REPORT
TO COMMITTEE(S) OF COUNCIL
INTERNAL ROUTING CHECKLIST
|
|
|
|
|
APPLICANT:
APPLICANT’S ADDRESS:
WARD:
CONTROVERSIAL:
Yes No
|
|
|||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
||||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|||||
M E M O / N O T E D E S E R V I C E |
|
Moved by Councillor A. Cullen
Seconded by Councillor J. Stavinga
That the following replacement Motion be approved:
1. That
staff be directed to take such appropriate interim actions to improve safety
and security on the sidewalks at 50 and 73 Rideau Street, including the removal
of planters by August 1, 2006;
2. That
OC Transpo be directed to examine appropriate security measures for this area
and to report to the Transportation Committee by October 2006, and;
3.
That
staff work with the local councillor, local stakeholders, the Ottawa Police
Service and the Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee on an urban design
concept for this area of Rideau Street that accommodates transit users in a
safe, secure environment, with an interim report on progress to the
Transportation Committee by October 2006.
4.
That the recommendations of the Ottawa Police
Service Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) be referred to
staff and appropriate advisory committees for report back on solutions to the
issues raised in the CPTED by October 2006.
CARRIED
Following
that direction staff undertook several measures to address the issues
raised by Councillor Bédard with respect to the condition of
Rideau Street between Sussex and Nicholas Street. An
information report was submitted to Transit Committee
on March 21, 2007 to advise on the progress staff has made in response to the June
14, 2006 motion of City
Council.
At the March 21, 2007 of Transit Committee the
Downtown Rideau BIA (DRBIA) submitted
a list of comments concerning those items that they
felt had not been resolved to their satisfaction. Transit Committee then passed the following
motion:
That
staff be directed to review the report tabled by the Rideau BIA dated
6 March 2007, and report back to Transit Committee by June 2007 after
consultation with the BIA.
CARRIED
The following is the
staff response to each of the points extracted
from the BIA
report:
Downtown
Rideau
BIA response
to re
commendation #1
“Not all obstruction and loitering elements have been removed or relocated to allow for ease of access to transit platforms and pedestrian movement along sidewalks in this study area. Equally, not all maintenance initiatives have maintained a required level of frequency to be effective.”
b.
“Recommend
removal or relocation of the vending boxes between Freiman Mall and OC Traspo
shelters on north side
of the street.”
c.
“Recommend
removal or relocation (designated
secure to pavement location) of vending boxes between The Bay and Chapters
at the STO transit
stop on the north side
of Rideau. Street
furniture in this area seriously impedes and obstructs pedestrian movement due
to transit riders using the sidewalk to wait for their buses because there is
no transit platform in this high transit use location.”
Staff Response
Traffic and Parking Operations
– Staff has no problem facilitating these relocations or removals (a., b.,
c. noted above). The
vending boxes have
already been relocated.
Future
discussions on additional relocations or removals will be undertaken.
d.
“Waste
receptacles should be secured
to lampposts to
avoid them form being moved in an obstructing way.”
e.
“Adjacent
businesses still reporting poor maintenance levels of the shelters and the
negative impact this has on their business. Initial maintenance response appears
to have
lessened
during the winter
month. Winter poses additional concerns with
snow banks between the shelters and property
lines – further
narrowing the pedestrian right-of-way
and salt/slush splashing
on the glass of shelters obstructing the visibility through them. Recommend developing a regular,
frequency
maintenance schedule in consultation with
the DRBIA who can provide information on seasonality and high traffic demand
usage resulting from
promotional
and tourism activity, etc. that would require increased maintenance levels.”
Staff Response
Real Property and Asset Management –
The four shelters on Rideau Street are cleaned daily,
Monday to Friday and are part of a regular
route that is serviced
by one employee on a dedicated basis. Cleaning
generally occurs the same time each day, however, it can
vary depending on the maintenance requirements of the shelters that are part of
this route. Although
there
is no scheduled maintenance
on weekends, staff
is called in to deal with significant maintenance
issues when required.
Last fall,
three of the shelters were completely repainted with the fourth being
painted this spring.
f.
