Raise the Hammer

The problem is that just posting 30km/h signs without making engineering changes to make it uncomfortable to drive faster than 30km/h is unlikely to be effective. The traffic chokers are a necessary part of the whole 30km/h zone changes that were strongly supported by the neighbourhood.

It is disappointing that after years of community outreach and engaged residents stepping up and promoting the plan, some residents are just "waking up" and objecting to the changes.

We saw this in Durand when, after lots of public meetings and engagement as a result of the 2002 traffic study, the City built "bump outs" to slow traffic along Aberdeen. One resident tried to get the City to remove them and restart the whole process because she hit one with her car while driving home one night! The city did not make any changes, but this kind of thing happens when less engaged residents who have not taken advantage of opportunities to get involved and informed about the issues are surprised by changes that seem to suddenly appear.

I hope the City only makes changes to the North End pilot that further the main goal of the pilot: slowing traffic and working towards streets that are comfortable and safe for all users. The City should respect the grass roots engagement of this process over many years and not cave to residents who now want to undo the changes for narrow personal benefit.

If the residents and city wanted to properly address parking concerns, they could start with a survey of how many spots are available and how many spots are required (i.e. vehicles owned by residents minus number of residential parking places) in the North End. It is not reasonable to expect to always park on your own block in an urban area, but they could use a reasonable walking distance (say 200m). A reasonable parking requirement could be what is used for multi-residential buildings: 0.8 times the number of residences minus the number of residential parking spots. It would be interesting to see what the results of such a calculation are ... right now we don't actually know that there is a real shortage, just that some people are complaining. Maybe they want to always find a free spot within 50m of their house.

The idea that residents would remove the knock down sticks to make themselves a parking spot is very selfish, but similar vandalism of traffic meters led the city to remove them in some suburban neighbourhoods.

Comment edited by kevlahan on 2013-12-05 18:49:17