Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Proposal for Passive Traffic Calming Measures
The General Problem The Association has had a great number of complaints over the years from
residents concerned about traffic patterns and characteristics within our
neighbourhood. While a significant number of these complaints have arisen
from the fact that Queen’s Avenue, as it runs through our neighbourhood, is
designated as an arterial road and moves a large number of cars at above‐
average speeds, there are a number of other traffic problems as well.
Complaints are generally organized around two fundamental characteristics of
traffic in our neighbourhood, as in other neighbourhoods across the city.
First, there is a feeling that car traffic moves too quickly along our streets,
posing substantial risks to our children, pedestrians and cyclists in general,
residents entering and exiting their driveways, and affecting quality of life in the
neighbourhood. The road system is the largest single component of public
space in the city. While no‐one would suggest that roadways are the most
appropriate places for recreational activity, drivers need to be reminded that
they must share the roads in residential neighbourhoods.
Second, there is a concern with traffic volumes throughout the neighbourhood,
mostly at certain times of the day, of course, and a feeling that there is a
significant volume of commuter traffic making use of our neighbourhood streets
to avoid traffic on local arterial roads.
Our suggestions for traffic calming in Old East Village attempt to address each of
these concerns in ways that make sense for US and do not require the City to
postpone resolution by citing the need for traffic studies or requiring us to join a
queue for traffic calming study and action. Our suggestions also require very
little investment by the city for implementation.
Background on the The Old East Village is a downtown neighbourhood that is entirely residential
Neighbourhood outside of the commercial corridor along Dundas Street and the light industrial
corridor along Florence Street, with a few peripheral areas thrown in for good
measure bordering the rail lands on the northern and southern edges of the
neighbourhood.
Streets in the neighbourhood are arranged on the grid system. There are two
elementary schools located here – one on Lorne Avenue and the other on King
Street.
There are a number of arterial roads transiting the neighbourhood which we
expect have the capacity to handle all of the commuter traffic passing though
the area.
Prepared by the Traffic Calming Committee of the Old East Village Community Association ‐ February 2011
For discussion purposes
Old East Village
Proposal for Passive Traffic Calming Measures
The demographics of the neighbourhood are evolving quite rapidly and we are
witness to increasing numbers of young families taking up residence in the
neighbourhood. There are many more young children present.
Somewhere between one‐third and one‐half of the 2,000 homes in the
neighbourhood are multi‐plexed, mostly often up‐and‐down duplexes. Often,
arrangements are in place in these multi‐plexes allowing one of the tenants
exclusive use of the rear yard which means that the other tenant(s) have only
front yards for outdoor amenity spaces. This has the potential to put more
people in closer proximity to the roadways.
The residential streets are relatively narrow by city standards, with on‐street
parking, narrow boulevards and shallow front yard setbacks.
Previous Traffic Studies On several occasions, the City of London has agreed to do traffic studies to deal
Completed by the City of with complaints about excessive traffic speeds and volumes on our
London neighbourhood streets. Most frequently, these have measured speeds and
volumes along Queen’s Avenue, but there have been others as well along Lorne
Avenue and Dorinda Street, to name but two.
In each of these cases (other than the rather special case of Queen’s Avenue in
advance of its recent reconfiguration), it was demonstrated that average traffic
speeds were not so significantly different from the posted speed limit that
immediate remedial actions were required. By itself, we would suggest that
these findings are indicative of the real problem with cars in residential
neighbourhoods.
We note, though, that the statistics compiled by Roads & Transportation staff
for the Old North Neighbourhood Traffic Calming Plan presented to the
Environment and Transportation Committee of Council on September 28, 2009.
In this Plan, it was noted that one in five vehicles travelling on local streets were
travelling at average speeds of between 50‐60 km/hr, and that 6% of all vehicles
were travelling at speeds in excess of 60 km/hr. These numbers suggest that
the problem of excessive traffic speed on local residential streets is a problem
not limited to any particular neighbourhood, even if the “average” speed is used
as a measure.
While we have no data on the percentage of overall traffic volumes on our local
streets comprising cut‐through traffic – commuters transiting the
neighbourhood on their way to someplace else – we are quite certain that it is a
significant portion of overall traffic volume. During morning and afternoon rush
Prepared by the Traffic Calming Committee of the Old East Village Community Association ‐ February 2011
For discussion purposes
Old East Village
Proposal for Passive Traffic Calming Measures
hours, we are reasonably certain that this cut‐through traffic exceeds the
volume of local traffic.
