Transportation Committee Comité des transports
Minutes
12 / Procès-verbal 12
Wednesday, 3 October 2007, 9:30 a.m. le mercredi 3 octobre 2007, 9
h 30 Andrew S.
Haydon Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West
Salle Andrew S. Haydon, 110, avenue Laurier ouest |
Present / Présents : C. Leadman
(Vice-Chair / Vice-présidente), G. Bédard, R. Bloess, A. Cullen,
C. Doucet, J. Legendre, D. Thompson, M. Wilkinson
Absent / Absente : Councillors / Conseillers M.
McRae (Chair / Présidente) (Regrets / excuses)
No declarations of interest were filed.
Ratification dU PROCÈS-VERBAL
CITY COUNCIL REFERRAL
renvoi du conseil municipal
1. STRANDHERD-ARMSTRONG
BRIDGE – CITY COUNCIL REFERRAL
le pont strandherd-armstrong – renvoi du conseil
municipal
ACS2007-CCS-TRC-0016 City Wide / À l'échelle de la Ville
Councillor
Wilkinson advised that she intended to put forth the following amendment to the
report recommendation: ‘That the two immediate Near-Term investment options
in the Mayor’s Task Force on Transportation, namely the Strandherd-Armstrong
Bridge and the completion of Terry Fox Drive from Kanata Avenue to Flamborough
Drive, as they are currently designed, be formally submitted to the Federal and
Provincial Governments for cost sharing infrastructure funding; such funding
not to come from funds identified for transit projects.’ She
explained that her reasoning is that there were two immediate priorities
identified and she felt one should not be treated differently than the
other. She further noted that she had
collaborated with Councillor Desroches on this motion, the mover of original
Council motion, and that they had both spoken with federal representatives on
this matter to see what can be done.
Councillor
Cullen requested staff comment on Councillor Wilkinson’s amendment. Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager, Planning,
Transit and the Environment (PTE) responded that it is correct that the two
items noted were identified as priorities by the Mayor’s Task Force, but staff
is not aware of the details of any new funding program and as such she felt
this might be a bit premature in terms of an application. She acknowledged, however, that in terms of
indicating intent, if Council wishes to do so, there might be some direction or
information that the Federal and Provincial Governments could share in
response.
In
response to Councillor Cullen’s questions on the existence of such Federal
Program and if these projects would be on the list for submission, John Moser, Director, Planning Branch & City Planner, PTE
responded that both projects would be included as they are both in the in the
existing Transportation Master Plan (TMP), although the Bridge is a nearer
priority than is the Terry Fox.
Councillor
Cullen assumed that if there is a Federal Funding Program in place prior to the
2008 budget and these two projects were submitted, the Capital Project would be
debated as part of the 2008 Capital Program Budget, since the City’s
contribution would be part of the 2008 or a subsequent budget. Mr. Moser responded that staff already has
direction from Committee and Council to bring forward the Terry Fox as part of
the 2008 Budget discussion.
Councillor
Desroches reminded Committee Members that the Environmental Assessment for this
Bridge has already been completed and the design phase is underway. It is being designed with transit features
for bus rapid transit and a future potential rail capacity. He commented that the debate is not about
whether to build a bridge but about talking to the Federal Government about the
eligibility of this project for federal infrastructure funding. It was his understanding from staff that
once Council decided not to move forward with Light Rail Transit (LRT), the
Bridge would have some problems meeting the eligibility criteria for the
transit funding. He reiterated that
this is about going after Federal and Provincial Funding, wherever possible,
for key infrastructure projects, in keeping with recently identified Council
priorities. At the Councillor’s
request, Ms. Schepers confirmed that the Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge would be
on their Top 10 List of Projects that would come forward now and into the
future.
Councillor
Desroches inquired whether the City has actually applied for funding at the
present time. Ms. Schepers explained
that the City has not made a formal application for funding. It was included within the LRT Project, and
there have been preliminary discussions relating to near-term and transit
investment, which did include and flag the Bridge with some Bus Rapid Transit
components, but no formal application has been submitted. The Councillor also inquired what has been
the gist of the feedback from Federal Officials at this point on time. Ms. Schepers informed that in terms of
the LRT Program Funding, which was really a transit based program, there was no
certainty if it, or even the transit component, would be supported in the
long-term and staff would have had to submit a business case and arguments for
it as requested by both Federal and Provincial governments.
Councillor
Doucet noted that the Strandherd Drive and Armstrong Road approaches were not
being included and he felt they should be.
He wondered when those costs would be available. Mr. Moser responded that staff has them now
in terms of being able to give estimates of what the connections of both sides
of it would be. Councillor Doucet
requested that those figures be made available to Members of Council and the
public so the total cost of the project could be known. Mr. Moser agreed to do so.
Councillor
Doucet commented that under the old North-South LRT Proposal, the LRT Project,
as per partnership funding with the Federal and Provincial Governments, would
defray part of the costs of this Bridge.
He felt that staff should also show the financial implications of not
having the North-South Light Rail Line in place and that shared funding. Vivi Chi, Manager, Transportation and Infrastructure
Planning, PTE responded that for the North-South Light Rail Project, it was
assumed there was a component for the hardware for the rail features on the
bridge. She said that staff could
remove that component and talk about the total cost of the bridge as if it were
a road bridge or for rubber-tired transit vehicles to use. Councillor Doucet thought those implications
need to be understood for future debate on this matter. Ms. Chi offered to provide that information
within a few days of this meeting.
Councillor Legendre
requested that Ms. Chi provide information with respect to the priority status
of the Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge within the list of capital project
priorities before the North-South LRT.
In response to the Councillor’s questions, Ms. Chi informed that
the Bridge is on the list in the TMP as a Phase 1 Project to be completed or in
operation by 2008 and referred him to the appropriate page for this
information.
The Committee then heard the
following delegation:
David Jeanes stated that it
is very important in applying for funding for the transit component of this
Bridge that it be well represented as an integral part of the City’s transit
system. He commented that the text in
the report still puts the westward link to Chapman Mills ahead of improving the
links north to Fallowfield. He believed
that the Park & Ride in Riverside South, dedicated bus lanes on the
Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge, a link through the JDS Uniphase Site for the RCMP,
and possibly the completion of Longfields Drive and into Fallowfield Transitway
Station is much more important to the City’s needs than the east-west
line. He said that the east-west link
in Barrhaven was a political boondoggle right from the first and noted that the
Rapid Transit Expansion Study (RTES) did not identify a major east-west flow
there. He felt that although it would
be nice to have, the north-south link in that area is the most critical, and if
the case is made for the Strandherd Bridge as a transit facility because it
links into the Woodroofe and Fallowfield Transitway, the case will be
stronger. He also noted the report
states that the link would be primarily for people travelling to the north and
west, not going downtown; he is convinced that the route by bus on the
transitway provides a faster route than would have been possible with light
rail, and a much faster route will be possible by cars on congested roads. He felt that the City could make a good case
for the transit component but it must be strong. He further pointed out that the inclusion of this Bridge as a
Phase 1 Project in the TMP was not part of the draft plan or the consultations
but was inserted in the final stage of approval before Council as a last minute
reprioritization of the projects, in response to one letter from a member of
the public.
Councillor Legendre
questioned whether Mr. Jeanes, in his comments on the TMP, was referring to the
mass transit aspect of the bridge or of the bridge itself. The Councillor asked Ms. Chi to provide an
email to him, before the Council meeting at which this issue would be
considered, addressing Mr. Jeanes’ comments about the inclusion of the Bridge
in the TMP.
Councillor Harder
articulated that she had been very involved with the Strandherd Bridge process
for some time, dating back to her time with the City of Nepean. At her request, staff confirmed that $16
million has already been saved for this project. Staff also confirmed that in 2001, during the Rapid Transit
strategy planning, there was a plan to build two bridges. The Councillor noted that she had expressed
serious doubt at that time that there would be money available for two bridges,
which Ms. Chi also confirmed. She felt
that this bridge is a seriously needed near-term project to disperse the
traffic volume in the Barrhaven area and urged Committee Members to support the
proposed motion. In response to the
Councillor, Ms. Schepers advised that she was not aware of any funding
program that would constitute the road portion of the bridge and that staff
identified it potentially as near-term and as transit-related in part,
something that is yet to be decided at a joint meeting of the Transportation
and Transit Committees and then Council.
She added that the response from the Federal and Provincial Governments
to date has been lukewarm as to whether the terms and conditions would make the
Bridge eligible for funding under that program. When asked by the Councillor whether funding was in place for the
Bridge when the City had the $400 million, Ms. Schepers confirmed that it was
included as part of that project.
Councillor Bédard questioned
how the Bridge fits into the bus transit plans for the City. Ms. Chi responded that buses could always
run on any roadway or bridge facility built by the City as part of the local
service and noted that it would depend on what happens with Riverside
South. Part of the intention was to
have bus operation on the Bridge and there would be connections on the east
side to Park & Ride facilities, and on the west side, it would link up to
the southwest transitway facilities, particularly the Fallowfield Park &
Ride. It could be used as a component
of the overall transit service network.
Councillor Doucet felt the
Bridge would not work well to alleviate much of the traffic problem that exists
today and might actually exacerbate the problem. He suggested that building it or any new bridge would be a
mistake, especially given the amount of money that would have to go into it,
money he thought would be better invested in existing infrastructure.
