Public Works & Transportation Report: TRAFFIC CONCERNS ON RUDYARD AND STORMONT ROADS

TRAFFIC CONCERNS ON RUDYARD AND STORMONT ROADS DUE TO LEFT TURNS FROM HELMCKEN ROAD

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT Council makes no significant changes concerning the traffic on Rudyard and Stormont due to the left turns from Helmcken;

And That Council direct staff to install more noticeable signage on both Helmcken Road and Rudyard Road emphasizing the "no left turn" signs;

And That Council continues to ask the RCMP to place a concerted effort on enforcement on the illegal turning movement.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER'S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To present options for consideration to address the concern of vehicles taking the shortcut from Helmcken Road to Island Highway via Rudyard and Stormont Roads.

BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:

It has been reported that a significant number of vehicles are making left turns onto Rudyard Road from Helmcken Road when the turning movement is specifically signed to disallow that turn from 6:30am to 8:15am. Westshore RCMP has made attempts to address the issue with random ticketing but the illegal turns continue to occur.

A traffic Study was conducted by Boulevard Transportation utilizing both a manual count (1day) and Automatic counts (8 days). An annotated summary of those results is below:

RUDYARD ROAD

• Total Average Vehicles per week day = 724
• Typical Speed (85th percentile) = 25 to 30 KMH
• Highest morning 1/2 hr. Vehicle volume = 55
• Highest morning 1/2 hr. Shortcut Vehicle volume = 36
• 6:00-9:00 am Peak Vehicle Volume = 130
• 6:00-9:00 am Peak Shortcut Vehicles = 85
• Highest Afternoon Peak 1/2 hr. School Traffic volume = 31

STORMONT ROAD

• Total Average Vehicles per week day = 774
• Typical Speed (85th percentile) = 35 to 40 KMH
• Highest morning 1/2 hr. Vehicle volume = 61
• Highest morning 1/2 hr. Shortcut Vehicle volume = 36
• 6:00-9:00 am Peak Volumes Vehicles = 174
• 6:00-9:00 am Peak Shortcut Vehicles = 85
• Highest Afternoon Peak 1/2 hr. School Traffic volume = 34

An invitation to attend the open house and to solicit comments was delivered to the impacted neighbourhoods of just over 100 residences and View Royal Elementary School. A public open house was conducted on March 26, 2015 over 40 residents attended and 61 comments were received. In addition staff met with the Principal of View Royal Elementary School and discussed options as well as an option of creating an extra entrance within the school parking lot to create a loop for parents to drive in and out utilizing separate entrances. To date we have not received any feedback from the School.

An overview summary of the preferred solutions as submitted by the residents is listed below in the table:

In reviewing options, there are a number of issues to consider, including but not limited to the use of Rudyard Road by many parents to drop off/pick up children for school; use of Rudyard and Stormont Roads by local residents, Westshore residents for their own commuting and daily tasks; and that any changes considered will impact other roadways and neighbourhoods.

There are several options available — as listed below (Details of pros and cons as well as costs are attached):

1. Make Rudyard Road a one-way road & create parking ($25,000): This option would utilize signage to convert Rudyard Road into a one-way road westbound (i.e., towards Helmcken Road). The road width would be narrowed just east of Helmcken Road to reinforce the one-way restriction.

2. Full closure of Rudyard Road at Stormont Road ($20,000): This option would physically close Rudyard Road at Stormont Road. All traffic for View Royal Elementary School and the residences on Rudyard Road would only be able to utilize Rudyard Road, and all traffic for Glenairlie Drive, Suzanne Place, Abinger Place, Brian Place and Abinger Place would only be able to utilize Stormont Road.

3. Partial diverter (barrier) on Rudyard Road at Stormont Road ($15,000): This option would place a physical barrier to partially close Rudyard Road at Stormont Road. The partial barrier would close the eastbound exit from Rudyard Road onto Stormont Road, but would still permit left and right turning movements onto Rudyard Road from Stormont Road and the Glenairlie neighbourhood.

4. Partial diverter (barrier) on Rudyard Road at Helmcken Road ($15,000): This option would place a physical barrier on Rudyard Road to restrict left and right turn access to Rudyard Road from Helmcken Road, but allow westbound traffic to exit from Rudyard Road onto Helmcken Road.

5. Signal timing changes at the Island Highway and Stormont Road intersection ($5,500): This option would adjust the signal timing at the Island Highway and Stormont Road intersection to further increase the waiting time for the green signal for vehicles on Stormont Road to make a left turn onto Island Highway.

6. Leave No Left Turn signs up as currently and make no other changes ($0): This option would leave the signs up as they currently are and the RCMP would continue periodic enforcement.

There were six options for people to choose however we did receive several other options as well. The other options suggested included;

• Additional enforcement (17)
• Cameras (9)
• Additional Speed humps/modify existing speed humps (15- 10 from Stormont residences)

Although there were a significant amount of options listed for residents to choose and thru the process it was evident that the first choice of the respondents was to make no changes, several other options were suggested.

The report from Boulevard illustrates that for the most part speed is not a problem nor is there a significant volume of total daily traffic compared to the typical local road. It is evident that the "perfect" solution does not exist and that the ability to eliminate cut thru traffic is problematic for several reasons. Any potential solution that actually has an effect will likely impact other local roads (Pheasant Lane, Burnett Road, and Jedburgh Road) detrimentally. It should be noted that currently only Burnett has speed humps. The attempt to alleviate the problem has the potential to create a similar type of difficulty on these local streets.

BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:

The 2015 Budget currently has $20,000 allocated towards a solution.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT Council makes no significant changes concerning the traffic on Rudyard and Stormont due to the left turns from Helmcken;

And That Council direct staff to install more noticeable signage on both Helmcken Road and Rudyard Road emphasizing the "no left turn" signs;

And That Council continues to ask the RCMP to place a concerted effort on enforcement on the illegal turning movement.

ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATION:

THAT Council adds one speed hump to Stormont Road;

And THAT Council direct staff to increase the left turn signal timing on Stormont Road entering Island Highway from 6:30 am to 8:30 am Monday to Friday;

And That Council direct staff to install signs to make motorists aware of this intentional change.

SUBMITTED BY: John Rosenberg, Director of Engineering

REVIEWED BY: Kim Anema, Chief Administrative Officer