“OC
Transpo buses disembark riders in areas outside of the actual transit
stop, which
poses safety concerns to riders, as well as pedestrians and
often in locations where street furniture obstructs rider’s ability
to exit the bus safely.”
Staff Response
Transit
Services - Safety is the number one priority for transit
operations. Operators are responsible to ensure that passengers alight only
where it is safe to do so. We have supervision on a regular basis on Rideau
Street and, while we do not agree that safety of alighting passengers is a
concern, we have issued a bulletin underlining the importance of ensuring that
passengers alight only when it is safe to do so and particularly drawing
attention to the stops on Rideau Street.
g.
“Waste
receptacle servicing was, and traditionally is severely cutback in winter
months which contributes to the appearance of decay in
this area that adds to a negative safety perception for the district.”
h.
“Graffiti
on the north OC Transpo
transit shelters
is a daily concern and often covers the entire glass. Increased removal is required.”
Staff Response
Real Property and Asset Management – Graffiti
removal is done in accordance with the City’s
Graffiti Management Strategy. The
area where the four shelters on Rideau Street area located is considered a “Zero
Tolerance “ zone,
as defined
in the strategy,
therefore, graffiti is removed on a weekly basis. Hate/racist
or offensive
graffiti is removed within 24 hours
of it being discovered and/or
reported. Graffiti is removed from the four shelters on Rideau Street as
part of the daily maintenance routine. On May 23rd Council
approved the Enhanced Graffiti Management Strategy,
which will
increase the frequency of graffiti removal pending approval during the 2008 budget
deliberations. To assist
with prompt
removal of graffiti, the DRBIA
is encouraged to call the request into Transit Information
at 741-4390. The request
will be brought to the attention
of the appropriate staff resources and addressed accordingly.
i.
“NOTE: The DRBIA also removes posters from lampposts
three times
a week.”
DRBIA response to recommendation
#2
“The cooperation between security services
(OC Transpo,
Ottawa Police
Service and DRBIA) has been greatly improved and the DRBIA
encourages further cooperation in
this area. Especially with sharing
schedules to avoid duplication of resources
and regular meetings
to exchange information and develop recommendations to respond
to challenges, as well as cooperatively target peak periods.”
Staff Response
Transit Services – The Transit Special Constables
work in cooperation with Ottawa Police Service, crime stoppers, local school
boards and community groups to safeguard transit customers, employees and
property. The officers proactively
patrol Rideau Street to promote public safety and jointly work with Ottawa
Police Service on special projects in the area with the primary focus being the
prevention of crime and offences.
a.
“The
DRBIA requests participation on the Rideau Street Zero Tolerance
Committee.”
Staff Response
Planning Branch
– The Zero Tolerance Committee
is an internal staff committee that was organized to address issues
related to the events of the summer 2006 around the pedestrian
underpass at Colonel By Drive and Rideau Street.
b.
“To
assist OC Transpo’s
route schedule timelines delivery,
recommend increased pre-boarding verification at platforms in this area to expedite
rider boarding and ease flow of pedestrian sidewalk traffic in platform areas. Also, to provide additional “authority”
visibility on safety hot spots,
further recommend increasing
security during peak periods, especially afternoon peak on north side of
Rideau.”
Staff
Response
Transit
Services - The
Smartcard fare system currently under development would provide opportunities
to speed up boarding times at busy stops and would certainly make operations on
Rideau Street smoother. The funding for the smartcard system was approved in
the 2007 capital budget and, if approvals are received for its implementation,
it would be implemented in 2008 and 2009. We do not support the idea of prepaid
zones on the platforms/sidewalks on Rideau Street, because of both inability to
enforce and interference with pedestrian traffic.
c.
“NOTE: Lighting improvements by the City and DRBIA
were done in 2005 and not part of the zero-tolerance initiative.”
d.
“The
DRBIA
supports the recommendation of installation of Closed Circuit Television
cameras and has seen this used effectively in other
communities –
but only if it is connected
to a LIVE
reporting component to respond to crimes in progress, etc.”
e.