Councillor Bédard speculated
that since the North-South LRT, which was supposed to service that community,
was not approved the City would be extending bus services to the community to
deal with the influx of people coming into that area. He felt the Bridge would be very helpful from that point of
view. Ms. Chi agreed and noted that
there would still be the Park & Ride lots to connect to and the buses would
need the Bridge.
Councillor Legendre advised
that he found the section of the TMP that lists the Bridge as a Phase 1
Project, but noted a multitude of other projects also in Phase 1. He requested the email that he had
previously requested, explains where the Bridge is in terms of overall priority
compared to the other projects in Phase 1.
Councillor Harder felt that
Committee Members were being very parochial with respect to the Strandherd
Bridge and its implications for their own wards. She urged Councillors to make decisions based on the benefit to
the overall City, not on individual wards.
She reiterated that there were no financial implications associated with
submitting the Bridge Proposal to the Federal and Provincial Governments, and
that further, there is no other solution at this point other than the Bridge to
deal with the traffic problems in that part of the City.
Councillor Bédard
articulated that he would support the recommendation given the fact that light
rail has not been approved and that the Bridge would be a good alternative
route for buses and a realistic measure.
Councillor Deans commented
that this issue relates to the rapid growth in the south end of Ottawa and how
the City will deal with it in the future.
She felt it would be wise to have a forum on the TMP update in order to
come up with a new plan to deal with these types of issues.
Councillor Desroches noted
that he and Councillor Harder would be hosting a forum for the southwest
community to deal with transportation issues because of the cancellation of
LRT. He expressed appreciation for the
views that had been expressed today but he reiterated that this debate was not
about the merits of the Bridge, but about going after Federal and Provincial
Funding.
Agreeing with Councillor
Desroches’ comments, Councillor Wilkinson noted roads are needed to make the
City’s transportation and transit systems work. She urged Committee to support her motion and noted that she
would also be proposing a second motion, pending approval of her proposed
amendment, with respect to writing a letter on this matter.
Moved by Councillor M.
Wilkinson:
That the two immediate Near-Term investment options in the Mayor’s Task Force on Transportation, namely the Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge and the completion of Terry Fox Drive from Kanata Avenue to Flamborough Drive, as they are currently designed, be formally submitted to the Federal and Provincial Governments for cost sharing infrastructure funding; such funding not to come from funds identified for transit projects.
CARRIED
YEAS (6) Councillors M. Wilkinson, A. Cullen, G.
Bédard, J. Legendre, D. Thompson, C. Leadman
NAYS (2): Councillors
R. Bloess, C. Doucet
Moved by M.
Wilkinson:
That the Chair of the Transportation Committee write to the National Capital Commission, Parks Canada, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to consult and confirm the process and timelines for the timely approval of the Bridge design plans.
CARRIED
The Committee
then considered the report recommendation as amended by the foregoing motions.
That the Transportation Committee recommend that City Council approve:
1. That
the two immediate Near-Term investment options in the Mayor’s Task Force on
Transportation, namely the Strandherd-Armstrong Bridge and the completion of
Terry Fox Drive from Kanata Avenue to Flamborough Drive, as they are currently
designed, be formally submitted to the Federal and Provincial Governments for
cost sharing infrastructure funding; such funding not to come from funds
identified for transit projects.
2. That
the Chair of the Transportation Committee write to the National Capital
Commission, Parks Canada, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to consult
and confirm the process and timelines for the timely approval of the bridge
design plans.
CARRIED,
as amended
PUBLIC WORKS AND SERVICES
SERVICES ET TRAVAUX PUBLICS
INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
SERVICES D’INFRASTRUCTURE
2. COST ESTIMATE FOR
FEASIBILITY STUDY TO ESTIMATE THE IMPACT OF PERMANENTLY REDUCING THE NUMBER OF
LANES ON KING EDWARD AVENUE FROM 6 TO 4
COÛT ESTIMATIF D’UNE ÉTUDE VISANT À ÉVALUER
L’INCIDENCE DE LA RÉDUCTION PERMANENTE DU NOMBRE DE VOIES SUR L’AVENUE
KING-EDWARD, POUR LE FAIRE PASSER DE 6 À 4
ACS2007-PWS-INF-0010 RIDEAU-VANIER
(12)
The following Public Works
and Services (PWS) Staff were present to answer questions on this matter:
§
Richard
Hewitt, Deputy City Manager
§
Michael Flainek, Director of Traffic and
Parking Operations
§ Wayne Newell, Director, Infrastructure Services
§ Bruce Mason, A/Manager, Construction Services West, Infrastructure Services
§
Doug
Bowron, A/Manager, Safety and Traffic Services, Traffic and Parking Operations
The Committee heard from the
following delegations:
Michel Vallée, a resident of King
Edward Avenue, Chair of the King Edward Avenue Task Force and Vice-President of
the Lowertown Community Association expressed support for the feasibility study
on the behalf of the aforementioned groups, but noted the groups feel the study
could be done at a lesser cost than anticipated. The groups also feel a sufficient amount of data has been
accumulated over the years to mitigate the need for an addendum study to the
Environmental Study Report that was carried out in 2002. He pointed out that a pilot project has
already occurred given the fact that King Edward has been reduced to four lanes
on each side for almost a year now, without major difficulty, due to area
construction.
In response to questions from Acting Chair Leadman and Councillors
Bédard, Legendre and Doucet based on the delegation’s remarks, staff provided
the following comments:
·
Staff has reviewed the matter again and has
received a second opinion from consultants that the study would cost in the
order of $75,000-125,000 because it is a significant undertaking to review the
impacts of the four other bridges as well as this one.
·
The road is not down to four lanes at present
throughout the entire corridor, nor will it be at any time in the construction
phase. Lane changes are occurring
frequently during the construction process and this results in significant
alterations to the traffic patterns throughout that corridor.
·
Whether to conduct the traffic study now or in
the future, staff would not emulate the conditions that exist today. Staff would be modelling the impact of a
reduction to four lanes throughout the entire corridor, not just one portion of
it. Staff would be carrying out a
significant review during the study of the transit options that would be
available with a reduction to four lanes, because STO currently uses this
corridor as an integral part of their network to get buses into Ottawa’s core
at certain time points.
·
Staff intends to reduce from six to four lanes of traffic
during Phase 3 of the project, the reconstruction of King Edward Avenue
between St. Patrick Street and Besserer Street to enable the work to be
done.
·
Data would be collected as part of the traffic
study, if so directed by Council, regarding the impact of the lane reductions at St. Patrick and
King Edward for traffic heading south from across the river. If staff are not directed to conduct the
study at this time but Committee and Council still wishes staff to collect that
data, a motion to that effect would be required.
·
STO
has been using the sixth lane of traffic on King Edward, in the afternoon peak,
as a stacking area for its buses that go to King Edward and Rideau. If the road were permanently reduced to four
lanes, that transit priority would be eliminated and STO would be put into two
of the four lanes of traffic, resulting in significant delays.
·
It
is staff’s understanding that STO is developing an alternate queuing or
stacking area for their buses on their side of the river, but how they will
then get from that point to King Edward and Rideau has yet to be
determined. Staff is looking at various
options, including the potential to create a transit-only lane in the afternoon
peak hours to allow them to get to that time point effectively, but nothing has
been decided yet.
Marc
Aubin, King Edward Task Force stated that the Task Force has conducted a
preliminary study of the King Edward traffic data collected by the City of
Ottawa, both before and after the street was reduced to four lanes. They also collected data on all the
Interprovincial bridges from before and after the street was reduced to four
lanes. Their analysis perceived an
eight to ten per cent reduction in traffic on both King Edward Avenue and the
Macdonald-Cartier Bridge. They were
concerned that perhaps this traffic might be using other bridges, spreading
into other wards and causing traffic problems in other areas of the downtown,
so they looked at the traffic crossing from all of the interprovincial bridges
in the downtown area and saw there was a slight decrease of between two and six
per cent on all of the other downtown bridges as well. He noted there might be several contributing
factors to these numbers. For instance,
some people may be taking the bus, others may still be driving in to work but
outside peak hours, and some people may even be eliminating trips that are no
longer necessary. The group feels that
the current lane reductions due to construction are essentially a pilot study,
and that since a great deal of data already exists, all that is really needed
is to do is get a consultant to compile and review that data and explain the
findings. Mr. Aubin also submitted
written correspondence prior to the meeting, a copy of which is held on file
with the City Clerk.
Acting Chair Leadman inquired as to who had worked on the King Edward
Task Force’s traffic report, which Mr. Aubin had included in his written
correspondence to the Committee. Mr.
Aubin informed that he was one of the primary authors of the document and that
the Task Force is a community group, not publicly funded, and as such the
report is not an official document.
Councillor Leadman commented that the document was well presented.
David Jeanes stated that he had
participated at the public open houses for the King Edward Corridor and was
invited to speak to the community association, who in turn asked him to offer
his opinions to the Transportation Committee on this matter. To that end, Mr. Jeanes commented that the
study is important and it is not just about whether cars are going to shift to
other routes, but other things can happen.
