REQUEST FOR ZEBRA CROSSINGS TO BE PAINTED ON THE ROAD AT THE SENECA AND OSSINGTON INTERSECTION

DEMANDE EN VUE DE PEINDRE UN PASSAGE PIÉTONS SUR LA CHAUSSÉE À L’INTERSECTION DE LA RUE SENECA ET DE L’AVENUE OSSINGTON

ACS2007-CCS-TRC-0015 capital (17)

Councillor Doucet introduced this item, explaining that Seneca and Ossington is a quiet residential neighbourhood in Old Ottawa South. The zebra markings are being requested because a new children’s park has been put in, known as the Rotary Park, which is well-used by people from all across the City, making this area a very busy area, and the City has not made any change to the area signage to indicate the new park.

Michael Flainek, Director of Traffic and Parking Operations, and John Buck, Manager, Traffic Management, Public Works and Services provided a PowerPoint Presentation, a copy of which is held on file with the City Clerk. Mr. Flainek articulated it is the staff position that the intersection in question does not warrant zebra crossings at this time, but that staff will be pleased to do as Committee and Council direct.

Patricia Bongard-Godfrey, a resident of Ossington Avenue, stated that she does not dispute the traffic figures presented by staff, not having done a traffic count herself, but she explained that she lives and works on Ossington and wanted to give a ‘common sense’, not statistical presentation. She provided a PowerPoint Presentation on behalf of Councillor Doucet, portraying traffic images from the area in question to demonstrate her concerns. She explained that the Rotary Park is the result of a very significant overhaul and is a very busy park, its features including Brewer Pool, Brewer Arena, a private school (Westboro Academy), Brewer Pond, waterfront canoe access, accessible playground and water park features, an area for dog-walkers, and is the site of many public events. She explained that the park area is roughly the size of Lansdowne Park or Dow’s Lake. She pointed out that cars that want to avoid Sunnyside and Bank are using Seneca to come southbound to get over to Bank Street, so there is more than local traffic using this area. She noted there is signage in place saying one cannot drive north on Seneca, but cars park northbound on the street after making a U-turn and backing up, and she felt it is not appropriate for such a sign to be located beside a park when it is never enforced. She asked that the City put in place some measures to make the cars slow down in this area, including proper street signage indicating direction along Ossington, and signage to indicate the existence of the park.

Councillor Doucet suggested that the last slide in the staff PowerPoint Presentation was misleading, as it did not indicate that Seneca and Ossington is a major crosswalk into the City’s largest children’s park, and that it is often crowded. He explained that while local traffic may know to slow down for the intersection because of the park, non-local traffic might not because there is no signage to indicate that you are coming to a park as you travel that route. He felt that zebra markings on both sides and proper park signage would really help clarify that to drivers.

The Councillor acknowledged that problems exist in every ward that require attention and he understood that some Councillors might see his request as queue jumping, but he felt there are certain situations in each ward that really stand out and require more immediate action, such as this one.

Mr. Flainek responded that a request was made to staff in this instance to install zebra markings, which staff does not feel are warranted, but in listening to the delegation’s and the Councillor’s comments today, he got the impression that signage was really the problem. He suggested therefore that staff need to conduct a review of the existing signage and review the area to see what improvements could be made in that regard. He articulated that it is important for Councillors to divulge what the problem is when making such requests, and not to just request a specific measure, because it may not be what is actually required to solve the problem.

Chair McRae questioned whether staff had provided any feedback to Councillor Doucet in the aforementioned regard. Mr. Flainek clarified that they have responded to the request that was made by Councillor Doucet, which was to have zebra markings installed.

Councillor Bloess questioned the delegation as to whether her main concern is with the cars that sometimes drive the wrong way down Ossington or with getting pedestrians across to the park safely. She responded there are multiple problems but what they want is for the cars to stop for pedestrians and to know when they are going down the street the wrong way. She added that Councillor Doucet had requested the zebra markings because it seemed like a reasonable way to address the problem because, as she understood, staff had refused to install additional signage in the area because they felt there was already appropriate signage in place.

