Michele Heights – A Request for Speed Humps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written On Behalf of the

Michele Heights Community by:                        Colleen McCaully

Pam Hepinstall

Ye-Eun Kim

Majedah Ghadban

Chelsey Wynne

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Part I – Community Assessment

Community Background

Community Concerns

Population Characteristics

Employment Characteristics

Housing Characteristics

Education Facilities

Health and Welfare

 

 

Part II – Community Analysis

Figure 1:Map of the Michele Heights Community

Problems for the Michele Heights Community

Strengths for the Michele Heights Community

Evaluation

Gaps in Service

 

Part III – Project Proposal

Project Description

Needs

Project Goals

Project Objectives

Methods Used to Obtain Objectives/Results

Target Population and Geographic Area to be Served

Scope of Project

Similar Projects

Figure 2: Speed Bumps Before and After Implementation

Hours of Operation

Cost for Speed Humps

Table 3: Speed Hump Costs

Maintenance Cost of Speed Humps

Estimated Expenditures

PART I - COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT

 

COMMUNITY BACKGROUND

 

The Michele Heights community consists of 131 families living in social housing units. It is located in the west end of Ottawa and contains narrow, curving streets on a hill. The community was built in the late 1970’s. There are roughly 500 residents living in Michele Heights, with 78% of families having children under 17. Diversity in the culture among the residents has increased in the last 10 years, with the number of new Canadians nearly doubling. They speak a total of at least 19 different languages. Residents have lived in Michele Heights for an average of eight years.

 

Michele Heights is a community that has had many achievements. The community has started a Tenant’s Association, organized many community activities, raised $30,000 to get a Community House and even have been awarded in recognition of their volunteer work. The youth have received grants, taken part in fundraising, and won an award for their community activities. The youth even went as far as to paint a mural in the Community House challenging negative views associated with them. The residents, including new Canadians, children and visible minorities, are involved in community programs and events.

 

Members of the community access programs from various agencies with the goal of gaining better development of many life skills in mind. They use the Community House to access various vital resources. Community members attend events where they can visit with their friends, volunteer and spend time with their children.

 

There are many volunteer activities going on in the community. Residents in Michele Heights volunteer at the Community House and community events. They are known to have lobbied for change, for aiding neighbors in need, and even help with each other with snow removal. Volunteers have worked with several partners, including local businesses such as Tim Horton’s, who has offered donations for community events.

 
COMMUNITY CONCERNS

 

The community members of Michele Heights have long-standing concerns about community lighting and road safety. Michele Heights is in dire need of implementation of traffic calming measures in to slow down the speeding vehicles, which have been observed on Michele and Penny Drive. They have worked to change this for 23 years, and even have had safety audits, which were conducted in 1996 and 2000. They have established a safety committee in the community whose duty it is to address issues such as speeding vehicles and lobby for change to be made.

 

An issue that is a concern in regard to the speeding vehicles is that in Michele Heights many of the houses face each other, with Penny Drive centered in between them.  The Community Center is placed on one end of Penny Drive, the Community House on the other. This considered, it can be easily understood as to why the children’s safety is in question. 78% of the residents have children under 17 living in their households and these children are extremely vulnerable to dangers associated with speeding. The children of Michele Heights face this danger every day as they travel to and from their homes. They are in danger every time they walk down the only two streets in the community - which are more like laneways. The two roads run through the community in such a way that everyone has to walk on the road to access their neighbors, bus stops, the park, Community Center and even to take part in activities at the Community House.

 

As a solution, the community has chosen speed humps as a traffic calming method that best suits their needs. The disabled population in Michele Heights requires through traffic on each of these streets, therefore, blocking off the streets is not a desirable measure, as many need to be picked up at their doors.

 

POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS

 

There are 131 families and roughly 500 residents in Michele Heights, 78% with children. Ethnic and cultural diversity has increased among the residents over the last 10 years, with the number of new Canadians nearly doubling. Residents have lived in Michele Heights for an average of eight years and speak a total of at least 19 languages. The majority of men and women living in Michele Heights have very little or no formal education. Some of the residents take part in local workshops or ESL classes provided by their Community House to broaden their life skills.

 

EMPLOYMENT & INCOME CHARACTERISTICS

 

A majority of the residents are on social assistance. For example, they may receive OW, ODSP, or a Baby Bonus. Many have part time jobs, some full time.  The majority of the families living in Michele Height would be considered below the poverty line.