People can stay on the same route but at other times, people can
carpool, people can use transit. He
noted that much of the recent experience shows that when major urban routes are
reduced in capacity, cars do not overflow onto other routes. He felt the study should definitely proceed
and should be linked to the Interprovincial Transit Study. He acknowledged that King Edward Avenue may
or may not be considered for incorporation into the Terms of Reference of the
Interprovincial Transit study, but it is important to link them because one of
the options with reducing King Edward to four lanes is to convert two of the
lanes on the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge to High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) bus
lanes. That would be an incentive to
increase the number of occupants per vehicle on King Edward, therefore
maintaining the road’s capacity without having to have the same number of
cars. Such a project, he noted, would
have to be closely coordinated with the STO and the National Capital
Commission. He also commented that the
public really does not have a view on many of the things that are currently
happening with respect to interprovincial transit. He asked Committee to ensure that the study is comprehensive to
include other issues going through that corridor.
The Committee also received the following correspondence, copy of which
are on file with the City Clerk:
1. Letter from Christine Hanson received on 28 September 2007.
2. E-Mail from Wylie Stewart received on 28 September 2007.
3. E-Mail from Nicolas Todd received on 28 September 2007.
4. E-Mail from Marcia Almey received on 29 September 2007 adding her comments to Mr. Todd’s e-mail.
5. E-Mail from Sarah Bonesteel and Dominique Boulais received on 29 September 2007.
6. E-Mail from Han Luu received on 29 September 2007.
7. Letter from Liz MacKenzie received on 1 October 2007.
8. Letter from the former Governor General, the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson dated 19 July 2007 addressed to Marc Aubin.
9. E-Mail received 1 October 2007 from David Milman, Cathcart Street, East of King Edward.
10. E-Mail received 1 October 2007 from John Verbaas, Resident, Northwest Sandy Hill, Transportation Representative, Action Sandy Hill.
11. E-Mail received 1 October 2007 from Marc Aubin forwarding a letter signed by the presidents of three associations as well as 14 other members of the community.
12. E-Mail received 1 October 2007 addressed to Mayor Larry O’Brien from Tony Patterson, Editor and CEO, National Capital SCAN.
13. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Cam Robertson, Chair, City Centre Coalition.
14. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Jodi Brown and Anthony Carter of Rockwood Street, asking that their written submission be distributed at the meeting.
15. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Angela Rickman, President, Lowertown Community Association.
16. E-Mail received 3 October 2007 from Barbara Myers.
17. E-Mail received 3 October 2007
from David Gladstone.
Councillor Bédard gave a brief history on this
report and asked Committee to support the following motion that he would be
bringing forward - “That, during the actual
construction process which has reduced the number of lanes on King Edward
Avenue from six to four, a feasibility study be undertaken to determine the
impact of permanently reducing the Avenue to four lanes, and that the cost come
from General Reserves and be completed while the lanes are reduced.”
Councillor Bloess asked for a staff comment regarding the funding
required to carry out the feasibility study.
Mr. Hewitt responded that the funding would not be available within the
Traffic and Parking Operations Budget and that there is an option to redirect
it to the King Edward Avenue Project, to be considered as another pressure on
contingency funding.
Following debate on the issue, the Committee voted on the following
motion:
Moved by Councillor G.
Bédard:
That, during the actual
construction process which has reduced the number of lanes on King Edward
Avenue from six to four, a feasibility study be undertaken to determine the
impact of permanently reducing the Avenue to four lanes, and be completed while
the lanes are reduced; and that the cost come from General Reserves at not more
than $125,000.
CARRIED
Councillor R. Bloess
dissented.
The Committee then
considered the report recommendation as amended by the foregoing motion.
That the Transportation
Committee and Council receive this report for information and approve that
during the actual construction process which has reduced the number of lanes on
King Edward from 6 to 4, a feasibility study be undertaken to determine the
impact of permanently reducing the avenue to four lanes and that the cost come
from General Reserves and be completed while the lanes are reduced, at no more
than $125,000.
CARRIED, as amended.
TRAFFIC AND PARKING OPERATIONS
Circulation de stationnement
3. Technical Evaluation
of Albion Road at Lester Road THROUGH Movements PROHIBITIONS
ÉVALUATION TECHNIQUE DES INTERDICTIONS DE CIRCULATION DE TRANSIT À
L’INTERSECTION DES CHEMINS ALBION ET LESTER
ACS2007-PWS-TRF-0017 Gloucester-Southgate (10)
NOTE
- Items 3 and 4 were considered simultaneously.
Michael Flainek, Director of
Traffic and Parking Operations, Public Works and Services (PWS) began his
presentation by introducing the following City Staff and Members of the Ottawa
Police Services (OPS) in attendance:
·
East
Division Superintendent Charles Bordeleau, OPS.
·
Staff
Sergeant Rick Lavigne, OPS.
·
Bob
Streicher, Acting Manager, Mobility and Area Traffic Management, PWS
·
Mohammad
Tayyaran, Acting Program Manager, Area Traffic Management, PWS.
Staff provided an extensive
PowerPoint Presentation, copy of which is on file with the City Clerk, to
demonstrate why a straight through prohibitions on Albion Road and Lester Road
were implemented and to indicate why staff believes that they should remain.
For the information of the
Committee, Mr. Flainek also distributed a copy of Schedule XXVII of the Traffic
& Parking By-law, which lists all current turning movement prohibitions in
the City of Ottawa. (Copy on file with
the City Clerk.) He noted that this
List contains over 400 turn prohibitions and that it proves that the solution
being discussed here is used everywhere in the City of Ottawa to reduce cut
through traffic volumes in the community and to make traffic level more
consistent with the intending function of Albion Road as a residential
collector.
At the request of Committee
Members, staff provided the following clarifications on their presentation:
·
Traffic
volume is not increasing in the majority of residential collectors that are
built up, but is certainly increasing on arterials, major collectors, and where
new development takes place adjacent to minor residential collectors.
·
With
respect to Slide 19, traffic volumes on Bridle Path Drive, south of Hunt Club,
there may have been a slight reduction when the prohibitions went it but it
basically stayed the same.
·
It
is the same amount of through trips traffic at both the north and south ends
during peak hours. The difference is
the total traffic volumes at the south end are lower, thus the higher
percentage.
·
With
respect to Slide 28, the increased collisions after the prohibitions are because
of background growth and it is not a complete inventory of the road
network. Collisions have gone up on the
arterial network.
·
Bowesville
should currently be functioning as an arterial roadway like Albion south of
Lester and others, but will change its configuration with respect to the way
Riverside South is developing.
·
300
vehicles per hour are what the Area Traffic Management (ATM) Guidelines
consider volume to be an issue in this type of roadway.
·
In
terms of roadway classifications, D’Aoust is a collector street; Rosebella,
Kingsdale, and Queensdale are local streets.
Councillor Thompson
distributed a binder to all Committee Members and Staff, copy of which is on
file with the City Clerk. He provided
his presentation to re-open Albion Road based on information contained in the
binder and showed a short video clip as part of his presentation. He also distributed a large map showing an
overview of the area between Mitch Owens on the south, Walkley Road on the north;
Hawthorne Road on the east, and the Rideau River on the west.
Following comments received
suggesting that he mislead people with contaminated facts, he noted that the
City Clerk has investigated and will be bringing forward his report on this
issue at the next City Council Meeting.
He concluded his presentation by urging the Committee to support his
motion to remove the restrictions on Albion Road and to add traffic stop signs
between Queensdale and D’Aoust.
In response to questions
from Councillors Cullen, Doucet, Deans, Thompson and Acting Chair Leadman,
staff provided the following clarifications:
·
In
reviewing information with City Staff, the OPS have no concern with respect to
any safety issues as a result of the measures Council put into place in 2004.
·
One
of the major contributory factors to the increase in collisions at this
intersection could be the significant growth in traffic along Bank Street in
recent years.
·
While the number of collisions has increased over the past 2.5
years, given there is no identified collision pattern, no further evaluation is
deemed to be warranted.
·
The complete 2007 statistics to substantiate any accidents would
not be available until the end of the year.
·
The
Albion and Lester Intersection has not been part of the list of the top ten
accident locations throughout the City.
·
Under
the Highway Traffic Act (HTA), OPS are required to submit a police report to
the Ministry of Transportation for any accident with injury or damage that is
over a $1,000. The numbers of
collisions, referred to in the Report, are strictly those that are reportable
accidents, which are then fed to the City.
·
The
OPS role is to support new traffic measures put into place by the City in order
to gain compliance for the purpose of achieving the objectives set out by the
new measures.
·
It
is normal to see high numbers with respect to enforcement and tickets being
issued when new measures are put in place.
It is also normal to see those numbers decline, which from the OPS
perspective demonstrates compliance towards the new initiative. That has also been supported by the analysis
that City Staff has done with respect to its compliance analysis.
·
OPS
do not keep track of the actual amount of hours spent at any particular
location with respect to enforcement, however it is believed that as time went
by and with increased compliance, there were fewer tickets issued and fewer
hours spent at that intersection.
·
In
2004, there were 427 tickets issued at that intersection, 186 of which were
related specifically to the new measures being implemented.
·
There
are four types of tickets or offences that relate to these charges, two of
which relating to By-law infractions – By-law 86 for disobeying an official
sign and By-law 56 for prohibited straight movement. Under the HTA, there is also a disobey offence or a green arrow
fail to proceed as directed. Charges
are laid in accordance with the above options.
·
In
2004, 186 of the tickets issued relate specifically to the above four types of
offences. The balance is relating to
providing no licence, no insurance, or speeding, and they are ancillary to
having the officer conducting a traffic stop.
·
Collisions
relating to the new measures are declining rather dramatically – 186 in 2004;
74 in 2005; 66 in 2006; and 35 up to August 31st 2007.