“CPTED
recommendations pertaining to
pedestrian traffic flow have not been resolved through this process. Specifically, recommendations pertaining
to transit
shelter design, transit
platform visual identification elements, removal of litter and cigarette butts,
loitering
areas (i.e.
Between the north shelters and The Bay), ensure there is sufficient space to
handle pedestrian flow (i.e. The
STO transit stop on the sidewalk in front of The Bay), etc.”
Staff Response
Planning Branch –
All of the matters noted above
in 2 e. will be addressed as part of the Urban
Design
Study. We
agree that the amount and quality of pedestrian space is
critical to the proper function of the street. Given the complexity of activities within the
section of Rideau Street from Sussex to Nicholas Street, the priority of functions
will need to be assessed
in order to determine the space requirements. The design of the transit
shelters is a related matter that will also need to be resolved though the
Urban Design study.
Real Property and Asset Management – The installation
of Closed Circuit Television cameras would be live monitored by the
Transit
Security
Control Centre
resulting
in any incidents being actively responded
to as they develop rather than
using recordings to respond to incidents after
the fact.
DRBIA response
to recommendation
#3
“Stakeholder consultations missed a key stakeholder
– The Bay. They are the location of the
to key hot spots in this area – the STO transit
stop between Chapters
and Freiman Mall, and the OC Transpo transit stop between
Freiman
Mall and William Mall.”
a.
“The
DRBIA
also requests the report consult with the City’s Business Advisory Committee
(BAC), as this issue has a significant impact
on adjacent businesses and is applicable to other business area throughout
the city
that accommodate significant transit volumes. It is important
to share the positive lessons learned through
this process with the greater community.”
Staff Response
Planning
Branch – As
with the other Advisory Committees that the DRBIA has requested to be included
in the TAC
for this project,
we will also include the BAC. This
will require the BAC to appoint a representative to attend the TAC meetings and
report back on matters being discussed. Normally the information concerning this
project would be circulated to all pertinent Advisory Committees by established
internal
lines of communication.
b.
“The
DRBIA has concerns
with providing transit
benches, based on past experience with loitering issues
associated with benches in this area. Riders have
numerous options
to sit and/or window shop at nearby amenities while
waiting
for
their
bus as an option other that increasing the number of benches existing at the
transit
stop. Additionally, benches are
contrary to all other recommendations to remove clutter form the street.”
Staff Response
Transit Services
- The
provision of seating for waiting passengers is an important aspect of the
accessibility of the transit system. The benches at the Rideau Street stops are
designed for people with mobility disabilities - they are relatively high and
have backs and arms. The future requirement for seating will be raised by
Transit Services staff in the Urban
Design
Study.
Transit benches are consistently designed to discourage people from sleeping on
them.
Planning
Branch – The
consideration of benches on Rideau Street for
transit riders and
others will be a consideration of the Urban Design Study. The study will attempt to balance the concern
with loitering related to the provision of benches and the general
objective to provide an accessible and comfortable environment for pedestrians. Benches,
if properly designed and integrated into the streetscape,
should
not contribute
to clutter.
c.
“The
DRBIA
is a strong supporter of the majority of recommendations
noted in #3. Especially the
introduction of on-street parking in off-peak transit
hours, which we believe will provide more eyes and ears on the street
to discourage negative activity and improve
safety. On
street parking after 6:00
p.m. would be a very positive addition to the street
that would also provide business customers with a convenience to
attend evening cultural activities or transport
goods and services not conducive to transit transport.”
Staff Response
Traffic and Parking Operations –
There is no specific reference to the introduction of
on-street parking
in Recommendation
3 of the actual report.
It is instead noted in Document 2
of the report
as a bullet under Comments/Suggestions From Local Stakeholders. That
said, the issue of on-street parking in this area
of Rideau Street is being addressed in another report being prepared by the Ward
Councillor. TPO Staff are reviewing the
possibility of on-street parking
and will be providing
comments to the Ward Councillor for this consideration.
d.
“We
do not support
heating the shelters. This was
done during the Rideau Mall and proved to be extremely detrimental to the
safety of the adjacent community. Heated transit
shelters attracted
large volumes of homeless people from nearby
shelters and services that created a very unsafe
situation
that transit
riders were
too afraid to use. We note that
homeless services
have doubled in a 6 block radius of Rideau/Dalhousie in the last
7 years and are currently
seeking the City
adapt a decentralization policy to restrict further
concentration of these services in our community.”