Councillor Bloess inquired whether there is currently a three-way stop at that intersection, which Ms. Bongard-Godfrey confirmed.

Councillor Bloess questioned staff about the harm of putting zebra markings here, even though this intersection did not meet the warrants for them. Mr. Flainek responded that if there were to be a proliferation of zebra markings in areas where they are not warranted (i.e. as per the policy approved by Council), they would lose their impact and people tend to ignore them. He noted staff is of the opinion there are other ways of dealing with any problems that exist at this intersection. For example, it would appear, based on some of the pictures, the foliage around the signs (advising of the park) could be reduced and some of these signs could be moved to more appropriate spots. Mr. Flainek stated staff would go back and look at this intersection from the point of view of the issues raised at this meeting.

Councillor Bloess felt there was bit of a “Catch 22” with respect to intersections not meeting the warrants for zebra stripes based on there not being enough pedestrian crossings. He pointed out that pedestrians would be reluctant to use intersections where they do not feel safe. He felt there had to be room for a Councillor to come forward with solutions to problem intersections in their Wards that satisfy them and their residents.

Councillor Leadman then introduced a motion to refer the item to staff and direct they come back to the Committee with solutions to address the safety issues at this intersection. She indicated she understood the frustration of the Ward Councillor but felt that staff should have the opportunity to carry out a comprehensive review of all of the elements (e.g. signage, foliage, identification of the park, etc.).

At the request of Chair McRae, Mr. Flainek indicated his agreement with the motion. He felt that staff needed to have a thorough look at the intersection and have discussions with the Ward Councillor, the delegations that appeared before Committee and other residents in this neighbourhood. He emphasized staff most certainly want to ensure that this is a safe crossing and that it is adequately signed. In light of the concerns raised at this meeting, he felt there were improvements that could be made.

Councillor Doucet indicated he would support deferral of the issue of signage to staff (as it is quite complex) but he asked if Councillor Leadman would be willing to amend her motion to exclude deferral of the zebra markings. He felt that staff would not come back with the zebra markings as part of the solution.

Councillor Leadman indicated she would not accept this as a friendly amendment as she felt staff’s review needed to be comprehensive.

Councillor Doucet advised he would not be supporting Councillor Leadman’s motion as he felt the zebra markings in this particular case are absolutely key to indicating to drivers that are coming up to a heavily used pedestrian intersection. He expressed agreement with remarks made by Councillor Bloess and noted there are no other residential street intersections in his ward with zebra markings.

Chair McRae stated although she felt both Councillor Doucet and Councillor Bloess made some very good points, she would be supporting referral of the matter to staff. She felt it would not be responsible or prudent not to consider all of possible solutions (including zebra markings) at the same time.

Councillor Cullen asked that Yeas and Nays be called on Councillor Leadman’s motion.

Moved by Councillor C. Leadman:

That this item be referred back to staff to report back to Committee with solutions recommended to address the safety issues for Ossington and Seneca.

LOST on a tie vote

YEAS (3): Councillors M. Wilkinson, C. Leadman, Chair M. McRae

NAYS (3): Councillors R. Bloess, A. Cullen, C. Doucet

Chair McRae then called for YEAS and NAYS on the report.

That Transportation Committee recommend Council approve that zebra crossings be painted on the road at the Seneca and Ossington intersection to make the importance of this pedestrian crossing point more self-evident and to improve the safety for the children.

CARRIED

YEAS (4): Councillors R. Bloess, A. Cullen, C. Doucet, C. Leadman

NAYS (2): Councillor M. Wilkinson, Chair M. McRae

In response to a query from Chair McRae, Valerie Bietlot, Solicitor, Legal Services Branch, confirmed the report would have to rise to Council for approval.