·
A
combination of marked and unmarked police vehicles were used with respect to
enforcement activities at that intersection.
The Committee heard from the
following delegations:
Pansy Waterman spoke in favour of
maintaining the diversion for safety reasons.
She expressed concerned about speeding traffic on Albion Road. She asked that consideration be taken for
seniors and disabled living in the community.
Richard Mungall feels that the public
consultation process was transparent.
He spoke in favour of maintaining the diversion for safety reasons and
believes that the evidence to do so is in the staff report.
Ida Ryan showed a film that she took
at 8 o’clock this morning at the Albion and Lester intersection in support of
maintaining the diversion. She
expressed concern about the volume of traffic and noise. She asked for understanding that the
community cannot be the answer to this traffic situation. She feels the residents that are travelling
in are in dire need of infrastructure and transit answers, but she does not
hear that coming from the Councillor putting forward the motion to re-open
Albion Road. In the interest of public
safety and residential liveability, she strongly appealed to the Committee and
the full Council to continue to support the Blossom Park Community in not
removing this north-south traffic diversion but to improve upon it.
Josie Ryan concurs with the staff
technical report and asked that the diversion not be removed. She spoke in favour of maintaining the
diversion. She suggested a Park &
Ride at Leitrim to get people out of their cars so that they do not have to
come through the community and pollute a residential street while going
downtown.
Janet Mismas spoke in favour of
maintaining the diversion and noted that this is the fifth time since July 2002
that she came before a Committee at City Hall to speak on the subject of Albion
Road. She asked Committee to continue
to protect her community. She believes
that allowing highway volume traffic through Blossom Park will not make it
safer. She feels that since the
re-direction was put in place in 2004 the community has come to know the
meaning of quality of life. She also
believes that the constant noise from speeding traffic and exhaust pollution
has been reduced. She urged the
Committee to leave the traffic re-direction at Albion and Lester Roads in
place, for the safety of the neighbourhood.
Ms. Mismas’ complete presentation was distributed to all Members of
Council and is on file with the City Clerk.
Jill Bryan spoke in favour of
maintaining the diversion. She
expressed concern the same concerns as the previous delegation. She asked that the Committee to retain the
Albion Road diversion and redirect efforts to other traffic management
requests.
Bill Janzen noted his written
submission sent to all Members of Council on October 1st 2007. Even though he was very pleased that the
Technical Evaluation supported the diversion so strongly, he believes that its
argument would have been even stronger if it had looked very carefully at the
developments in the south and the massive increase in traffic volume that is
likely to result from them. He submits
that if the diversion is lifted the traffic volume will rise not just to what
it was three years ago but well above that.
He encouraged the Committee and the technical advisors to look at
alternatives and solutions. He does not
believe that lifting the diversion would be helpful; he thinks that it would
create far more problems than it would be solved.
Yolande Grenier spoke in favour of
maintaining the diversion and expressed concern about traffic and noise. She believes that less traffic makes it
safer for children, who have to cross Albion Road, everyday to go and come home
from school, as well as for senior citizens in the neighbourhood. She asked the Committee to vote again to
keep the traffic redirection in place.
She also believes that removing it will once again limit her freedom of
movement on the neighbourhood street.
Jacquelyn Baumberg started her presentation by
stating that she believes Council made the right decision in 2004 to place a
redirection at Lester Road to prevent the north south straight through traffic
on Albion Road. Since the redirection
has been in place, she noted that the road has been calmer, safer and the
community enjoys an improved quality of life in the neighbourhood. Consequently, she is in firmly in favour of
maintaining the diversion. However, in
view of the fresh efforts to re-open the road, she believes that there are
seriously reasons for concern. She
expressed concern about the high volume of traffic and about the safety of
people frequenting the day care centre, the Buddhist house of worship, the
townhouse residential areas with entrances onto Albion Road.
Earl Vandahl spoke in favour of
maintaining the diversion but is open to discussion for a solution to move the
City forward. He believes that the
enthusiasm and motivation shown on this issue need to be harnessed in a
productive manner to get on with the business of making the City a better
place. He thanked everybody for the
hard work and input in this issue. He
asked that the traffic diversion be maintained.
Cheryl Doran, Save Our
Greenspace
spoke about community safety. She
believes that since the diversion was implemented there has been noticeable
reduction in the number of cars on Albion Road. She expressed concern about the volume of traffic on D’Aoust Road
and briefed the Committee on an investigation that she undertook on her own to
assess the situation. She concluded
that the Albion Road residents should be upset with people coming from the
community on Queensdale but not from residents from Councillor Thompson’s Ward.
Peter Lok, President of
Emerald Woods Residents Association spoke in favour of maintaining the traffic
diversion. He expressed concern about
the safety of residents, students walking to school, and commuters walking to
catch buses on Albion Road noting that several streets that assess Albion Road
within Emerald Woods do not have sidewalks.
He asked the Committee if any alternative is going to be considered that
Emerald Woods Residents Association be invited to participate and would like to
work co-operatively with all parties to try and come up with a transportation
solution that would meet everybody’s needs.
He concluded his presentation by stating that the Emerald Woods
Residents Association supports the redirection until an alternative is found to
address their concerns.
Kenneth Graham spoke in favour of
maintaining the diversion and the safety of children in his neighbourhood, one
of them being his eight years old daughter.
He believes that the diversion has been a tremendous success. He noted that since 2004 his neighbourhood
has experienced a significant increase in the number of housing units. With new developments underway, he stated
that even with maintaining the traffic diversion, Albion Road traffic would
increase significant. He reminded
Committee of the approximate costs of $200,000 for the Albion Corridor Traffic
Study and the implementation of the diversion.
He feels this has achieved its goal and therefore it was money well
spent. However, if the decision were
reverse in the face of all the evidence to the contrary then the entire project
would have been a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money. He is sympathetic to the concerns of Councillor Thompson’s
constituents, who lament their lengthy commute to work each day. He thinks that it is high time this
Committee and Council address their concerns and offer the citizens of Osgoode
Ward viable and affordable mass transit service. If they are in fact looking for relief from the daily stress of
commuting then surely the use of extended OC Transpo services should appeal to
them. He is also sympathetic to those
in his neighbourhood, who feel that the diversion has caused increased cut
through traffic on Queensdale, Kingsdale, and D’Aoust Streets. He encouraged the Committee to direct that
traffic studies be conducted on these streets to determine if this is in fact
the case, and if it is, he then suggests that appropriate traffic calming
measures be implemented. Further, he
told Committee that the proposal to re-open Albion Road to through traffic and
add two additional three-way stops between Queensdale and D’Aoust is a ridiculous
idea with absolutely no expert support behind it. It would create stop and go traffic nightmare along Albion Road
especially during rush hour.
Terence Scheltema spoke in favour of
maintaining the diversion. He spoke
about the overnight casino traffic, the heavy volume and speed of traffic, as
well as the noise from motorcycles before the diversion. He emphasized the fact that the new housing
developments are already going to contribute to the traffic volume. He believes removing the diversion would be
mounting on to what is likely to become a problem in the community. He does not see additional stop signs as a
viable alternative. While supporting
the City’s master transit plan, he feels that it is important that the City
abide by it. He asked the Committee to
vote based on the evidence and not be influenced by some of the emotional
presentations both for and against the diversion.
George Elbeyrouti spoke in favour of
maintaining the diversion. He spoke
about the increased weekend traffic since the opening of the casino before the
diversion. He expressed concern about
the high-speed traffic and noise. He
asked Committee to keep the diversion for safety reasons.
Harry Allen, Former Mayor of
former City of Gloucester began his presentation by stating that he is grieved to see the Community
of Blossom Park divided like this. He
told Committee that he was very much involved with the Lester Road west going
to the airport. He negotiated on the
transfer of land from the former City of Gloucester to the National Capital
Commission (NCC) in return for land at Blackburn Hamlet, and at Albion Road
& Lester Road in order to get a direct road access into the airport; to
divert traffic in that direction; and to provide an alternative for people
going towards Bronson Avenue. He
questioned Council’s decision to block such a significant collector road with
the diversion. He believes, before
making that decision, the City should have negotiated for land from the NCC to
build a road from Albion Road over to Bank Street. This road should be built ingeniously so that motorists would be
encouraged to use it. He noted, in the
staff report, the number of accidents at Lester Road and Bank Street have gone
up significantly. He told Committee
that recently, while visiting a friend in south Gloucester, he was appalled to
see what was happening on Albion Road.
Where he felt that he was involved with improvements in that area, now
he sees and hears from the community that is quite the opposite. He suggested Committee and Council’s task is
not easy but carrying on with the no-through traffic is causing problems on
residential streets that are not built to carry the volume of traffic, and with
no sidewalks. He reiterated that to
divert traffic from a significant collector on to residential streets is not good. He believes that Committee and Council have
a difficult decision but he thinks that there should have been something
preparatory by way of a new road from Albion Road over to Bank Street with
proper signalization in order to avoid accidents, and also so efficient that it
would be attractive for the travelling community.
In reply to Councillor
Deans, Mr. Allen confirmed that he was present and heard staff presentation on
the impact of traffic on the side streets.
He heard conflicting information in that respect and noted his
disappointment when staff showed the flow of traffic on the road that were not
taken on site, i.e. on Albion Road but was taken somewhere else.
