FAQ
Background
Arterial roadways are intended to carry traffic travelling longer distances, typically around, and not through, residential communities. When drivers leave the arterial road network to find quicker or easier routes through a community’s residential roads, citizens of that community become concerned about their safety and quality of life. Many communities have approached the City with requests for traffic management in response to shortcutting-related issues.
The City of Edmonton has managed a Community Traffic Management program for the past 30 years, working with communities to address traffic shortcutting issues. The need to mitigate traffic shortcutting issues has been entrenched in both the 1999 Transportation Master Plan and the current Transportation Master Plan: “The Way We Move”. In 2003, City Council approved “Public Participation Guidelines for the Community Traffic Management Process”; a document that guides the City in delivering programs to address traffic shortcutting.
As a request from City Council, a traffic shortcutting audit was completed in 2015 to provide greater clarity and consistency around the management of traffic shortcutting issues. As key findings of the audit, the development of a Community Traffic Management Policy and the implementation of shorter-term options to deal with emerging and more localized shortcutting issues was suggested.
Pilot Project
At the August 19, 2015 City Council's Transportation Committee Meeting (Item 6.24), the City committed to undertake a traffic shortcutting pilot project to develop a streamlined process for addressing localized traffic issues. As an initial phase, traffic calming measures will be implemented in the neighbourhoods of Ormsby Place, Ottewell, Crestwood, and Newton by the end of September 2015.
In the week of September 28, 2015, the traffic calming measures will be installed. Before and after traffic surveys are being conducted to determine the effectiveness of the traffic calming measures. We will continue to work with community leagues, community stakeholders, ETS riders, firefighters, and snow clearing operators to understand any impacts to them. We will report back to City Council's Transportation Committee with results and feedback from the pilot project as soon as the analysis is completed.
In the spring of 2016, a second phase of the pilot project will be conducted with traffic calming measures implemented in other neighbourhoods. The results of the second phase will be reported to City Council's Transportation Committee. After the two phases of the pilot project, data and feedback being received and analyzed, a City Policy for Community Traffic Management will be prepared for consideration by City Council in June 2016.
A speed hump is a mound of pavement raised approximately 100 mm high, running across the roadway, spanning 2 metres wide. The speed hump also includes pavement markings and signage to warn drivers.
According to the Transportation Association of Canada, the main purpose of speed humps is to reduce vehicle speeds. However, when speed humps are placed in series vehicle volumes may be reduced.
A speed table is a speed hump raised approximately 75 mm high running across the roadway with a long, flat top. The speed table also includes pavement markings and signage to warn drivers.
City Council continues to hear from citizens with concerns about shortcutting and speeding traffic in their neighbourhoods; currently, many neighbourhoods have expressed interest in taking measures to address shortcutting and speeding.
The traffic management measures implemented in the fall of 2015 will be the first phase of a pilot project designed to test a more streamlined process to address localized shortcutting concerns. The communities selected for this first phase of the pilot project were chosen based on long standing community concerns for localized vehicle shortcutting and speeding, verified through traffic surveys.
Vehicle shortcutting and speeding concerns will continue to be assessed in other neighbourhoods as part of the second phase of the pilot project.
Further criteria will be developed as part of the development of a City Policy for Community Traffic Management to be presented to City Council in June 2016.
Please call 311 or email communitytrafficmanagementplan@edmonton.ca to have your request noted.
The Public Engagement process in each community has consisted of meetings with the concerned citizens and Community Leagues in each neighbourhood, meetings with the respective Ward Councillors, and notification to impacted households. Notification to citizens will include signs placed along nearby roadways prior to the implementation of the traffic calming measures in addition to information bulletins.
These services will continue to be provided in your community. The evaluation of the pilot project will consider the operational impacts to Fire Rescue, ETS and Waste Management. The pilot project will assess the different impacts of both speed humps and speed tables.
Noise surveys have been completed at existing speed hump locations and no difference in noise levels have been measured.
The City will conduct speed, volume and shortcutting surveys before and after the traffic calming measures are installed. Feedback will be gathered from area residents regarding the program. The results of the data collection in combination with public and internal stakeholders feedback will be reported to City Council's Transportation Committee and will provide background for the development of a traffic shortcutting policy in 2016.
City Administration have been working with Edmonton Police Service so they are aware of the change in traffic control. People found violating the traffic control changes could be ticketed for $233 for failure to obey a traffic control device.
If you are concerned with the level of police enforcement, please call Edmonton Police complaint line at 780-423-4567 or email at trafficcomplaints@edmontonpolice.ca
A digital feedback sign shows the speed of vehicles travelling towards it.
For general feedback, please call 311 or email:
communitytrafficmanagementplan@edmonton.ca
For feedback on the measures at Ormsby Road East or on 69 Avenue - 188 Street intersection, please call 311 or email:
ormsbyplacetraffic@edmonton.ca
For feedback on the measures in the Newton neighbourhood, please call 311 or email:
newtontraffic@edmonton.ca
For feedback on the measures in the Crestwood neighbourhood, please call 311 or email:
crestwoodtraffic@edmonton.ca
For feedback on the measures in the Ottewell neighbourhood, please call 311 or email:
ottewelltraffic@edmonton.ca
For More Information
| Telephone | 311 |
|---|---|
| communitytrafficmanagementplan@edmonton.ca |
