Report To: Community Services Committee Item: Date of Report: CS-11-13 January 12,201 1 From: Bob Duignan File: Date of Meeting: City Manager D-1100 January 20,2011 Subject: Craig Kelly, Director Works and Transportation Services Rural Speed Limits PUBLIC REPORT 1.0 PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to respond to a request from Mr. Fred Engelage to place six additional 50 kmlh speed limit signs on Coates Road West between Simcoe Street and Thornton Road and to review the speed limits in the rural area of the City. 2.0 RECOMMENDATION That the Community Services Committee recommend to City Council: That Mr. Fred Engelage be provided with a copy of Report CS-11-13, "Rural Speed Limits" dated January 13, 2011, and advised that the current posted speed limits on the rural roads in Oshawa and specifically for Coates Road West between Simcoe Street and Thornton Road respect the safe operating speeds based on the geometric conditions of the roadway and meet Provincial signing standards. 3.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In 2006, Council approved Report 0s-06-165 "Highway Traffic Act Amendment Regarding Speed Limits on Rural Roads". This report highlighted that the posted speed limits respect safe operating speeds based on the geometric conditions of the roadways. Staff have been asked to review this criteria again and report back. Staff confirm that the safe operating speeds established in accordance with the recommendations contained in Report 0s-06-165 are still appropriate and do not recommend any changes. 4.0 INPUT FROM OTHER SOURCES 4.1 General P Staff have discussed this issue with Durham Regional Police who are in agreement that the current speed limits recognize the safe operating speeds for the geometric conditions of rural roadways within the City.
Report to the Community Item: CS-11-13 Services Committee (Continued) -2- Meeting Date: January 20,201 I 4.2 Auditor General 9 The Auditor General has no comments. 5.0 ANALYSIS 9 At its meeting of August 31, 2010, the Community Services Committee referred correspondence CS-10-170 dated August 19, 201 0 (Attachment 1) to staff for a report. The correspondence from Mr. Fred Engelage requested that six additional 50 kmlh speed limit signs be placed on Coates Road West between Simcoe Street and Thornton Road and further that staff undertake a review of the speed limits in the rural area. 5.1 Report 0s-06-165 9 Report 0s-06-165 dated June 19, 2006, "Highway Traffic Act Amendment Regarding Speed Limits on Rural Roads" outlined the rationale for speed limits for rural roadways within the City. > A copy of Report 0s-06-165 is appended as Attachment 2. 9 Since the implementation of these speed limits in 2006, staff have received occasional inquiries and some suggestions that the current speed limit is too low. 9 Staff have explained, as indicated in the report, that the vertical profile of the road requires these lower speed limits in order for drivers to have adequate safe stopping distance and this is based on national road safety engineering standards. 9 The conclusions contained in this report confirm that the current posted speed limits on the rural roads are appropriate. 5.2 Additional Speed Limit Signs on Coates Road 9 Mr. Fred Engelage requested that six additional 50 kmlh speed limit signs be placed on Coates Road between Simcoe Street and Thornton Road. > There are currently seven speed limit signs on the subject section of Coates Road in addition to the information sign at the City boundary which indicates that the speed limit in Oshawa is 50 kmlh unless otherwise posted. 9 Staff have reviewed the speed limit signing and confirmed it exceeds the requirements of the Highway Traffic Act and Ontario Traffic Manual and therefore no additional signing is recommended.