In addition, in response to
Councillor Deans, Mr. Allen advised that he lives in Kanata Lakes and prior to
that he lived in Beacon Hill North when he represented the area of all of
Gloucester from Manotick up to including Orleans for 13 years, and was never a
ward councillor or alderman. Hence, his
thinking on these matters is not “what’s good for a particular ward” but
“what’s good for the total community”.
Councillor El-Chantiry asked
Mr. Allen if he was on Council in Gloucester when improvements were being
conducted on Albion Road. Mr. Allen
advised that he left the Gloucester Council in 1991, but is not certain of the
exact dates of improvements on Albion Road.
However, he noted that he was a supporter of the OC Transpo Transitway
and public transit, and questioned why the transitway was not extended to
Leitrim, for example, to provide an alternative. He believes that the solution for this problem before Committee
is not an easy one, and is going to cost a lot of money to correct it.
In response to Councillor
Thompson’s question, Mr. Allen told Members of the Committee that the traffic
problem in question is all over the City and is not unique to that part of the
City. The solution is to wisely select
the priorities in providing alternatives – transitway being one and a new road
from Albion Road up to Bank Street another one.
For the benefit of those who
are not aware, Councillor Legendre noted that Mr. Allen was a politician, who
was not afraid to make difficult and controversial decisions, and summarized in
a very tongue in cheek way that his presentation at the meeting was to take the
blame for the problem with Albion Road today.
Mr. Allen noted seriously that he was here to say that he is sorry to
see the division in the community and confirmed that he took some difficult
decisions.
Eugene Gorgichuk spoke in favour of
re-opening Albion Road. He questioned
how a small group of residents in Blossom Park virtually despise the idea of
Greely; Osgoode or Manotick residents driving down their street yet insist that
they drive through the streets of their neighbours within the same community. He said that small group of people, who do
not want the pollution of heavy traffic encroaching on their air space yet they
insist that additional pollution caused by cars travelling a greater distance
is thrust upon their neighbours. He
noted that Lester and Bank accidents went from 2 to 16 in a two and a half year
period, which points out the results of driver frustration because of the
detour. He also noted that with
amalgamation Greely, Osgoode and Manotick residents are forced to pay for infrastructure
and improvements to that infrastructure and maintenance throughout the City’s
boundaries. He believes their tax
dollars make them partners with all City of Ottawa taxpayers in their
responsibilities as well as in the enjoyment of the City in a common sense
way. He asked that, with the projected
and continuing growth in the south end of the City, to re-open Albion Road and
slow the traffic through the Lester to the Bank area to keep it safe and have
the Councillor for the Blossom Park represent hopefully all of the wishes of
the taxpayers in that ward. He believes
that many people, regardless where they live share the expression he made to
Committee. He also believes that it is
fair to say unless you drive that route on a regular basis daily or several
times a week during the heavy traffic times, during winter and summer months,
you cannot really assess the situation.
He questioned when and how some of the City’s information provided was
compiled, and he asked for a more common sense approach to this entire topic.
Wilfrid Côté spoke in favour of
maintaining the diversion, recommended by Delcan, a firm specialized in traffic
study, as the best method to control the traffic volume to the benefit of the
population of Blossom Park. He believes
that the staff technical evaluation report confirms the diversion is
appropriate and is efficient. He asked
Committee to vote against the removal of the existing diversion.
Robert Cameron, representing
the members of the Gloucester South Senior Centre spoke against the closure
of Albion Road. He expressed concern
about the traffic and the safety of seniors navigating through the area with
the diversion. He wondered why the City
allowed housing developments to occur in the south end yet not providing them with
suitable access roads to get downtown.
In response to Councillor
Thompson’s question, Mr. Cameron advised that there were 42 members at the
Gloucester South Senior Centre June Annual General Meeting and the vote to pass
the motion to support through traffic was unanimous.
Councillor Legendre, in
response to the delegation’s question on building suitable access roads,
wondered whether the delegation could afford the taxes to build all necessary
roads for developing communities. Mr. Cameron
replied by noting that 40 years ago, the Alta Vista Corridor was put through,
which would have resolved many of the current problems.
Councillor Deans offered to
attend a Gloucester South Senior Centre Meeting and bring some of the Traffic
Area Management Staff to answer questions.
Wade Wallace, Blossom Park / Sawmill Community Association gave a brief history of his involvement in working towards re-opening Albion Road with solutions that would solve the problem. He noted that he had 511 signatures from only the Blossom Park area residents, who had enough with the closure and who feel they are getting extra traffic. Regardless of all the statistics, he believes that there is only one bottom line and one real expert - that is the residents, who say one way or the other whether they want it open or close. With respect to the current division in the neighbourhood, he thinks there has to be a compromise, which is to put in traffic calming measures on a road that could handle the of volume, not on the side streets. He also thinks that working together as a community on this kind of project would make a huge difference.
With respect to traffic
calming measures, Councillor Cullen pointed out, for the benefit of the
delegation, that the City has a huge backlog of studies from communities who
want traffic calming, a theme found across the City, to ensure that cut through
traffic is not threatening their streets.
He noted that this is something to think about when going through the
2008 Budget in November.
In response to Councillor
Thompson’s question, Mr. Wallace stated that people, who are aware of the
Airport Parkway improvement, would prefer using the Parkway instead of driving
through a neighbourhood that has traffic measures.
In response to Councillor
Deans’ question with respect to traffic calming measure backlog,
Mr. Wallace suggested that stop signs is the answer in the interim, which
would allow pedestrians to cross; break up of traffic and residents living on
Albion Road to be able to pull in and out of their laneway, and they are
inexpensive.
At the request of Councillor
El-Chantiry, Mr. Wallace provided Committee with a copy of the 511-Signature
Petition, a copy of which is on file with the City Clerk.
In response to Acting Chair
Leadman, Mr. Wallace clarified that timed diversions could be an option amongst
many.
Ron Stewart, President of
the Board of Directors of Atrium I, a building of 200 condominiums, with the majority
of residents being seniors, a number of working professionals, and a small
amount of residents with children. He
told Committee of a petition to re-open Albion Road was circulated in his
building and the vast majority of the residents contacted signed in favour of
the re-opening. It is his understanding
that the majority of residents in the sister condominium, Atrium II, also with
200 condominiums share the same view.
They care about their neighbours and their children, and they also care
about the children and the seniors who reside in Atriums I & II. They have always felt that the concerns of
those fighting to keep Albion Road closed could be balanced with the concerns
of those who are fighting to open it again with some traffic control
measures. Many of the Atriums I &
II residents want the open access to go to the Gloucester Seniors Centre, St.
James Anglican Church and other churches, businesses on Albion Road as well as
to the Golf Courses and the Casino. He
believes cutting across side streets is a problem for them and it creates
traffic flow on the side streets. He
advised that a number of residents and he attended nearly all of the meetings
dealing with this subject including the September 26th fiasco
meeting at the school. Those who
attended that meeting were shocked and he was disappointed with the way the
meeting was not allowed to be conducted and the fact that it seems there is no
democracy operating in the communities.
He feels sad that the matter has divided the family in immediate
community not to mention the animosity created towards their neighbours to the
south of Lester. He urged the Committee
to let common sense prevail and the wishes of the majority be considered. He also urged the Committee to consider the
proposal mentioned by Mr. Wallace and previous delegations to reduce and slow
down the traffic flow, and above all enforce the traffic laws diligently. He asked for some consideration be given to
reducing the speed limit on Bridle Path and Albion from Lester to Bank as on
the side streets that are feeders to Albion noting that Bridle Path has become
quite a feeder road from Hunt Club to Albion.
William R. Caw stated Albion Road
(Regional Road #25) is not a particularly special Regional Road that has
experienced development growth, as has the entire south end of Ottawa. It is not special in any other way, historically,
ecologically, or economically other than to support the movement of citizens to
their place of business or residents, and to provide a living to a number of
local businesses. He also stated that
for some reasons, some residents of Albion Road see themselves as more special
than other road residents. He believes
closing this road at Lester upset the traffic demographic on several other
roads in the vicinity. Although there
has been increased development in the area, approved by Council without concern
for traffic repercussions including the abandonment of the north-south rail
link, which might have help to limit traffic flow, this could be a deemed
abrogation of responsibility. He feels
all residents should have the same right for safe and peaceful existence. He also feels if the issue is one of safety
only, Albion could be made safer by lights, speed bumps and the OPS. He noted that the bulk of traffic through this
area is during commuting hours. He said
that the detour at Albion and Lester has caused drivers to find other routes or
junctions to the quiet collector residential streets. He thinks that this is a greater hazard than letting the traffic
free flow, as these new routes have become learned routes making traffic hazard
in the areas even outside commuter hours.
He further spoke against the closure of Albion Road and asked that
elected officials to resolve this matter quickly before it gets further out of
hand and to uphold the democratic values.
In response to Councillor
Deans, Mr. Caw acknowledged that he was not aware of the City’s Official Plan
Document and the different classifications of roads, however, he is aware of
the vast increase in traffic along Highway 31 because of the massive
developments in the area. Councillor
Deans suggested that he read the report to see the different classifications
and that Bank Street, where he lives, is designated as an arterial intended to
carry a higher volume of traffic than a local street such as Albion Street,
which has a local collector designation.