Traffic calming measures are undertaken to reduce average traffic speed and
The Purpose of Traffic volume in particular locations. On local streets, it reinforces an understanding
Calming Measures that drivers ought to drive responsibly and with care for others with whom they
are sharing the public right‐of‐way so as to enhance the safety of pedestrians,
cyclists, residents entering and exiting their driveways.
Hans Monderman, a noted expert in the field of traffic calming, had it right: in
this day and age, we have had the traffic world forced on to our social world.
Local streets have a form and a function that is very different from that of
arterial streets.
Having participated in the Queen’s Avenue re‐configuration between Quebec
Street and Adelaide Street, we are aware that many of the traditional measures
used in active traffic calming, such as increasing the number of stop signs and
traffic lights or employing speed bumps, have been shown to negatively affect
public safety and do little to decrease average speeds and volumes.
We are also aware that there is a long line of neighbourhoods looking for traffic
calming measures from the city and a very small budget to accommodate them.
It is our hope that the passive traffic calming measures proposed below, dealing
with clearly‐defined traffic issues as experienced here in our own
neighbourhood, can be implemented with minimal investment from the city.
Specific Proposals
We now know that some of the problems experienced along Queen’s Avenue
To deal with some of the during rush hours are the result of the awful traffic light set‐up, and the
problems experienced along engineered congestion at Dundas and Quebec Sts. Rather than wait for right
Queen’s Avenue in the
hand turns onto Quebec St. (and then onto Queen’s Ave) – when feeder traffic
morning and afternoon rush
northbound on Egerton St. further congests the area – many commuters remain
hours.
in the inside lane on Dundas St., continue past Quebec St. and turn onto Ontario
St. (and perhaps English St. as well, though the evidence is not so clear here), to
access Queen’s Avenue westbound. Given the high traffic volumes on Queen’s
Ave during rush hours, these commuters will often make unsafe left hand turns
onto Queen’s Ave. in attempts to beat the traffic. The results are traffic
accidents at the corner of Queen’s and Ontario Sts., unsafe pedestrian
Prepared by the Traffic Calming Committee of the Old East Village Community Association ‐ February 2011
For discussion purposes
Old East Village
Proposal for Passive Traffic Calming Measures
crosswalks as drivers roll through the stop sign trying to enter Queen’s Ave, and
unsafe speeds for the same reason.
Proposed Solution: No left turns allowed onto Queen’s Avenue from
Ontario St. during rush hours.
For the same reasons as above – the congestion experienced on Dundas St.
To deal with excessive traffic during the afternoon/evening rush hour specifically – a common strategy
volume and traffic speeds on employed by commuters travelling westbound on Dundas St and intending to
Burbrook, Dorinda and travel north on Quebec St. is to avoid the intersection altogether by cutting off
Charlotte Sts., and Princess onto Burbrook, Dorinda or Charlotte Sts., and then west along Princess Ave. to
Ave. east of Quebec St. Quebec St. Given the volume of traffic at rush hour, together with driver
during rush hours.
impatience, vehicle speeds especially, but also traffic volumes are excessive.
Proposed Solution: to convert Princess Ave. from Quebec St. to
Charlotte St to 1‐way, allowing only eastbound traffic.
Most of Florence St. is non‐residential, except for the section between Egerton
To deal with excessive St. and Kellogg’s Lane, and the road is designated as an arterial road by the City
speeds on Florence St..
of London. We are unsure that there is an excessive volume of traffic on
mostly during rush hours.
Florence St. but we have observed that the wide open and straight four‐lane
stretch between Egerton St. and Kellogg’s Lane encourages excessive traffic
speed.
Proposed Solution: to recognize the residential nature of this portion
of Florence St., and to allow the residents the same amenity use of their
street for parking as the rest of us enjoy, it is proposed that on‐street
parking be allowed on both sides, except during morning and afternoon
rush hours. Having cars parked on the street will not only afford
residents the opportunity for visitor parking during the day but, by
having parked cars separating the sidewalk from the travel lanes of the
road, it will make pedestrian travel much more safe.