 

HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS

 

All of the residents are renting their homes. It is low-income neighborhood. The houses face each other with very small front lawns that directly face Penny Drive. The houses are situated in rows with a street similar to a laneway, and it does not appear as though it was made to handle a lot of traffic.  There are no real barriers surrounding the yards, such as a fence, gates or traffic stoppers. The only thing between the road and houses are small, narrow sidewalks.

 

EDUCATION FACILITIES

 

The schools in the area that the children attend are; Regina Public School, Cristy Public School, Pinecrest Public School, Woodroffe Public School, Woodroffe High School and Laurentian High School. The curriculum does focus on cultural sensitivity for example: Black History month. There is some staff from different cultures, but the majority of the staff appears to be Caucasian. The social agencies found in the area are, the Community Center, a youth shelter and the Community House. If a community member’s health and social welfare needs could not be met within Michele Heights, Pinecrest Queensway Health and Community Services located nearby.

 

HEALTH & WELFARE

 

The health and social resources available to the community are; Pinecrest Queensway Health & Community Services, Michele Heights Community Center, and the Michele Heights Community House. The staff is bilingual at Pinecrest Queensway and interpretation is available when required. The staff at Pinecrest Queensway represents most of the minority groups. This results in culturally sensitive services such as ESL, Somali Heritage Class, United Sisters, Youth Drop-in, Collective Kitchen and Homework Club. The Boys & Girls Club, Carling Family Shelter, Britannia Woods & Foster Farm Food Banks are all available to Michele Heights Community members as they are in close proximity to the community. The Somali Heritage Class, United Sisters & ESL are all ethnic-based groups that are offered through the Community House.

 

Accessibility to the Community House is very good, as long as you are wary of the speeding vehicles down Penny Drive. It is easy to reach the house from anywhere in Ottawa. It is walking distance from Carling Avenue (a main avenue in Ottawa), which makes it easily accessible from anywhere in Ottawa. To get to the Michele Heights Community from the Queensway, an exit can be taken at the Pinecrest exit, followed by a left turn onto Richmond Rd., right onto Grenon, another right at Michele Drive, and then a final right turn onto Penny Drive. The Community House is situated at 2950 Penny Drive, Unit 102.

 

Figure 1:         Map of the Michele Heights Community

 

 

PART II -COMMUNITY ANALYSIS

 

PROBLEMS FOR THE MICHELE HEIGHTS COMMUNITY

 

The Michele Heights population consists of mainly new Canadians and some refugees, so a language barrier is often present in communications. Due to the new residency of many of these community members, they are often unaware of the resources that are available to them, or where these resources can be accessed.

Michele Heights contains many families, so residents are often busy with work, school or childcare. Therefore lack of time during business hours can pose difficulty when parents need to find time for their children.

 

Also, due to the high percentage of families in Michele Heights, there are many young children in the area. The community consists of tightly spaced row housing, with small yard areas that are not well fenced in. The houses on the street face each other, with Penny Drive placed directly in between many of these houses. These combined factors create the problem of small children often darting onto the road to access their playmates, and often coming close to colliding with a vehicle despite parents’ desperate attempts to stop them. This community is a low-income housing area, which also presents poverty as a major issue in Michele Heights.

 

STRENGTHS OF THE MICHELE HEIGHTS COMMUNITY

 

Michele Heights has a great sense of community among its members, and many or most are willing to band together when they are in need. An example of this occurring in the past can be seen through the development of the Michele Heights Community House. The community came together to fundraise $30,000 in order to obtain a Community House for the area.

 

The Michele Heights Tenant’s Association is composed strictly of community members. This presents the benefit of a representative body, mirroring exactly the democratic system that is integrated into all levels of our Canadian government. This would allow for the possibility of a more organized partnership between external supporting agencies and the community members themselves, and especially with the municipal government.

 

The community possesses access on a regular basis to a Community House and Community House Coordinator, so they have the benefit of having access to external resources within their own community. There is a Community Center in Michele Heights, allowing members to have access to large group space if necessary.