Matthew Rankin, a resident of the
community with a professional background in road safety and fuel efficiency
noted that there are a number of consequences from this road closure. He provided detailed information to justify
his comments, copy of which is on file with the City Clerk. He talked about issues of environmental,
health and safety impacts from this closure to the attention of the
Committee. He suggested the City takes
many small grassroots initiatives to start making changes and not to look at
one big solution. He believes that
closing one road is not the solution because people will find other ways
through residential streets. He said
that the City is failing in its attempt to modernize its traffic infrastructure
compared to other cities.
Councillor Deans, referring
to the list provided by City Staff of over 400 intersections in the City of
Ottawa that have traffic diversion measures currently in place, asked Mr.
Rankin if he would be suggesting to City Council that these diversions be
lifted. Mr. Rankin responded that the
diversions would have to be assessed individually because there is a big
difference between timed and permanent restrictions.
Further to Councillor
Thompson’s question, the delegation clarified that driver behaviour is very
complex. He said that many people would
prefer to keep driving as opposed to stopping.
He stated that putting in speed bumps might have a smaller emission increase
because you are accelerating your car a few times to go over the speed bumps as
opposed to driving a lengthy detour.
Deborah Moore spoke in favour of
maintaining the diversion. She
expressed concern about traffic volume and noise. She believes very strongly that the diversion is necessary to
provide her community with the best possible answer.
Gayle Webber, a Blossom Park
Community resident, said that the traffic on Albion Street and in the
neighbourhood has made a huge difference.
She spoke in favour of the maintaining the diversion. Although this diversion is inconvenient for
everybody, she believes that it has to absolutely stay for the safety of the
neighbourhood.
In response to Councillor
Deans, Ms. Webber advised that the traffic is at all hours and suggested
stronger enforcement.
In response to Councillor
Thompson, Ms. Webber clarified her comments that it is safer to walk on Albion
Road after the diversion because there is less volume and speed of traffic.
Kim Ryan spoke in favour of
maintained the traffic diversion. She
expressed concern about the increased traffic volume, especially from the
Casino. She read three statements from
the technical review –
§
Page
61 of the report says – Traffic calming measures are unlikely to address the
volume and through traffic issues that are of concern to the community.
§
Page
13 – The intersection of Albion and Lester Roads is an area where increased
traffic pressures have been occurring and will continue to occur as a result of
the development growth.
§
Page
36 – Absent any change in the status quo, the subject section of roadway will
see overall traffic volumes and the proportion of non-local traffic continue to
increase, resulting in diminished quality of life for area residents.
She asked Committee and
Council vote to maintain the traffic re-direction on Albion Road and she thanked
Councillor Deans for standing by her community on an issue, which has
unfortunately become quite contentious.
In response to Councillor
Thompson, Ms. Ryan advised that she did not have data to support that the 10
p.m. and 2 a.m. traffic is coming anywhere other than the Casino, but she also
alluded to traffic coming from fast growing south end of the community, such as
Finley Creek and Riverside South.
Ian Rayburn, a high school teacher with
the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, has always taught his students that
one of the cornerstones of a democracy is the participation of the electorate
accompanied by subsequent consultation with all the stakeholders. He believes in this particular area the
majority of Blossom Park residents have been let down by their elected
representative. He spoke about the lack
of consultation with respect to the closing of Albion Road. Having personally spoken with many affected
residents, he suggested that their input was not sought. He advised safety over convenience is not
really the issue but the fact is that the safety of all residents on the side
streets has been compromised by the overflow of traffic, which use to traverse
Albion. He thinks that for the
residents of the closed portion of Albion to maintain that those desiring
re-opening desire it simply for the sake of convenience over safety makes a
specious and insulting argument. He
opined that safety on the side streets has been jeopardized by the increased
traffic because of the closure. He
questioned whether the roughly four blocks residents of Albion, who lobbied
Councillor Deans for closure, trumped those who are adversely affected. He suggested that the result of this closure
and its resulting increased danger to residents not living on Albion as a result
of overflow traffic as far east as Conroy is unconscionable. He believes that this sounds like the
perfect example of the NIMBY Syndrome.
He questioned City Staff’s in its report maintaining that the decision
was justified in order to reduce traffic levels and improved community safety -
what community Blossom Park or just Albion Road? He believes that it is obvious that when a street is close,
traffic is going to be reduced. He also
believes that what is not demonstrated, is that traffic has moved on to the
side streets and it certainly did not disappear. He also questioned the staff report indicating that there is a
23% reduction in collisions in the area.
He thinks it is just in that portion of Albion, thus staff is stating
the obvious – less traffic fewer collisions.
He further questioned whether all reported collisions were considered or
just those resulting in over $1,000 damage.
Although the staff report maintains that travel times as a result of
closure were not affected, he was always taught that a straight line is the
shortest distance between any two given points and questioned the logic. He questioned the statistics collected and
reminded the Committee that statistics are like bikinis - what they reveal is
suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.
He stated that the quality of life of side street residents has
deteriorated; the volume of traffic has increased and their safety is
threatened by this closure.
In response to Councillor
Legendre’s questions, Mr. Rayburn confirmed that he is not in favour of
maintaining the closure. He has lived
on Rosebella since 1991 and can never recall receiving or reading any
notification about this closure going through.
Councillor Deans can attest that he is active in events of the area and
as his job as a high school teacher he tries to keep up to date of what is
going. For the information of the
Committee, he noted that he did take a day off work without pay.
Councillor Deans advised Mr.
Rayburn that the meetings discussing the closure of Albion Road were advertised
in the Ottawa Citizen, the Ottawa Sun, and Le Droit in accordance with the
public participation policy. Mr.
Rayburn admitted not missing the advertisements, and the Councillor offered to
provide him with a copy.
Betty Kasaboski advised that her position
on this issue is for the re-opening of Albion Road for the safety of all the
children of Blossom Park, who are now at a greater risk and are the biggest
loser. She expressed concern about the
safety of children being jeopardized with the diversion. She implored Committee to consider
re-opening Albion Road before any child gets hurt on Queensdale, Kingsdale, and
Rosebella.
Kimberly Day had no new information to
offer the Committee other than to say that just because she does not technically
live in the yellow blob, it does not mean that the closure of Albion Road does
not affect her life everyday. She is
adamantly opposed to keeping Albion Road closed and suggested that another
solution is needed. She feels that the
closure is just a band-aid solution and all it is doing is diverting traffic
and causing problems on the other streets.
She urged Committee to find a more permanent solution.
Al Gullon spoke about his expertise,
his research, and papers on the issue of traffic. He noted that his research is relevant to the question before
Committee and it has proven on data from 17 countries that the precipitating
cause of all traffic collisions is AMPS – The Absent-Minded Professor Syndrome;
in French – syndrome dans la lune. He also noted that conclusion has been hugely
corroborated by early results from a multi-million dollar NACSA (US Federal
Agency) Study. He showed graphics
illustrating that the risk of accident is not linear with traffic volume or
density. It starts at zero to zero; if
nobody is moving nobody dies, and then continues up proportional to the
increase in volume but as the density gets heavier, the actual risk of an
accident goes down again. He advised
that graph has been substantiated by several decades of traffic safety research
– when the traffic is denser then the accident rate goes down. Having reviewed the latest City’s technical
report, he pointed out that taken at face value, the City data shows that
closing Albion at Lester has been a lose/lose for traffic safety. Not only has the increase through traffic on
D’Aoust increased slightly the collision risk, but also Albion itself now has a
slightly higher risk level. Although the
large reduction in traffic volume has reduced the total number of collisions per
year with City data at face value, that reduction has been less than
proportional to the volume change. As a
result the risk of the collision for each kilometre travelled, whether an adult
in a car or a child on a bicycle, has gone up slightly. This is completely consistent with his
Barcelona Paper and with the results of that NACSA Study. He proposed a solution, which would produce
a win/win situation for collision risk, the environment and energy consumption,
even with Albion re-opened, and specifically he proposed that throughout
Blossom Park including Albion the traditional right of way priorities be
reverse. Currently, a driver starting
at a residential cul-de-sac faces stop signs, under his courtesy priority
proposal, that driver would have the right of way all the way to the traffic
lights on the major arterial. On Albion
itself, the traffic flow would change dramatically for the better. Instead of a noisy roaring engine followed
by squealing brakes, highly polluting, stop and start, very frustrating journey
from Lester to Bank, traffic would proceed smoothly steadily and safely. Instead of a royally ignoring driver on side
streets, the driver on Albion would be legally constrained by the yield sign to
pay attention to drivers on those side streets in order to facilitate their
entrance to Albion. Peak speed would be
lower but the average speed for the trip would be higher. Mr. Gullon confirmed Acting Chair Leadman’s
statement that he had previously submitted detailed information and a graphic
from his Barcelona Paper to all Members of Council, copy of which are on file
with the City Clerk.
In response to Councillor
Bloess, Mr. Gullon advised that he lives in Councillor McRae’s Ward.
Stephen McDonnell, a Greely
resident,
presented the opinion of the bulk of commuters moving from the south to the
north and back everyday. He spoke
against the diversion and the problems caused by it. He advocates the re-opening of the Albion Road for the purposes
of freeing up the traffic at that intersection. He believes that the existing traffic lights system is
exacerbating the concentration of traffic thereby motivating people to find
alternate route as people of Blossom Park have discussed. He stated that the City of Ottawa has
approved major development projects but has not backed it up with
infrastructure for transportation. He
encouraged Committee immediately following the resolution of this motion, one
way or the other, move into the area of either light rail or the expansion of
the transitway and park & ride facilities down south, which is desperately
needed.
