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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDTS-07-027 - Traffic Calming - Impacts Of Conducting Additional Reviews1 h~TC~NER Development & Technical Services . , . Report To: Chair C. Weylie and Members of the Development and Technical Services Committee Date of Meeting: 2007 February 19 Submitted By: John McBride Prepared By: Ken Carmichael, Supervisor of Traffic and Parking (741-2372} Ward(s) Involved: All Date of Report: 2007 February 12 Report No.: DTS-07-027 Subject: TRAFFIC CALMING -IMPACTS OF CONDUCTING ADDITIONAL REVIEWS RECOMMENDATION: That, should Council wish to increase the number of traffic calming reviews to be completed each year, a temporary three (3) year contract position be hired to execute outstanding traffic calming review locations. BACKGROUND: The Development and Technical Services (DTS} Committee, at their meeting on January 29, 2007, directed staff to determine how work can be prioritized so that more traffic calming projects can be undertaken each year. In August, 2004, Council approved the City of Kitchener Traffic Calming Policy. This policy outlined that Transportation Planning would maintain a priority list of requested locations, prioritized by various factors, and conduct a traffic calming Environmental Assessment for the top three (3} locations each year. Additionally, any roadways scheduled for reconstruction that had received a request for traffic calming were to be reviewed. 2005 marked the first year that Transportation Planning initiated Environmental Assessments (EA} for a traffic calming review for three locations (estimated completion in brackets}: • David Street / Schneider Avenue (95%} • Greenbrook Drive (80%} • Kingswood Drive. (70%} -2- In order to execute these EA's, Paradigm Transportation Solutions Limited was retained by the city. In 2006, the following traffic calming EA's were initiated: • Chandler Drive (50%} • Chopin Drive (80%} • Bradley Drive (40%} • Homewood Avenue - in conjunction with scheduled roadway reconstruction (75%}. These EA's have been executed solely by Transportation Planning staff. The following locations are scheduled for traffic calming reviews in 2007: • Vanier Drive / Traynor Avenue • Kinzie Avenue • Old Carriage Drive • Heritage Drive • Clark Avenue (in conjunction with scheduled roadway reconstruction} These traffic reviews are being conducted solely by Transportation Planning staff, with the exception of Clark Avenue, which is being executed concurrently by the engineering consultant managing this scheduled reconstruction project. Outstanding Traffic Calming Request Locations Referring to the 2007 Traffic Calming Priority Listing, the following number of locations warrant conducting a traffic calming review: Local roadways 11 Minor Collector roadways 7 Major Collector roadways 12 Total 30 These numbers do not include those roadways that staff has received requests for traffic calming but, after analysis of existing conditions, do not warrant further review as their point totals are less than the required 30 points. Inevitably, the number of roadways warranted for a traffic calming review will vary each year, reflecting the fact that new requests are regularly received and some roadways may fall off the list should conditions change, or be able to be addressed outside of the traffic calming process. Traffic Calming Review Process An outline of the typical traffic calming review process is provided below for the benefit of the members of the Committee. • Roadway location chosen for traffic calming review • Confirm resident support to initiate process • Complete all required studies • Complete social /economic /environmental inventory • Identify impact of alternative solutions -3- • Initial public meeting, outlining existing conditions and traffic calming alternatives, and receiving public input • Project team meetings to review existing conditions and public input, and formulate alternatives • Develop alternative solutions • Rate alternative solutions • Select preferred alternative • Identify impact of preferred alternative • Second public meeting, present preferred alternative and receive input from residents on the preferred alternative • Consult affected agencies on preferred alternative • Confirm support for preferred alternative through resident survey • Report to Committee and Council for approval of preferred alternative • Installation of proposed traffic calming measures • Review of effectiveness of measures • Survey of residents that measures are successful and acceptable to the neighbourhood. The execution of a traffic calming review typically takes up to one (1 }year to complete. This report will outline the options available to staff to increase the number of traffic calming reviews to be conducted. REPORT: Reassian Current Staff Duties It is estimated that Transportation Planning staff currently dedicate the following staff time to the execution of traffic calming reviews: • Two (2} Traffic Technologists - 25% of their time • Traffic Student - 20% • Supervisor of Traffic and Parking - 20% • Director - 5%. This results in, typically, the completion of three (3} or four (4} traffic calming reviews each year. In order to increase the number of traffic calming reviews to be conducted each year, current duties would have to be reassigned. In this regard, the following duties currently completed by the Traffic Technologists could be contracted out to private companies: Automatic Traffic Counting Program Transportation Planning currently executes approximately 150 automatic traffic count locations each year. A local traffic counting company has provided an estimated cost to conduct the City's required