 

EVALUATION

 

Some of the major problems facing this community are isolation, safety issues surrounding traffic and the community members, inadequate access to important outside resources, and poverty. This community has a mixed identity. Many of the youth have been labeled as delinquents, and the community as a place where crime often occurs. The youth have worked hard to portray themselves positively to the outside eye, which has also allowed the community to be observed in a more positive light. Other Community Houses in Ottawa hold Michele Heights in positive regard.

 

A major strength of the health aspect in the community is that the community members are aware of the safety issues surrounding the poor layout of the roads in the area, so many of them have made an assertive effort to control injuries and harm to members as much as is within their power. A weakness that is involved in the health aspect of the community is that the community faces poverty, so they often rely on outside resources to aid them.

 

A major strength in the welfare aspect of Michele Heights is that the residents have a high sense of community togetherness, so they can often be found to come together to fundraise and to help each other out during times of need.

A weakness that is found in the welfare aspect of the community is that it is in fact afflicted with poverty, so there is not a great deal of financial resources within the community. It heavily relies on external funding; therefore community needs are often unmet.
 
GAPS IN SERVICE

 

The gaps in services regarding Michele Heights is that although the community has access to a Tenant’s Association as well as a safety committee, once issues have been presented to these representing bodies, there is no guarantee that they will obtain support where necessary from external agencies or resources. Also, the Community House is only open part-time during the week, thus creating restrictions in community access to the House Coordinator and the resources available there.

 

 

PART III- PROJECT PROPOSAL

 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

 

The Michele Heights Safety Committee has targeted the issue of aggressive/speeding drivers. Cars have been known to speed down the hill on Penny Drive and up Michele Drive threatening the safety of this small community. One community member expressed the fear of the majority in Michele Heights “I have two kids; I have to let go of one to lock the door, it only takes a second to run out onto the street in the path of these racing cars”. This is a concern in the community as other children have been hurt in the past.

 

The community of Michele Heights would benefit from the traffic calming techniques as residents would be able to move around in their community more safely.

 

Michele Heights has been pleading for speed bumps for twenty-three years, nine of which have paper documentation. Why must these children be denied their basic right to a safe home environment any longer?

The recognition by society of this problem would create a sense of trust between the community and the government; serve to empower and create cohesion within the community, which leads to becoming a more productive, independent community.

 

NEEDS

 

The needs being met by the safety committee is the need for safety on the streets of Michele Heights. This need was identified through various means. Meetings were held involving the House Coordinator, community members (the safety committee), and Algonquin Students. Research was carried out on traffic calming measures to find the best solution. The safety committee went out into the community to generate a petition to request speed bumps in the community. At the same time, accounts of many dangerous situations and children becoming hurt due to the vehicles speeding through these streets were recorded.

 

PROJECT GOALS

 

The goal that would be achieved by carrying out this project is that the Michele Heights community would be free from the never-ending speeding vehicles that threaten their children and security in their own neighborhood. Every child should be able to go outside to play without being threatened by aggressive drivers.  By addressing this concern successfully, the community of Michele Heights would feel a sense of empowerment. Many of the remaining concerns or issues that trouble residents would addressed as they would have a more positive view of the government, and its concern for their welfare as equal citizens in a multicultural Canada.

 

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

 

The project objective is to obtain the municipal government’s support in the installation of speed humps on Michele and Penny Drive.

 

METHODS USED TO OBTAIN OBJECTIVES/RESULTS

 

The strategies or activities that were implemented to attain speed humps for the community are

·      Fundraising initiatives held at the Community House.

·      Ideally construction would commence by mid 2006. Installation of the humps is expected to take one to seven days.

·      The goal is to have completed this project by late 2006.

 

TARGET POPULATION AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA TO BE SERVED

 

There are 131 families living in the units with occupancy of roughly 500 residents, a high percentage of the population are children. The diversity of the residents has increased in the last 10 years, with the number of new Canadians nearly doubling. The target population would be children and indeed all members of the community.  Speed humps are so important to this community because it reflects the safety of not only the children, but of all the people living in Michele Heights. The community members are involved by being members of the Safety Committee or the Tenant’s Association, by signing the petition, or attending fundraising activities.

 

SCOPE OF PROJECT

 

The scope of the project, the numbers of each respective minority group that this project affects are vast. The majority of the population is composed of new Canadians. Listed are some statistics, which are according to the language spoken at home. In 1991, 84% of the population spoke English. In 1996, 58% of the population spoke English and in 2001, it was only 48% of the population that spoke English at home. The new Canadian population in 1991 was 26% of the population, but by 2001 it rose to 45%. The majority of these new Canadians have large families with many children.