Colin McFarlane stated that the
intersection of Albion Road at Lester Road should remain closed to through
traffic. He believes that the future
quality of life and safety of this neighbourhood should not be put in jeopardy
for a one-two minute commute. A
designated collector lane should not be used as an arterial road. As a concerned citizen of Ottawa, he does
not live in this neighbourhood; therefore, he thinks he has a unique
perspective that he can share with Committee today. He sold his house on a street right at Albion. He worked with Councillor Deans and the
community to get the road closed; it was not quick enough. He could not wait and had to move because he
and his family were living with a cushion in their window. He spoke about issues at peak hours and late
at night. He also spoke in favour of
this diversion for safety reason. He
urged Committee not to open Albion Road at Lester Road. He stated that the many years of a quiet safer
neighbourhood definitely has more value than a rush few minutes of an unsafe
daily commute.
Heidi Higgins spoke in favour of
re-opening Albion Road. She believes
that the closure of Albion Road has jeopardized the safety of both children and
adults in her community due to the diversion of traffic caused to the
residential streets that run adjacent to Albion Road. She advised that prior to the closure her corner was quiet with
minimal traffic during the day; the corner has a 4-way stop with single-family
homes on two corners, a condominium development on one, and the Saw Mill Creek
Community Centre on the fourth. Traffic
was only noticeable immediately before and after school when buses and parents
were transporting school children.
Today, the level of traffic has increased to a level that makes it
dangerous to cross this residential street.
She expressed concern about the volume of traffic, speeding drivers and
drivers ignoring stop signs. She feels
that it is necessary to go back to the table and find a solution for the entire
community rather than pushing the problem from neighbourhood to another. She does not believe that this needs to be
the neither-or issue it has become.
In response to questions
from Councillor Deans, Ms. Higgins questioned why her perception is not being
taken as seriously as the perception as those living on Albion Road. She is not here to debate the closure or the
opening but to say that it has affected the larger community and it needs to be
recognized and addressed, and something needs to be put into place.
Andrew Day spoke in favour of
re-opening Albion Road as a solution to safety and traffic solution.
Lorna Weins, a Blossom Park resident
for 15 years spoke in favour of re-opening Albion Road. She advised that she was not given an
opportunity to vote against the closure.
She believes that people would still use Albion Road even it is close.
Audrey Webster asked the Committee to
reject re-opening Albion Road and that the diversion be kept. She expressed concerns about the safety of
older people. She believes that the
increase in traffic is not because of the redirection. She asked Committee to support re-opening
Albion Road.
Peter Lang spoke in favour of
re-opening Albion Road. He believes
that the current traffic problem is only the beginning of a growing
problem. He suggested that perhaps in
the future Albion Road be merged on to the highway and the Airport
Parkway. He asked Committee to support
the re-opening of Albion Road.
Having heard from all the
delegations, the Committee also received the following correspondences, which
are on file with the City Clerk:
1. E-Mail received 6 September 2007 from Ian Clough asking that Albion Road be kept closed.
2. E-Mail received 6 September 2007 from Robert Aubé, Re-open Albion Road NOW.
3. E-Mail received 6 September 2007 from Harry Allen, Former Mayor of Former City of Gloucester.
4. E-Mail received 21 September 2007 from Irene Marushko asking that Albion Road be kept closed.
5. E-Mail received 21 September 2007 from Myrnah and Gerry Vullings supporting the continued closure of Albion Road.
6. E-Mail received 24 September 2007 from JoAnn and Gerry Crichlow supporting the continued closure of Albion Road.
7. E-Mail received 25 September 2007 from Wayne Moore supporting the continued closure of Albion Road.
8. E-Mail received 25 September 2007 from Janet Mismas on behalf of Angelo and Francesca Caminiti, asking to keep "through traffic" out of Blossom Park by leaving the traffic re-direction at Lester Rd in place.
9. E-Mail received 26 September 2007 from Khalil & Sylvia Hayek – Opposed to the re-opening of Albion Road.
10. E-Mail received 26 September 2007 from Grace and Al Sontrop, asking Committee to vote against the removal of the traffic redirect at Albion and Lester.
11. E-Mail received 27 September 2007 from Sharon Corbett, in favour of re-opening Albion Road.
12. E-Mail received 1 October 2007 from Helen Cory, in favour of re-opening Albion Road.
13. E-Mail received 1 October 2007 from Salvatore Guerra asking to maintain the closure.
14. E-Mail received 1 October 2007 from Tim Bakos, re Letter to be read at Transportation Committee Meeting, October 3, 2007 - Re: Albion Road / Lester.
15. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Allison Millar and Daniel Lavoie, strongly supporting keeping the re-direction in place.
16. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Denise Bellingham, supporting the re-opening of Albion Road.
17. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Emily MacDonald, requesting that her submission be reflected in the Minutes.
18. Hand Delivered Letter from Mrs. M. Gertrude (Maule) Lefebvre, requesting to re-open Albion Road.
19. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Eleanor Ryan, in support of maintaining diversion.
20. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Bill Janzen, in support of maintaining the diversion.
21. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Rothwell Hauck Gallery & Framing, in support of re-opening Albion Road.
22. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Sheilagh Murray-Macdonald, in support of re-opening Albion Road.
23. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Gary Macdonald, in support of re-opening Albion Road.
24. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Al Gullon, providing technical solutions.
25. E-Mail received 2 October 2007 from Yves Leduc, in support of re-opening Albion Road.
26. E-Mail received 3 October 2007 from A. Kuraishi, Ottawa South Resident in support of re-opening Albion Road.
27. E-Mail received 3 October 2007 from Mrs Fabienne Dassylva, Blossom Park Resident, in support of re-opening Albion Road.
28. E-Mail received 3 October 2007 from David Gladstone.
29. E-Mail received 3 October 2007 from Peter Everson, in support of maintaining the diversion.
30. Janet Mismas’ complete presentation along with a copy of the relevant section of the Rideau Carleton Raceway Expansion and the Traffic Impact Study from which she quoted received following the meeting and was distributed to all Members of Council.
The Committee then received
the staff report as follows:
That the Transportation Committee and Council receive the “Technical
Evaluation of Albion Road and Lester Road through Movements Prohibitions
Report” for information, which confirms the appropriateness of maintaining
the north-south through movement prohibitions at the intersection of Albion
Road and Lester Road.
RECEIVED
After
receiving the staff report, the Committee carried on with questions on the
following Item 4.
COUNCILLORS’ ITEMS
ARTICLES DES CONSEILLERS
Councillor / Conseiller D. Thompson
4. ALBION ROAD CLOSURE
AT LESTER ROAD TO NORTH/SOUTH THROUGH TRAFFIC
FERMETURE DU CHEMIN ALBION À LA HAUTEUR DU CHEMIN LESTER À LA CIRCULATION
DE TRANSIT EN DIRECTION NORD ET SUD
ACS2007-CCS-TRC-0006 osgoode (20)
This item was considered simultaneously with
Item 3.
In response to questions from
Councillor Thompson, staff provided the following clarifications on the
Technical Report:
·
When doing the Albion Road Corridor Study,
staff did ask input from the Technical Advisory Committee on which the OPS and
the two School Boards were included.
·
The Emergency Services did respond to staff
call for input, but do not recall receiving a response from the OPS and the
School Boards.
·
As part of the review, school buses and
authorized vehicles are exempt. Staff
did check with the School Boards in order to discuss their routing and impacts
from the prohibited through movement.
Councillor
Thompson noted that in checking with the Public School Board, they advised that
they were not consulted because they would have voiced strong objection with
respect to the school bus movements.
·
The
consultation done in 2002 would have been as a result of notices sent for the
community, and through the public open house; therefore no specific or
additional consultation with businesses other than that.
·
In
2002, notices were sent to people north of Lester Road and west of Bank Street;
therefore, the 90+ businesses south of Lester Road, other than seeing the notices
in the newspapers, were not consulted.
·
Approximately
50% of the diverted traffic had legitimate business within Blossom Park.
·
Although
as part of the process, staff projected that traffic volume may increase on
some of the side streets, since then staff has been able to verify through
comparison of before and after volume, there has been no change in traffic
volume on those side streets.
·
Staff
will provide Councillor Thompson with the times and dates of the traffic counts
before the Council Meeting.
·
Staff
is aware of the situation at Lester and Bank.
Currently, there are 120 intersections in the City of Ottawa that are
failing. This one is not failing and
therefore there is not enough money to keep up with the current failure rate of
intersections. Certainly aware of it
and has looked at any potential operational changes that can be made. Traffic patterns have changed on these
various arterials. We dealt with that
and we have been aware of that, so we have been able to accommodate traffic as
best we can with respect to increasing the time at a particular signal that is
phasing. So we are aware of that and we
do what we can.
·
At
Bank at Lester, part of the proposal was to get people off Albion put them on
Bank. In any studies in relation to
this, have we done traffic counts on Bank Street? The TPO have a regular program of collecting traffic data on
various streets, especially at signalized intersections. We do certainly have traffic volume
information; there are other sources of information – there are screen lines
counts that are done in this area.
·
Staff
will provide Councillor Thompson before the Council Meeting a comparison of the
traffic volume on Bank Street in 2002 and 2005.
·
Staff
is aware of the issues in and around the study area and will look at what is
the optimal signal timing for the traffic volumes approaching the intersection.