automatic traffic counts. At a cost of $424 per location, this works out to a cost of $63,600 per year. -4- Manual Traffic Countina Proaram Transportation Planning currently executes approximately 30 manual counts each year. The same local traffic counting company has also provided an estimated cost to conduct the City's manual traffic counts. At a cost of $185.50 per location, this works out to a cost of $5,565 per year. Other work duties conducted by the Traffic Technologists (ie. complaint investigation, lane/road closures, report writing, general investigations} are not able to be contracted out as they involve dealing with the public and other staff, or constitute typical day to day activities. Additionally, other staff would be unable to take on any of these duties due to current workloads. The contracting out of these duties would provide the Traffic Technologists another 10% of their work time, along with providing the Traffic Student another 20% of their work time that could be dedicated to traffic calming reviews. This would result in the execution of one (1 }, perhaps two (2} additional locations to be reviewed for traffic calming each year. Be advised that contracting out our count program would result in a reduced level of service provided by Transportation Planning staff on many issues. Contracting out would result in the loss of the ability to react and address specific, time-urgent requests. The loss of this ability could affect timely response to various issues that Transportation Planning deal with on a day- to-day basis. This approach to conduct additional traffic calming reviews is NOT recommended due to: • The limited benefit provided by being able to only address an additional one (1 } or two (2} locations per year • High costs of contracting out traffic counts • The impact on staff for losing the connectivity to our automatic and manual counting programs, which are greatly influenced by the day to day issues that staff deal with. Contract Out Traffic Calming Reviews To Consultants In 2005, the engagement of Paradigm Transportation Solutions Limited (PTSL} to conduct our traffic calming EA's resulted in an additional cost of approximately $15,000 per traffic calming EA. Despite the consultant completing the traffic calming review, staff is still required to dedicate a fairly significant amount of their time in order to execute some or all of the following: • Set up, execution and analysis of various traffic studies (counts, origin-destination, etc.} • Project team involvement (meetings, advice, direction} • Meeting attendance • Responding to public /agency calls • Preparation of letters to the public /agencies, mailing lists, analysis of public input • Report to Committee and Council. Therefore, any additional traffic calming reviews conducted by consultants would place additional demands on current staff. For example, it has been estimated that engaging a consultant to execute an additional four (4} traffic calming reviews each year would add approximately 10-15% of required duties to each of the Traffic Technologists' existing workload, as well as added demands on our Traffic Student, Supervisor of Traffic and Parking and Director. Engaging a consultant would require additional funding of $60,000 per year. -5- As a result, in order to ensure that all duties are being completed, our manual and automatic traffic counting programs would have to be contracted out as outlined in the previous section of this report, to allow current staff to maintain their current service level. This would require funding of approximately $70,000 per year and allow for the completion of four (4} additional traffic calming reviews. Additionally, staff is of the opinion that the citizens are best served when staff manage these traffic calming reviews. This can be attributed to staff's knowledge of the area under review, along with staff's ability to react in a more timely fashion to issues that arise. This approach to conduct additional traffic calming reviews is NOT recommended due to: • Inefficient costs of hiring a consultant • Additional costs to administer count program • Impact on existing staff and their existing duties. Hire Additional Staff After the execution of a number of traffic calming reviews since 2005, Transportation Planning has determined that the most efficient and effective process for their execution is for them to be done by existing staff. Inevitably, due to the demands placed on staff throughout the process for count information, contact information, document preparation, etc., even with a consultant managing the project, staff is still required to dedicate a significant amount of time and effort on the project. It has been estimated that approximately one (1 }full-time equivalent (FTE} is currently dedicated to the traffic calming review process. This results in the execution of 3-4 traffic calming reviews each year. However, it is felt that, with a staff person dedicated full-time to the traffic calming process, this production could increase to approximately 6-8 additional traffic calming reviews being executed each year. This expectation is based on the fact that a staff person, dedicated solely to the traffic calming review process, would not experience the same interruptions and demands to address other issues that existing staff is subjected to. Additionally, it is anticipated that efficiencies in the process will be better realized by the execution of these traffic calming reviews by a staff person dedicated solely to this responsibility. As mentioned, 30 locations are currently outstanding on our traffic calming priority listing. It is recommended that the most efficient option to address these outstanding locations