Report to the Community Item: CS-11-13 Services Committee (Continued) -3- Meeting Date: January 20,2011 6.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 9 There are no financial implications resulting from the recommendations contained in this report. 7.0 RESPONSE TO THE COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN 9 This report addresses Goal C: "A Caring and Responsive CommunityJ' of the Community Strategic Plan by investigating traffic concerns. City
CS-I 0-1 70 s. 14(1), MunicipalFreedom ofinformation and Pmtecfjon From: Fred Engelage j Of P'uacy Sent: Thursday, August 19,2010 10:58 AM To: John Gray Cc: John Neal Subject: Request for more speed limit signs on Coates Road West Item: CS-I 1-13 Attachment 1 Dear Mayor Gray: Iwould like to request another six speed limit signs placed on Coates Road West between Simcoe Street and Thornton Road. The ones at each end of this section should be over site speed limit signs like those used for the hamlet of Cadmus in Scugog township. People drive along Coates Road West like it is the Mosport race track. We often see cars travelling in excess of 80 KM and on occasion over 100 KM. Most people Ispeak to think the speed limit is 80 KPvl because of the poor speed limit signage on the road. Even a Find of mine who has been a DR police officer for over 20 years in Durham was surprised when Itold him it was only 50 KM. He thought it was $0 KM and he travels the road often. Ihave communicated my feelings before that the speed limit on rural roads in Oshawa should be 60 KM like Whitby, Scugog and other local municipalities. For some unknown reason Oshawa feels they need to be different. Idon't get it!!! Why!!! It just confuses the driving public. Every time Ihave communicated this concern to you it has fallen on deaf ears. Ijust seem to get stonewalled. At least your staff should tell me to go pound sand or something rather than just ignore my request. I'm sure they think that are a lot smarter than I am so maybe they have some great insight as to why Oshawa drivers should drive at 50 KM while every other municipality goes 60 KM. Perhaps we have a lot of bad drivers in Oshawa??? But if that is the case we better reduce speed limits inside the city of Oshawa proper to 50 KM since there is much more traffic and pedestrians there than there is on our rural roads. Or maybe drivers in the city are better than country drivers??? Obviously we are not very smart up here on Coates Road as we get screwed by the City on our taxes...but that's another story. Sorry for ranting... In any case you need to improve the signage on Coates Road West. Preferably at 60 KM. Thank you for your attention to this matter, Sincerely, Fred Engelage S. q4{1),municipal Freedom of - lnfomration and Protection of Privacy Act
Item: CS-11-13 Attachment 2 Report From: Subject: Item: Date of Report: Operational Services Committee 0s-06-165 June 19,2006 Commissioner, File: Date of Meeting: Department of Operational Services D-1100 June 26,2006 Highway Traffic Act Amendment Regarding Speed Limits Ward: 7 on Rural Roads 1.0 BACKGROUND The Provincial government recently amended the Highway Traffic Act (HTA), requiring municipalities to sign and by-law all rural roads that have 80 kmlh speed limits. At its meeting of January 30, 2006, the Operational Services Committee considered Report 0s-06-13 titled "Highway Traffic Act Regarding Speed Limits on Rural Roads Amendment" and referred it to staff for further investigation. The purpose of this report is to inform Committee and Council of the amendment to the HTA and to recommend amendments to the City's Traffic By-law 79-99 to maintain 80 kmlh speed limits on rural roads within Oshawa and to recommend adjustments to speed limits based on the safe design speed for the roadway. 2.0 INPUT FROM OTHER SOURCES Staff have discussed this provincial amendment with staff of other Durham municipalities. Several other municipalities are proceeding with reports to their respective Council's and intend to begin sign installation in the fall of 2006. Staff from Engineering Services have assisted in the evaluation of road sections for this report. 3.0 ANALYSIS The amendment made to Section 128.1 of the HTA states the following: 128.1 No person shall drive a motor vehicle at a rate of speed greater than, a) 50 kilometres per hour on a highway within a local municipality or within a built-up area; and b) Despite clause (a), 80 kilometres per hour on a highway, not within a built-up area, that is within a local municipality that had the status of a township on December 3 1, 2002 and, but for the enactment of the Municipal Act, 2001, would have had the status of a township on January 1, 2003, if the municipality is prescribed by regulation,
