, Sandhu suggested.
Director of Community Services Terry Foran agreed and noted the proposal was brought forward for budget discussion only. "Don't feel pressured tonight to move this forward," he said.
Sidewalk Maintenance
In 2020, the town identified 176 sidewalk bays needing replacement. The allotted budget only allowed 41 percent of them to be replaced. In 2019, 53 percent of the bays needing replacement were replaced. The remaining balance is carried forward to the next year, resulting in repairs falling behind.
Staff is seeking $14,040 to be able to complete a total of 150 bays per year.
Tactile Plates
Tactile plates are a requirement under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the Integrated Accessibility Standard Regulation. Pedestrian crossings with curb ramps or depressed curbs must have tactile plates with a contrasting colour and texture to alert people with low or no vision of the transition from the sidewalk to the vehicle travel lane.
BWG is actively installing the plates and to date, 55 of the 365 intersections with a sidewalk crossing have been converted. The cost to convert is approximately $1,800 for one corner of an intersection.
Staff recommend a budget of $15K to expedite the installation of the plates at high volume crossings and school safety zones.
Line Markings
The town ensures road marking is carried out each year, typically starting in April. About one-third of the town is completed every year.
The town has also received requests for additional painted lines, such as zebra crossings and bike lanes.
The cost to mark the pavement varies depending on the type of paint used, as well as road type, age and weather. The standard road paint has a lifespan of six months to one year, whereas durable road paint lasts anywhere from three to five years.
Staff recommended adding $20K annually in the budget for line-marking, to permit the use of more durable paint.
“I am going to support that," said Coun. Gary Lamb. "It's most important to have those lines... because some people just don’t know where to drive and we need to help them out a little bit. It's one of the safety issues we put in place."
Signage
Over the past five years, staff have been replacing signs as part of a program relating to Municipal Maintenace Standards (MMS), that requires the removal of signs that are noticeably weathered.
In 2020, the town introduced an inventorying system that can be actively updated to measure the reflectivity of signage. So far, 2,151 signs south of Holland Street and County Road 88 have been inspected; only 16 signs needed replacement.
A review of the north side of BWG will be completed in 2021.
Replacement costs vary depending on sign size and mounting hardware. BWG is well below the need for replacement compared to other jurisdictions and doesn't require any additional funding.
Speed Control
Speed has become a priority for council, with the Traffic Committee receiving multiple complaints each month.
The current budget is used for items like flexible bollards, radar signs, roadway counts and other infrastructure. For 2020, the budget is expected to be fully put toward the purchase of additional speed bollards and the Reagens Parkway lighting review. No additional funds are being requested at this time.
Council received the report for information and will discuss it at the budget meeting in January.