would be the hiring of an additional staff person. This staff person would be dedicated full-time to the traffic calming review process. Therefore, based on this additional staff person completing 6-8 additional traffic calming reviews each year, it is recommended, should Council determine the need to increase the number of traffic calming reviews being executed, that a full time staff person be hired on a contract basis for three (3} years. This will allow staff to reduce the number of outstanding traffic calming reviews. At the end of this three (3} year contract, it is anticipated that our traffic calming priority listing would be reduced to a level that will allow for their continued execution by existing staff. Inevitably, additional locations for review will arise, however, at the same time, much of the City's newer subdivisions are being addressed with pro-active traffic calming measures incorporated into the design of the roadways for the new subdivision, keeping the outstanding traffic calming priority listing at a manageable level. It is estimated that this additional staff person would require funding in the amount of approximately $80,000 per year. -6- Ontario Municipalities -Current Traffic Calming Practices A number of Ontario municipalities were surveyed regarding their current traffic calming practices. The following outlines these practices: Cambridge • Executed by consultants, with staff involvement • 1 location completed every 2 years • $100,000 budget • 13 outstanding traffic calming locations. Waterloo • Executed by three (3} full-time staff (not fully dedicated to the traffic calming process} • Traffic calming policy in place • 5 locations were conducted in 2006 • 3 locations were executed by a hired consultant • 2 locations were executed by staff • No defined priority listing is incorporated into their policy. Guelph • Executed by three (3} full-time staff (not fully dedicated to the traffic calming process} • 3 locations completed each year • $75,000 budget • 12-18 outstanding traffic calming locations. Burlington • Executed by six (6} full-time staff (not fully dedicated to the traffic calming process} • Approximately 10 locations completed each year • Residents included in steering committee. Vaughn • Mayor's Office co-ordinates process • Six (6} full-time traffic staff dedicated to process • 10-20 locations completed each year • Traffic staff act as consulting professionals • Large budget dedicated to traffic calming. London • Traffic calming reviews executed by hired consultant • One staff person assigned to assist with process • 1-2 locations completed each year • No formal budget established. Hamilton • No traffic calming policy in place. In comparing the City of Kitchener's current traffic calming policy and practices, it appears that Kitchener is already addressing traffic calming in an effective manner. -~- CONCLUSION The City of Kitchener currently executes 3-4 traffic calming reviews each year. 30 locations are currently outstanding, awaiting a traffic calming review. While a number of roadways will inevitably be added to the list, a number of roadways may also fall off the list as a number of the outstanding locations may be able to be addressed by measures that can be implemented outside of the traffic calming process. Other locations may fall off the list due to improved conditions brought on by arterial road improvements. The hiring of a three (3} year contract position to address our outstanding traffic calming reviews would provide the following: • 6-8 additional traffic calming reviews completed each year (9-12 in total completed each year} • A manageable list of outstanding traffic calming review locations at the end of the three (3} year period • A return to existing staff complement to address new and remaining reviews, upon completion of the three (3} year contract. The traffic calming process is new to the City of Kitchener, and fairly new to the Traffic Engineering field. Accordingly, staff will be able to address future traffic calming reviews in a more consistent, efficient manner. Therefore, the hiring of a three (3} contract position would allow staff to address the majority of the outstanding traffic calming review locations in the short term. At the end of this three (3} year contract, existing staff would then continue on addressing all traffic calming reviews in the long term. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Impact On Current Traffic Calming Budget Engineering Services -Transportation Planning is provided with $100,000 annually through the capital budget. This $100,000 funds the proposed measures for the 3-4 traffic calming reviews completed each year. Therefore, in order to increase the number of traffic calming reviews conducted each year, this funding would also have to increase. Reassign Staff Duties • $70,000 per year to conduct traffic counts • 1 to 2 additional traffic calming reviews executed each year. • $30,000 to $60,000 per year to implement measures of additional reviews. -8- Contract Out Traffic Calming Reviews To Consultants • $60,000 per year to hire consultant ($15,000 per review} • $70,000 per year to conduct traffic counts (reassigned work} • 4 additional traffic calming reviews executed each year • $100,000 per year to implement measures of additional reviews. Hire Additional Staff • $80,000 per year to hire three (3} year contract position • 6-8 additional traffic calming reviews executed each year • $150,000 to $200,000 per year to implement measures of additional reviews. John McBride, Director Ken Carmichael, C.E.T. Transportation Planning Supervisor of Traffic and Parking Transportation Planning KC Attachment -Traffic Calming Priority Listing