Staff Response
Transit Services
- Passenger
comfort is an important aspect of the transit system. Ways of providing a
comfortable waiting environment for transit customers consistent with urban
design objectives will need to be developed as part of the Urban
Design
Study.
e.
“Missing
from stakeholder comments is the DRBIA comments supporting removal of one, or
redesign of the OC Transpo
transit
shelters east of Freiman Mall on the north side of Rideau (see
attached letters from adjacent businesses), as well as the need to redesign The
Bay’s alcoves in the same
area.”
Staff Response
Planning Branch – The
design and location of transit shelters will be a key consideration of the Rideau
Street Urban Design Study that is now underway. Therefore,
it is considered to be
premature to introduce alterations to the existing shelters until alternatives
have been thoroughly examined.
DRBIA response
to recommendation
#4
“The DRBIA disagrees with the Pedestrian and Transit
Advisory Committee
(PTAC) and the Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) (primarily regarding
redesign or removal of the transit
shelters) and remains in agreement with the CPTED report’s recommendations to
remove clutter
and obstruction in this area to improve safety. The DRBIA does however, agree with many of
the other recommendations from the Committees.”
a. “Recommend a pilot to remove at a minimum,
the easterly
OC Transpo transit shelter’s walls in front of
McDonald’s and the Buck Stop dollar store. The DRBIA monitored and photographed use of
the shelters when OC Transpo
made repairs
to them summer of 2006. See attached
photos showing that the “majority” of
riders chose not to use the shelters – even during rainy periods. Additional
consideration
could be partial
glass
panel removal to at least open them up more
and provide visibility to
adjacent
businesses, safety site lines,
etc.”
Staff Response
Transit Services
- The current shelters are relatively small in
relation to the number of people waiting for buses at the stops on Rideau
Street. The glass panels offer protection from the wind and the rain, which is
particularly important in the winter months.
b.
“Planters
cause a security concern in that
they have reached their lifecycle and can not longer accommodate ground growth –
leaving them barren and decay in appearance. They are also
a location to stash
drugs for
trafficking exchange, a place for litter and cigarette butts and an obstruction
of pedestrian flow in high traffic volume locations. The DRBIA supports the removal of some planters
in strategic location and remains
supportive of “greenery” on
the street to provide a soothing environment.”
Staff Response
Planning Branch – Some
planters were removed from the street in 2006 at the request of the DRBIA. The planters were deemed necessary in the
most recent streetscape design due to the
shallow depth of underground utilities in that location. Therefore,
without the use of raised planters it
is unlikely that trees can be included in the design for Rideau
Street. The
deterioration of the raised planters indicates that a
maintenance regimen
will be an important aspect
of any streetscape design
that will result from the Urban
Design Study.
c.
“The
DRBIA especially supports recommendations to consider rerouting of reducing
some transit
use off Rideau Street. Perhaps STO
or underutilized or through routes. Ultimately, we support a spoke and wheel
delivery system in the core that would eliminate the number of buses by
transferring riders onto a line haul system rather than a route system. Perhaps Rideau Street could be considered
for
a future pilot
to explore
this option.”
Staff Response
Transit Services
- Transit
staff has
looked for ways to remove service from Rideau Street but, because Mackenzie
King Bridge is already at capacity and Rideau Centre and the Market areas are
major attractors, this cannot be done without inconveniencing large numbers of
transit riders and making transit service less attractive. STO staff
has made some changes to their service to reduce the
number of buses on Rideau Street in the PM peak by using Mackenzie and starting
some trips west of Rideau Street. It
should be noted that a hub and spoke network design would not reduce the number
of buses operating via Rideau Street.
There is no spare capacity on any routes that pass through the entire
downtown core, neither STO nor OC Transpo.
Reduction of the number of bus trips through Rideau Street would only be
theoretically possible by rerouting to other streets, which is not recommended,
or by building a rapid transit facility.
Original signed by
Nancy Schepers
:cwl