Overview
Othello Avenue between Smyth Road and Pleasant Park Road is under consideration for a Neighbourhood Traffic Calming (NTC) study to address speeding concerns raised by residents. This location qualifies for an accelerated study that the City is piloting due to its classification as a local road and not being on a transit route or key emergency response route (as identified by Emergency Services).
The accelerated NTC study process only considers simple measures such as speed humps which are among the most effective measures to reduce vehicle speeds along a roadway and can also be implemented relatively quickly compared to other types of traffic calming measures. The benefit of the proposed accelerated NTC study process is that permanent roadway modifications to address speeding concerns can be implemented more quickly in comparison to the regular NTC study process.
Proposed Plan
The city has proposed the following conceptual plan to address the concerns raised along Othello Avenue which can be viewed in the link below.
Othello Avenue Recommended Plan [ PDF 4.171 MB ] Opens in a new tab or window(link is external)
Proposed Measures
Speed humps are raised areas of the roadway, which cause vertical movement of traversing vehicles.
Pros
- Reduces vehicle speed at/near measure
- Relatively cost-effective and simple to design and implement
- Minimal modification of existing roadway geometry, less construction disruption
- Self-enforcing
Cons
- May increase traffic induced noise and vibrations
- May impact emergency response activities
- May increase vehicle travel time
- May cause discomfort to some drivers
Online Consultation
To determine the community’s level of support to proceed with this study and to understand residents’ concerns related to traffic along Othello Avenue, an online survey was conducted during October and November 2024.
Following the online survey, a Public Engagement Feedback Report (PEFR) was prepared to detail the results of the survey.
Overall, 65 percent of respondents indicated they were very or somewhat comfortable with the proposed plan while 32 percent indicated they were very or somewhat uncomfortable and 3 percent indicated they were neutral. Based on these results, and with the ward Councillor’s approval, it was decided to proceed with the detailed design and construction phase of this project.