Report to the Operational Services Item: 0s-06-165 Committee (Continued) -2- Meeting Date: June 26,2006 unless a by-law is passed under subsection (2), (4), (5) or (6) or a regulation is made under subsection (7) prescribing a different rate of speed. Prior to this HTA amendment all unsigned rural roads in Oshawa had an assumed speed limit of 80 km/h. This limit did not need to be signed or by-lawed. The new amendment requires that any road with a speed limit other than 50 km/h be signed and supported by corresponding by-laws. Most of the rural roads in Oshawa were transfened from East Whitby Township years ago and little information was available concerning the engineering parameters that impact the selection of an appropriate speed limit. Consequently, staff have reviewed the centre line profile of all rural roads within the municipality. The centreline profile is a key criteria in determining a safe speed limit. Within the City's rural area, most of the roads had 80 km/h speed limits with the exception of some more densely populated areas where the speed limits have been reduced. The recent review revealed that a speed limit of 80 km/h would be inappropriate on the majority of road sections based on road geometrics. These conditions include width, surface type, geometrics, roadside hazards, continuity, classification and length. The rural roads whose design characteristics support a speed limit greater that 50 km/h are shown in the table below with the recommended speed limit. Proposed Speed Limit Road Section 60 km/h Thornton Road North from Conlin Road West to Columbus Road West. 60 km/h Townline Road from Taunton Road East to Conlin Road East. 80 km/h Thornton Road North from Columbus Road West to Raglan Road West. The balance of the roads within the City will have a speed limit of 50 km/h and do not require signing under the Highway Traffic Act. However, since this is a significant change from what most drivers are used to, this amendment will require significant advertising to inform the public. It is recommended that an ad be placed in the newspaper, notification be placed on the City website and that all entrances to the city be posted with signs indicating that, unless otherwise posted, all roads within the City are 50 km/h. Currently there are 25 existing signs that inform the public of the 3 hour parking limit and the commercial vehicle parking on residential streets, and these signs would be replaced with similar signs with the 50 km/h speed limit information added. An additional 10 new signs would be required in the northern area of the City. 4.0 RESPONSE TO THE COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN This report addresses Goal B "A Green and Sustainable Community" supporting improved pedestrian and road safety.
Report to the Operational Services Item: 0s-06-165 Committee (Continued) -3- Meeting Date: June 26,2006 5.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS The cost to acquire and install the 45 boundary signs is estimated at $15,000. These finds are not available within the current operating budget and therefore it is recommended that 10 new signs be installed around the boundary of the rural area at an estimated cost of $3,300. This can be accommodated in the 2006 current operating budget. The cost to upgrade the remaining 35 entry signs will be in the Department's 2007 budget submission at an estimated cost of $1 1,700. 6.0 CONCLUSION The HTA has been amended by the Province and now states that all roads within a municipality such as Oshawa, including rural routes, have an assumed speed limit of 50 W h unless otherwise posted and by-lawed. This change has led to a comprehensive review of the safe design speeds of all rural roadways within the City and recommended amendments to speed limits to match the design conditions of these roads. 7.0 RECOMMENDED ACTION That the Operational Services Committee recommend to City Council: 1. That all rural roads in the City of Oshawa north of, and including, Conlin Road have a speed limit of 50 kmlh with the exception of the following: a) Thomton Road North from Conlin Road West to Columbus Road West is recommended to have a speed limit of 60 W h; b) Thornton Road North from Columbus Road West to Raglan Road West is recommended to have a speed limit of 80 W h; c) Townline Road North from Taunton Road East to Conlin Road East is recommended to have a speed limit of 60 W h. 2. That By-law 79-99, as amended, be further amended to incorporate the speed limit changes in recommendation #1 of this report; and 3. That a copy of report 0s-06-165 be sent to the Durham Regional Police Service. Original Signed By: Craig Kelly, PTOE, P. Eng. Director Transportation & Parking Services Department of Operational Services Original Signed By: Craig Kelly FOR Stan Bertoia Commissioner Department of Operational Services