·
The
Condominium Corporation, not the City of Ottawa, initiated the closing of
Aladdin Lane. The initial evaluation,
one year after the restriction went in place, found there was an increase in
traffic on that street, but it was minimal.
Aladdin Villa felt that it was in its best interest to close the road
and the City supported the closure.
·
Roadways
are closed or chained with a weak link, familiar to emergency vehicle providers
and specifically designed to allow emergency vehicles to go through.
·
Staff
will investigate if the Condominium has put in place a much more secure link,
like a gated situation, that would not allow emergency vehicles to go through.
·
The
requirement of the Aladdin Closure was that the Condominium would provide
emergency access. Staff would
investigate this closure and will provide Councillor Thompson with its dynamic
when it was put in place.
Councillor Deans took this
opportunity to thank all the presenters for their participation. She also thanked staff for providing a
thorough presentation and an excellent report.
She advised that she would hold her questions until the City Council
Meeting.
In conclusion,
she asked City Staff to provide its expert opinion on the suggestion of
removing the straight through prohibition and installing stops signs at Albion
& Goth, and at Albion & Kingsdale.
The response from staff was that people would stop using Albion Road
thus the volume of traffic would grow in that area and the impacts would also
grow significantly.
At that point, Councillor
Bédard asked that the vote be called.
Following a brief discussion, the Committee voted on calling the
question:
Moved by Councillor G.
Bédard:
That the question be put.
YEAS (2): Councillors
R. Bloess, G. Bédard
NAYS
(6): Councillors M. Wilkinson, A.
Cullen, J. Legendre, C. Doucet, D. Thompson, C. Leadman
The Committee
then proceeded in debating the report.
Councillor
Wilkinson advised that she would actually vote in favour of keeping the
restriction in place at this time. She
thinks that we have to look at other alternatives to divert traffic around.
Councillor Doucet extended
his sympathy to all involved in this particular mess. He spoke in favour of protecting the quality of life of
neighbourhoods and keeping Albion Road closed.
Councillor Cullen thanked
everybody who e-mailed him with their viewpoints and apologized for not able to
respond to them all. He recognized that
Councillor Thompson is well within his rights to bring forward a motion like
this because he is trying to represent his community, whose particular interest
is seeing Albion Road re-opened. He
also can understand Councillor Deans for stepping up to defend her community
because opening Albion Road has a significant impact on her community. He noted that the City’s policy is to
protect neighbourhoods and it is the major issue in his community. After further comments on protecting
neighbourhoods from cut through traffic, he advised that he would vote against
Councillor Thompson’s motion.
Councillor Legendre noted
that quantity traffic would grow in the City for the foreseeable future. He believes that the only hope to lessen the
growth in traffic is to adopt in a serious way the smart growth and sustainable
principles, which means that we have to change the kinds of decisions that we
make around land use planning, zoning, etc. long before a car shows up. Those decisions have to be made and thought
through properly because these kinds of problems occur inevitably
otherwise. He also believes that
traffic speed and safety is achievable in a faster timeframe than is the first
problem. He suggested that we have to
get at the driver behaviour and spoke in favour of red light cameras. He said that we need a lot of them, not to
make money but to increase safety. We
also need more police enforcement and real traffic calming measures that would
cost money, not just stop signs, and he would be prepared to support and put
some public funds towards these kinds of measures. He does not believe you could protect communities by shutting
public roads and put emphasis on the word ‘public’ because we simply cannot
build enough walls to do so or if not, we would be putting another area at
hazard. He believes that connectivity
of all sorts - for pedestrians, for walkways - is important for the
transportation network. He advised that
he would not be supportive of maintaining this closure, as he never did at
various occasions previously.
In response to further
questions from Acting Chair Leadman on the staff report, staff provided the
following responses and clarifications:
·
At
the public open house held in 2002, staff presented five or six options
contained in the report for addressing the concerns.
·
A
survey was not part of the process; a public open house was the opportunity for
the public to come and be informed as well as to submit their points of view,
which are evaluated after.
·
Growth
was factored in with new development and it was part of the evaluation as
specifically directed by Council.
·
Parking
and Traffic Operations review all traffic impact studies.
Acting Chair Leadman noted
that she did take the time to watch people’s behaviour. She understands both sides of the issue but
recognizes that traffic is growing everywhere.
She would like to support keeping the measures because she is not
prepared to re-open the road without any alternatives.
Councillor Thompson thanked
people from both sides of the issue, who came out to present their views. He also thanked staff and the
Councillors. He understands that it is
a very difficult decision. As stated by
the Acting Chair, he believes that the people in the community were confused;
notices were only delivered to a small section; in the newspapers it stated
Albion Road Corridor Study and there were no solutions to a lot of people other
than it was going to be a closure. He
also believes that there was lack of public consultation, and before the next
Council Meeting, he is going to clarify the matter of consultation. He implored his colleagues to support his
motion because he thinks it is imperative that the restrictions be removed so
that both sides of the community can feel safe in their neighbourhood.
The Committee then
considered the following motion:
That the Transportation Committee recommend that Council approve the
removal of the restrictions to North/South Traffic Movement on Albion Road at
Lester Road and the installation of 3-way stop signs on Albion Road at Goth
Avenue and 3-way stop signs at Kingsdale Avenue on Albion Road be implemented.
LOST
YEAS
(3): Councillors R. Bloess, J.
Legendre, D. Thompson
NAYS
(5): Councillors M. Wilkinson, A.
Cullen, G. Bédard, C. Doucet, C. Leadman
MOTIONS OF WHICH NOTICE HAS
BEEN PREVIOUSLY GIVEN
MOTIONS AYANT FAIT L’OBJET D’UN AVIS PRÉCÉDENT
Councillor / Conseiller R. Bloess
5. PROCEEDING WITH THE USE OF PROVINCIAL FUNDS FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO OTTAWA ROAD 174
UTILISATION
DES FONDS PROVINCIAUX EN VUE DEs AMÉLIORATIONs à LA ROUTE 174 D’oTTAWA
ACS2007-CCS-TRC-0018 City
Wide / À l'échelle de la Ville
Councillor Bloess noted he
was satisfied with the staff response and was prepared to approve the report
recommendation without discussion if other Members were in agreement.
Councillor Legendre thought
the report could simply be received and therefore no action would happen.
On a point of order,
Councillor Wilkinson explained that if Committee were to carry the report, it
would equate to approving the recommendation contained therein, and she was
opposed to approving a motion that would see Council ignore provincial rules.
When asked by Councillor
Legendre, Ernest McArthur, Legal Counsel, City Manager’s Office explained there
would be implications with simply receiving the report when the motion is to ignore
provincial rules. He added that he had
read the report and it was his understanding that as far as staff were
concerned, they will proceed as outlined in their comments provided on the
report, meaning they would not be ignoring provincial rules. The report recommendation, however, is
contrary to that.
Councillor Cullen then
proposed a replacement motion to the report recommendation that he thought
would be acceptable to Members and allow staff to proceed with the necessary
work without ignoring provincial rules.
Moved by Councillor A.
Cullen:
Replace “Therefore be it
resolved that the City ignore the provincial rules and proceed with the
necessary work” with “Therefore be it resolved that the City proceed with the
necessary work to improve Ottawa Road 174 on the basis of the staff report
(ACS2007-CCS-TRC-0018)”.
CARRIED
The Committee then approved
the report recommendation as amended.
That the Transportation
Committee recommend that Council approve the following:
Whereas the City of Ottawa
is sitting on over $3 million of provincial funds assigned to improvements for
Ottawa Road (OR) 174.
And whereas the full extent
of the City’s improvements cannot be undertaken due to provincial environmental
assessment rules.
Therefore be it resolved
that the City proceed with the necessary work to improve Ottawa Road 174 on the
basis of the staff report (ACS2007-CCS-TRC-0018)”.
CARRIED, as amended.
OTHER BUSINESS
AUTRES QUESTIONS
6. STAFF REVIEW OF URBANDALE
PROPOSAL FOR RAPID TRANSITEXAMEN PAR LE PERSONNEL DE LA PROPOSITION D’URBANDALE
CONCERNANT LE TRANSPORT EN COMMUN RAPIDE
ACS2007-CCS-TRC-0019 City Wide /
À l'échelle de la Ville
Moved by Councillor A. Cullen:
That in accordance with Section
84(3) of By-law No. 2006 - 462, the rules of procedure be suspended
to allow the addition of the aforementioned item to the agenda for
consideration.
CARRIED
Moved by Councillor A.
Cullen:
1.
That Council approve that the report on the staff review of the
Urbandale Proposal for rapid transit be received at a joint meeting of the
Transit and Transportation Committees on 7 November 2007.
2.
That this report be forwarded to City Council for consideration at its
meeting of 10 October 2007.
CARRIED
INQUIRIES
DEMANDES DE RENSEIGNEMENTS
Status of the Comprehensive Speed Zoning Policy Review
Councillor Doucet put forward the following
inquiry, which was referred to the Deputy City Manager, Public Works and
Services, for response:
“What is the status of the Comprehensive Speed Zoning Policy Review,
which was brought up in August of 2006 and which was supposed to look at a
process to change the default limit on local residential streets in Ottawa from
50 to 40 km/hr?”
ADJOURNMENT
LEVÉE
DE LA SÉANCE
The Committee adjourned the meeting at 8:00 p.m.
Original signed by Original
signed by
Anne-Marie Leung Councillor
Christine Leadman
_____________________________ _____________________________
Committee
Coordinator Acting
Chair