Prepared by the Traffic Calming Committee of the Old East Village Community Association ‐ February 2011
For discussion purposes
Old East Village
Proposal for Passive Traffic Calming Measures
To deal with excessive traffic Given that Lorne Ave is the only east‐west street in the neighbourhood north of
speeds along Lorne Ave. Queen’s Ave uninterrupted by orphan blocks, it attracts many commuters
transiting the neighbourhood or attempting to get to Quebec St. when Adelaide
St. is backed up at the railway crossing. The traffic speeds are far in excess of
what might reasonably be considered as safe speeds, and the dangers are
compounded by the fact that Lorne Ave. P.S. is located here and there are many
children walking to and from school.
Proposed Solution: As a pilot project, measure the effect of employing
staggered, on‐street parking on the long block of Lorne Ave, between
English and Ontario Sts, creating a natural roadway chicane. By
interfering with drivers’ perceptions of the block as a long,
uninterrupted roadway (even if only one lane), the literature on passive
traffic calming clearly suggests that we should expect significant traffic
speed reductions.
While we have not found traffic volumes along Central Ave. to be particularly
To deal with excessive traffic excessive, it is our perception that traffic speeds can be. Once again, the road is
speeds along Central Ave. used as a cut‐through to access the Quebec St. overpass when traffic is backed
up at the railway, and there is a long unbroken stretch between Adelaide St. and
the first bend that encourages driver to speed up.
Proposed Solution: the installation of STOP signs on Central Ave. at
Elizabeth and/or English Sts.
Miscellaneous.
During the reconfiguration of Queen’s Ave. a few years ago, the “No Heavy
Trucks” signs were removed during construction and not replaced. They should
be re‐installed.
We would ask, once again, that consideration be given to removing the arterial
road designation on the portion of Queen’s Avenue between Quebec Street and
Adelaide Street.
We have had reports of several near misses between cars and pedestrians at
the corner of Lorne Avenue and Charlotte Street. Given the rebuild of the Boyle
Memorial Community Centre and the increasing number of children who will be
making use of the facility, we would ask that a three‐way STOP be made at this
intersection.
Prepared by the Traffic Calming Committee of the Old East Village Community Association ‐ February 2011
For discussion purposes
Old East Village
Proposal for Passive Traffic Calming Measures
The Posted Speed Limit The residents of Old East Village wish to live in a pedestrian‐ and child‐friendly
neighbourhood.
We believe that it is entirely appropriate that a street by street approach to
solving traffic issues be implemented in our neighbourhood; that the real
experts in local traffic issues are local people themselves; and, that our
approach here has the potential to address the city’s goal of pursuing effective
models of urban sustainability.
We also believe that a posted speed limit at 50 km/hr is simply too fast for our
local streets. It is well known that the faster we drive, the less we see. It is well
known that at about 30 km/hr. we begin to lose eye contact with one another.
Interestingly, 30 km/hr. Is also about the speed at which car‐pedestrian impacts
are more likely to become fatal for the pedestrian, and car‐pedestrian mortality
rates tend to climb exponentially as car speeds increase (a pedestrian is twice as
likely to die from impact with a car travelling at 40 km/hr. as compared with a
car travelling at 30 km/hr.; four times as likely at 50 km/hr. compared to 30
km/hr., and so on.
Seeking a voluntary reduction in vehicle speed by residents is a goal we have
been promoting for the better part of two years now. The following message,
drawn from an American campaign, has been placed prominently on all
Association documents, from our website to our letterhead to our
neighbourhood newsletters:
The residents of Old East Village are proposing that the neighbourhood be
designated as a Community Safety Zone by the city, and that a maximum speed
limit be posted throughout the neighbourhood on all non‐arterial streets of 30
km/hr. We further propose that Queen’s Avenue between Quebec Street and
Adelaide Street, as well as Florence Street between Egerton Street and Kellogg’s
Lane have a posted speed limit of 40 km/hr.
We know that changing the speed limit, by itself, is unlikely to have a real effect
in slowing traffic but it does send a clear message that Old East Village is a
pedestrian‐, child‐ and bicycle‐friendly neighbourhood.
The resolution of these types of transportation issues is integral to maintaining
our neighbourhood’s sustainability and liveability.
Prepared by the Traffic Calming Committee of the Old East Village Community Association ‐ February 2011
For discussion purposes