Installation of Speed Humps
-Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue;
Scarborough Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue
and Kingswood Road from Kingston Road
to Bracken Avenue (East Toronto)
The Toronto Community Council recommends that:(1) approval be given to alter sections of the roadway on Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue; Scarborough Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue and Kingswood Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue for traffic calming purposes as described below, with implementation subject to favourable results of the polling of affected residents pursuant to the policy related to speed hump installation as adopted by the former City of Toronto Council:
(a) the construction of speed humps on Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue, generally as shown on the attached print of Drawing No. 421F-5739, dated June 2000;
(b) the construction of speed humps on Scarborough Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue, generally as shown on the attached print of Drawing No. 421F-5740, dated June 2000;
(c) the construction of speed humps on Kingswood Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue, generally as shown on the attached print of Drawing No. 421F-5741, dated June 2000;
(2) the speed limit be reduced from 40 km/h to 30 km/h coincident with the implementation of speed humps and as legislation permits on:
(a) Silver Birch Avenue, from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue; (b) Scarborough Road, from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue; (c) Kingswood Road, from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue; and
(3) the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take whatever action is necessary to implement the foregoing, including the introduction in Council of any Bills that are required, subject to review in the 2001 budget process.
The Toronto Community Council submits the following report (August 31, 2000) from the Director, Transportation Services District 1:
Purpose:
To report on the feasibility and appropriateness of installing speed humps on Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue; Scarborough Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue and Kingswood Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue.
Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
There are no financial implications resulting from the adoption of this report. Recommendation:
It is recommended that this report be received for information. Comments:
At the request of Councillor Tom Jakobek, staff of Transportation Services reviewed and evaluated the relative need for the installation of speed humps on Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue, Scarborough Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue and Kingswood Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue.
Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue operates two-way with a pavement width of 7.3 metres. Scarborough Road and Kingswood Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue operate two-way with a pavement width of 8.5 metres. The speed limit on these streets is forty kilometres per hour. Each of the subject streets was evaluated against the criteria for the installation of speed humps as set out in the policy established by the former City of Toronto Council in August 1997. The relevant traffic volume, speed profile, technical data and evaluation for each street is shown in the following table and outlined in further detail below.
Speed Profile Criteria Satisfied Street Ave. Daily Volume Average 85 th Percentile Road Grade Primary Secondary Speed Hump Installation Justified Silver Birch Avenue 1010 40 km/h 50 km/h 1.46 % Yes Yes No Scarborough Road 1040 43 km/h 51 km/h 1.29 % Yes No No Kingswood Road 800 42 km/h 52 km/h 1.60 % No No No
Kingswood Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue does not satisfy the primary criteria for the installation of speed humps (less than 1000 vehicles a day). Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue and Scarborough Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue satisfy the primary criteria and were further reviewed in accordance with the secondary criteria using a technical screening mechanism to evaluate the relative need for speed humps.
At the secondary criteria evaluation stage, point values are assigned to each street based on current traffic conditions, vehicle speed percentages, pertinent collision data (obtained through the Toronto Police Services’ collision report records) and abutting land uses. Each street could potentially receive up to a maximum of 100 points. A street requires at least 30 points to justify
further consideration for the installation speed humps. The point accumulation for these streets was:
a) Silver Birch Avenue 33 points b) Scarborough Road 22 points
This assessment disclosed that further consideration of speed humps is not justified on the subject section of Scarborough Road.
The operating speed of traffic (85th Percentile) is indicative of the typical operating characteristics of a roadway and is a key factor in evaluating a speed complaint. Generally, this factor determines if the installation of traffic calming/speed mitigation measures is justified. Although Silver Birch Avenue satisfies the minimal numerical criteria for the installation of speed humps and the installation of speed humps would reduce excessive speeding on this street (incidents in excess of 55 km/h, currently about 6% of the total traffic), the speed profile reflects an operating speed of 50 kilometres per hour, which is typical of many local streets in Toronto and can reasonably be expected, notwithstanding the 40 kilometres per hour maximum speed limit.
Notwithstanding, we have developed speed hump proposals for these streets and if Toronto Community Council wishes to pursue the installation of speed humps on Silver Birch Avenue, from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue, Scarborough Road, from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue and Kingswood Road, from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue, it will be necessary for Toronto Community Council to adopt the following recommendations:
(1) Approval be given to alter sections of the roadway on Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue; Scarborough Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue and Kingswood Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue for traffic calming purposes as described below, with implementation subject to favourable results of the polling of affected residents pursuant to the policy related to speed hump installation as adopted by the former City of Toronto Council:
(a) the construction of speed humps on Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue, generally as shown on the attached print of Drawing No. 421F-5739, dated June 2000;
(b) the construction of speed humps on Scarborough Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue, generally as shown on the attached print of Drawing No. 421F-5740, dated June 2000;
(c) the construction of speed humps on Kingswood Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue, generally as shown on the attached print of Drawing No. 421F-5741, dated June 2000;
(2) The speed limit be reduced from 40 km/h to 30 km/h coincident with the implementation of speed humps and as legislation permits on:
(a) Silver Birch Avenue, from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue; (b) Scarborough Road, from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue; (c) Kingswood Road, from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue; and
(3) The appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take whatever action is necessary to implement the foregoing, including the introduction in Council of any Bills that are required, subject to review in the 2001 budget process.
The estimated cost of installing speed humps on the street segments outlined would be approximately $20,000.00. Funds to undertake the cost of installing any speed humps on these streets would be included in the Transportation Services Division 2001 Capital Budget request. We note that the introduction of speed humps would result in lower operating speeds for all vehicles, including emergency vehicles, resulting in somewhat increased response times. However, traffic volume on each of these streets is at a level expected on a local street and the implementation of speed humps is unlikely to have a significant influence on reducing cut-through traffic.
In accordance with the current Speed Hump Policy, a formal poll must be conducted of adults (18 years of age and older), whose residences abut each street where the installation of speed humps is proposed. Under this policy, at least 60 percent of the returned ballots must be in favour of the installation of speed humps in order to proceed with the installation.
The installation of speed humps on Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue; Scarborough Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue and Kingswood Road from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue would constitute an alteration to a public highway pursuant to the provisions of the Municipal Act.
This work is pre-approved in accordance with Schedule A of the Class Environmental Assessment for Municipal Road Projects.
Given the processes that must be followed, including the requisite follow-up report from staff on the poll results and deputation hearing before Toronto Community Council, this matter cannot be concluded within this term of Council. Therefore, arrangements would have to be made to complete the approval process for this initiative early in 2001.
Conclusions:
Transportation Services reviewed the need to install speed humps on Silver Birch Avenue, from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue, Scarborough Road and Kingswood Road, from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue to deter incidence of speeding and possibly reduce cut-through traffic on these local streets.
Our assessment disclosed that Scarborough Road, from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue and Kingswood Road, from Kingston Road to Bracken Avenue do not satisfy the evaluation criteria
for the installation of speed humps. Silver Birch Avenue from Kingston Road to Pine Avenue numerically satisfies the evaluation criteria, however, operating speeds on this street are typical of many local streets in Toronto.
Based on our findings, the installation of speed humps is not warranted on these streets. Contact:
John Crocco, Senior Traffic Investigator, District 1 (East) Telephone: 392-7771, Fax: 392-0816, E-mail: jcrocco@city.toronto.on.ca
