HomeMy WebLinkAboutDTS-07-146 - Traffic Calming - Bradley Drive1
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Development&
Technical Services
REPORT
Report To: Development and Technical Services Committee
Date of Meeting: 2007 September 24
Submitted By: John McBride, Director of Transportation Planning
Prepared By: Dennis Lopes, Traffic Technologist (741-2369)
Wards} Involved: Chicopee -Grand River Ward (2)
Date of Report: 2007 August 31
Report No.: DTS 07-146
Subject: TRAFFIC CALMING -BRADLEY DRIVE
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That a raised pedestrian crosswalk with curb extensions be installed on Bradley Drive at
the intersection of Bradley Place, and further;
That two (2) speed humps be installed on Bradley Drive between Franklin Street North
and River Road East.
BACKGROUND:
Traffic volume and speeding are significant safety related issues frequently raised by residents
of affected neighbourhoods in the City of Kitchener. In response to these issues, Kitchener City
Council adopted a Traffic Calming Policy in 2004 and established an annual budget to address
traffic management issues in residential neighbourhoods. The traffic calming policy outlines a
number of evaluation criteria that provide a fair and consistent review of streets and
communities, while defining and prioritizing the individual streets and/or communities that are
most in need of traffic calming, from a traffic safety perspective.
Transportation Planning has received requests from residents of the Bradley Drive Community
on numerous occasions in the past to review the existing traffic conditions on Bradley Drive.
According to the concerns indicated, traffic is using Bradley Drive as a short-cut to avoid
congestion on Ottawa Street North, and that this traffic is speeding, creating concerns regarding
pedestrian safety.
In response to these requests, the City of Kitchener has reviewed the existing traffic conditions on
Bradley Drive and in November 2005, a traffic calming review was initiated for Bradley Drive with
the intent to reduce vehicle speeds, deter non residential traffic from the area and reduce the
incidence of collisions, thereby increasing safety for all users within the right of way.
As part of the traffic calming review, the City of Kitchener has been working with the Region of
Waterloo to improve the traffic control signal timings along the Ottawa Street and River Road
corridor to improve the capacity and flow of traffic in order to reduce the non residential traffic
from using Bradley Drive.
REPORT
Bradley Drive runs from Franklin Street North to River Road East and is designated as a local
roadway. The function of Bradley Drive is to generally serve only the abutting properties and is
not intended to carry through traffic. The unposted speed limit is 50 km/h as outlined within the
City of Kitchener Uniform Traffic Control By-law 2000-159.
On March 29, 2006 our study team held its first public meeting to discuss traffic issues and
concerns on Bradley Drive and possible approaches to developing solutions. Traffic volume,
traffic speeds and pedestrian safety were identified as the main concerns. The existing traffic
conditions as discussed in the first meeting are as follows:
Automated Volume & Speed Studies
For the weeks of August 23-29, 2005 and October 25-31, 2006 volume and speed studies were
conducted on Bradley Drive from Franklin Street North to River Road East at two separate
locations. The following data was recorded:
Location AADT 85t Percentile
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Bradley_Drive_btwn Askin_ Place__________
-- -- - - -------------------------------------------
_______ 2156_veh/day________ ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Northbound - 53.5 km/hr
---------------------------------------------------------------------
_& Midland Drive ~Au~ust,_2005)
------------------------------- ----- - ----------
------------------------------------------- Southbound - 53.0 km/hr
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drive
Bradley
btwn
Bradley
Place -------------------------------------------
2360
veh/day ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Northbound - 53.7 km/hr
_
_
_
_
_
______
_& Viewmont Close (Au~ust,_2005~_
------------------------------------- ----- - ---- _______
_
________
------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Southbound - 52.9 km/hr
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Bradley_Drive_at_Bradley_Place___________ -------------------------------------------
_______ 2531__veh/day________ ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Northbound - 53.2 km/hr
-------------------------------------------------------------------
October 2 ~
______,_ _006 _________ _______ Southbound- 55.5 km/hr________________
Bradley Drive is designated as a local roadway. The expected AADT for a local roadway is 2000
vehicles/per day, therefore the traffic volumes along this stretch of roadway are above the
expected range for a local roadway. The 85th percentile speed is similar to other local roadways
with similar characteristics.
Collision Anal,r~sis
The collision history was reviewed for Bradley Drive from Franklin Street North to River Road
East. There were eleven reported collisions on Bradley Drive from January 2002 to December
2006.
The collision history on Bradley Drive shows a pattern where five (5) of the eleven collisions
involved vehicles losing control along the curved sections, two (2) of these vehicles lost control
due to the weather conditions. There were three (3) collisions at intersections which
crossed Bradley Drive; two were rear end collisions, and one a vehicle failed to yield right of
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way. Also, the three (3) remaining collisions involved vehicles entering or exiting their
driveways.