The target group involved in the development of this project is the entire Michele Heights community. The entire community is the target group as we are working to improve the safety for everyone in the area.

 

SIMILAR PROJECTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other agencies in the area consist of other Community Houses (Foster Farm and Britannia Woods).  We have worked with these services by contacting them and inquiring as to how they received the speed humps that have been installed in their communities.

 

Below is a table that illustrates the before and after implementation of speed humps on Leaver and Trillium Avenue in Ottawa. The numbers are taken directly from a document created by Bob Streicher, and published with the City of Ottawa.  Two humps were installed on Leaver, 110 meters apart. Two were also installed on Trillium, spaced 80 meters apart.

 

Before

After

85th Percentile Speed

55 - 59 km/hr

39 - 45 km/hr

Fastest Speed

64 - 80 km/hr

46 – 50 km/hr

Compliance

13 -15%

56 – 89%

 

Figure 2: Speed Bumps Before and After Implementation

 

The leading groups that have supported this project have been the Michele Heights Safety Committee and the Michele Heights Tenant’s Association. Johanne Duhaime, the community’s Ottawa Community Housing Outreach Worker, House Coordinator, Tammy Corner and as well as city councilor, Alex Cullen have also been involved.

 

Collaboration will take place on this project between the community, the Community House, the Tenant’s Association, the safety committee and the city. Perhaps there are other funders that will wish to become involved as well.

 

HOURS OF OPERATION

 

The exact hours of operation for this project are to be determined. The estimated time for the speed humps to be completed would be between 3 days to a week and we predict this completion to be made by mid to late 2006.

 

Safety Committee and Tenant Association meetings run on a monthly basis. Student meetings ran every Tuesday in March from 3:00 – 4:00 pm. Some of the students attended a safety audit meeting on Monday March 21st from 6:30-8:00 pm. Community outreach was also carried out on April 1st from 3:00 – 4:00 pm, as well as on April 4th from 6:45 - 8:00p.m. Some group members attended a meeting Monday April 11th at 6:00p.m where Alex Cullen was in attendance to address the community’s concerns about speed humps.

 

COST FOR SPEED HUMPS

 

Cement speed humps (15 centimeters high) are relatively cheap, costing about $1000 each. The cost to install and construct a speed hump varies according to the width of the road, ranging from $1000 to $5000 per speed hump. The city of Toronto estimates the annual cost of marking and signing a speed hump less than $100 each. Snow removal costs are negligible. Rubber speed humps are composed of recycled tires and an example of the cost for each of these and other installation materials can be found below.

(As quoted from International Road Dynamics)

 

Table 3: Speed Hump Costs

Merchandise Number

Description

Price

 

#633064 

Speed Bump 6 Foot black w/reflectors 

 

$150

 

#xxxxxx

Speed Bump 4 Foot black w/ reflectors

 

$102

#633088   

 

Speed Bump 6 Foot black w/out reflectors 

 

$139

 

#xxxxxx

Speed Bump 4 Foot black w/out reflectors 

 

$ 90

 

Anchors are an added expense onto this, $3.50 for Rebar Spikes 14 inches and Lag Bolts.

 

It can be seen that the cost of installation of the speed bumps will vary. There wouldn’t be an ongoing user fee involved in this type of project, so the expenses would include, and most likely be limited to between $900 and $10 000. This would be entirely dependent on what funds can be accessed by the community. There is also the possibility of the community participating in fundraising to cover partial expenses

 

The staffing for the project include hump installers, the House Coordinator, and possibly city counselors. The approximate number of volunteers is approximately twenty-five. These would include the Safety Planning Council, Algonquin students, the Tenant’s Association and other community members.

 

MAINTENANCE COST OF SPEED HUMPS

 

The City of Toronto estimates the average annual maintenance cost for marking and signing to be less than $100 per speed hump. Snow removal costs would be very little. Perhaps additional funding could be secured through fundraising, donations or grants.

 

ESTIMATED EXPENDITURES

 

The total budget for the project would range between but not limited to $1000 to $10 000. Maintenance costs would be around $100.00 each at most per year.