July 2013

Traffic Safety Committee Report Executive Summary Introduction

The Traffic Safety Committee was established to conduct a comprehensive review of traffic safety in the Town and to make recommendations to improve traffic safety for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. To assist the deliberations of the committee, a newsletter was produced and delivered to each household in Stratford with information about current speed zones, the active transportation plan, the draft Master Transportation Plan, and some of the potential options available to control speed and deal with the conflict between pedestrians and motor vehicles. Residents were also asked to complete an on line survey to express their opinion about the scope of the problem and potential solutions.

Survey Results
One hundred and eighty two residents completed the Traffic Safety Survey. Of those, 72% believe that speeding is a problem in Stratford, 18% believe it is not a problem and 11% were not sure. Additional enforcement was seen by respondents to the survey as the most effective means of addressing speeding. Residents identified the main streets as the streets where speeding was a problem. When asked to rank investments to address traffic/pedestrian safety issues in the Town, additional sidewalks and additional policing were the top choices among the survey respondents. Based on the fact that speeding is our most common complaint, that it was frequently raised by residents during the municipal election campaign in the fall of 2010, and that the majority of the 182 residents who took the time to complete the survey thought that it was a problem, it is probably fair to say that speeding and safety for pedestrians and bicyclists is a significant concern for the residents of Stratford. Motorists speed in relation to that of vulnerable roadway users such as pedestrians and cyclists is the primary factor affecting residents perception of comfort and safety around traffic . The Traffic Safety Committee reviewed the options that are available to address the concern of residents.

Potential Options
There are many ways that the town and its partners can address resident concerns about pedestrian and cyclist safety. These include providing dedicated facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists (sidewalks and bike lanes), additional enforcement of speed limits, the introduction of traffic calming measures to slow traffic down, public education campaigns and changes in standards for how new streets and neighbourhoods are constructed to be more pedestrian and bike friendly. Perhaps the most common technique used by municipalities to combat speeding and increase pedestrian safety is to install sidewalks and bike lanes to segregate the drivers and pedestrians. Given that there are more than 80 Km of roads in Stratford, installing sidewalks and bike lanes everywhere

Town of Stratford

July 2013

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Traffic Safety Committee Report Executive Summary

would be a very costly venture and would tie up the majority of the resources available to the Town for capital expenditures for many years to come. It would also take many years to complete and leave residents in areas without sidewalks frustrated that their concerns are not being addressed. Another concern about this approach is that it does not promote drivers to slow down and become more aware of their surroundings, particularly other users of the right-of-way Additional enforcement is another common approach to dealing with concerns about speeding. In Stratford, we currently have six RCMP officers and they carry out a full range of police duties including investigating complaints, responding to emergencies, community policing, working with youth and seniors, and more. It is not realistic to expect that they can focus the majority of their time on traffic safety. Adding officers to dedicate their time to traffic safety is an option that would help to address speeding. The cost is approximately $100,000 per officer per year. This typically has a short term impact and it must be sustained indefinitely to be effective. Traffic Calming is effective where it is used, but it would be very expensive to do it everywhere and it would likely be very frustrating to motorists if it was used everywhere. Its use should be limited to areas where other methods are not proving to be effective, or when additional cues to slow down are warranted to increase traffic safety. Public Education will be an important component of any plan to address traffic safety concerns in the opinion of the Committee. The biggest factor in the conflict between pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists is the lack of attention that motorists pay to other users of the road. With the increased desire of residents to be active, we have to increase awareness of the impact of our car culture on the environment and on our personal health and wellness. Another way that we can positively impact traffic safety is to design new neighbourhoods to better reflect the needs of non-motorized users. In keeping with the recently completed Master Transportation Plan, policies will be enacted to require new subdivisions to be designed giving priority to the movement of people via active transportation and public transit over that of people in cars.

Recommended Approach
It is the opinion of the Traffic Safety Committee that the issue is one of culture. For us to truly impact traffic safety in Stratford, we have to change our attitude to one where the roads are shared by all users. Perhaps it is time to take back the neighbourhoods in Stratford! The desire is to transform the culture from auto-dominated to that of public rights-of-way being shared by many people, including drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and people with mobility, hearing or visual impairments. Recent work on the Shared Space Concept in Europe has shown that safety and movement of traffic can improve when drivers, pedestrians and bikers all share the same space without separation and with minimal traffic control devices. They become much more aware of each other and must constantly negotiate their interactions. The committee feels that the Shared Space approach will only work in local residential areas where speeds are low. Residents will also be more likely to drive slower in residential areas if they

Town of Stratford

July 2013

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Traffic Safety Committee Report Executive Summary

can get where they need to go more quickly and efficiently once they are off of the local residential street and on to our collector roads. The Traffic Safety Committee concluded that the Town and its partners should take a comprehensive holistic approach and incorporate all of the following measures in a balanced approach. Specifically it is recommended that: On local subdivision streets, the street rights-of-way be shared by all users, speed limits are low (30 Km/h) and enforced with very little tolerance and signage is installed each time you enter a local subdivision reminding motorists to share the streets. This is known as the Shared Space approach. On select local subdivision streets where the traffic volume is higher (local collectors), a sidewalk will be installed, in addition to the low speed limit, entry signage and traffic enforcement that are employed for local streets. On our main streets (collector roads), provide separate space within public rights-of-way for motorized vehicles, pedestrians (sidewalks),and bicyclists (bike lanes). This will allow traffic speeds to be higher (but still within speed limits) on these streets so that people can get where they are going without undue delay. This is known as the Complete Streets approach. A community based social marketing campaign be developed to educate road users to share the right-of-way and drivers to reduce speeding. Traffic Calming measures be employed selectively in various locations, particularly where speeding has or continues to be a significant problem despite all of the other measures. Review new subdivision rules, commercial development rules, existing pedestrian crossings and street lighting to see what changes can be made to improve traffic safety.

There is a growing body of evidence in the health field to show that safe streets and neighbourhoods enhance our sense of neighbourliness and our personal health and wellness. Imagine public rights-ofway where there are children playing hockey on the street, mothers are walking babies in strollers and drivers are courteous and cautious. We may be able to change our culture to one which is more oriented to sharing the public rights-of-way with everyone, which will improve the liveability of our neighbourhoods and create a healthier, safer environment for all without spending huge sums of money on infrastructure.

Respectfully submitted, on behalf of the committee

Councilor Emile Gallant, Chair

Town of Stratford

July 2013

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