Origin /Destination Study
An originldestination study was conducted for Bradley Drive between Franklin Street North and
River Road East on Wednesday, June 9, 2005. The study consisted of traffic personnel
recording license plate numbers at Bradley Drive & Franklin Street North, Bradley Drive &
Midland Drive and Bradley Drive & River Road East for the time period of 7:30 a.m. to 10:30
a.m.,12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The study results indicate in the AM peak period there were a total of 252 vehicles out of 536
(47%) considered being cut-through traffic on Bradley Drive. In the Mid-Day peak period 132
vehicles out of 262 (50%) were cut-through traffic. It was recorded in the PM peak period that
there were 295 vehicles out of 568 (52%) using Bradley Drive as cut-through. The study
confirms that there is a significant cut through problem on Bradley Drive between Franklin Street
North and River Road East as 50% of the traffic on Bradley Drive is cut-through traffic.
Community Response
Based on the analysis of existing traffic, public input and the City of Kitchener's Traffic Calming
Policy, five (5) potential alternatives, comprised of a number of measures of varying degree,
were considered, including "do nothing" (the "do nothing" alternative is required as part of any
formal traffic calming review). These alternatives were then evaluated by the project team based
on a number of social, natural and economic criteria to develop a preferred option. The attached
chart outlines the evaluation of the criteria. The following is a list of the alternatives considered:
• A series of three speed humps -speed humps are vertical deflections in the roadway
that force vehicles to slow down to negotiate the humps.
• Two centre median islands at the intersections of Franklin Street North and River Road
East. -Centre median islands would prohibit specific turning movements onto Bradley
Drive, reducing the cut-through traffic.
• A road closure at the intersection of River Road East - A road closure is a barrier
extending the entire width of the roadway, which obstructs all vehicles traffic movements
from continuing along the roadway.
• Two intersection narrowings and one raised crosswalk -raised crosswalks are vertical
deflections in the roadway, along with a narrowed roadway, which forces vehicles to
slow down when negotiating the crosswalk.
• Do nothing.
A second public meeting was held on June 12, 2007 to present the alternatives, the advantages
and disadvantages of each alternative, and to present the preferred alternative as determined
by the steering committee. Attendees were asked to provide any comments before a
recommended plan was developed.
In response to further input received at the 2nd public meeting, the preferred alternative was
revised to include a raised crosswalk with curb extensions, instead of a speed hump, on Bradley
Drive at Bradley Place. This improvement to the recommended plan will provide safer
pedestrian conditions in the area that access the rear of Franklin Public School, while still
providing a measure to reduce vehicle speeds.
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On August 8, 2007, Transportation Planning mailed a survey to all residentslproperty owners
that abut or are adjacent to Bradley Drive, as well as to any other parties that had indicated
interest in the study, outlining the recommended plan.
The intent of the survey was to determine if there is sufficient support for the implementation of
the recommended measures. As per the City of Kitchener Traffic Calming policy, a minimum of
50% of directly affected residents/property owners must respond to the survey and 60% of the
respondents must support the recommended plan, in order for any further consideration of the
plan.
There were a total of 62 properties surveyed within the boundaries of the study area. The
results of the survey are as follows:
In favour of the recommended plan 44 (88%)
Opposed to the recommended plan 6 (12%)
Total: 50 out of 62 responded (81 %)
Therefore, the Bradley Drive traffic calming study has met the minimum required community
support as outlined in the City of Kitchener Traffic Calming policy. The measures recommended
for Bradley Drive can be considered good traffic engineering in that they address the concerns
regarding reducing the non residential traffic on Bradley Drive and pedestrian safety.
As part of the traffic calming study the recommended traffic calming plan was distributed to all
affected agencies for their commentslconcerns. Responses were received Waterloo Regional
Police Services, City of Kitchener Operations Services and City of Kitchener Fire Services. The
following is a synopsis of their comments:
• Waterloo Regional Police Services - No concerns.
• City of Kitchener Operations -Concerns with icing at the base of vertical deflections
which results in extra salting at the base of any vertical deflection. The curb extensions
are difficult to plough around and will slow ploughing in the area. This extra attention
required will add to the cost and time taken to conduct winter maintenance.
• Emergency Medical Services - No concerns.
• City of Kitchener Fire Services -Opposed to any vertical deflection due to increased
response times and concerns regarding vehicle maintenance. Additionally, Fire advises
that all roadways be designed to meet the requirements of the OBC (Ontario Building
Code} and the City of Kitchener Urban Design Guideline Manual.
Should Council endorse the Recommended Plan, all proposed traffic calming measures are
expected to be installed in the fall of 2007.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The cost to install a raised pedestrian crosswalk with curb extensions and two (2) speed humps
is approximately $25,000. This cost will be taken from the existing traffic calming budget.
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COMMUNICATIONS:
This project has had extensive public involvement and communication. It has included two
public information centres, newspaper notices, a comment form and a survey, as well as the
use ofweb-based communication through the City's website.
CONCLUSION:
The recommended plan, which recommends the installation of two (2) speed humps and one (1)
raised crosswalk with curb extension, provides the best technical solution to problems indicated
through the traffic calming study. Transportation Planning feels that the recommendations
improve general traffic conditions, as well as improved pedestrian safety specifically for the
Franklin Public School children, as well as for all users of Bradley Drive.
John McBride, Director
Transportation Planning
Dennis Lopes, Traffic Technologist
Transportation Planning
DL
Attach.
Ken Carmichael, C.E.T.
Supervisor of Traffic & Parking
5
BRADLEY DRIVE TRAFFIC CALMING
PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE
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