Transportation Committee
	TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
	FROM:	Alan Brown, Director of Engineering
	PREPARED BY:	David Porretta, Engineering Technician
	DATE OF MEETING:	2004-Sep-27
	SUBJECT:	Peter Street, between Beech Street and David Street - Parking Restriction

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT Schedule 1 of Parking By-law 336-88, be amended to include a parking restriction on the west side of Peter Street, between Beech Street and David Street;

AND THAT the attached by-law be approved;

AND THAT the Operations and Asset Management Department be directed to install the appropriate signs upon approval of the attached by-law.

PURPOSE:

To review the parking conditions on Peter Street and to recommend a parking restriction on the west side of Peter Street, between Beech Street and David Street.

BACKGROUND:

Peter Street is a local residential road running in a north-south direction, immediately to the west of Main Street Markham. At the south limit of Peter Street, the alignment becomes an east-west direction, turning into Beech Street and connecting to Main Street Markham. Beech Street services the Markham GO Transit station west parking lot located on the south side of the street. (see Attachment 1).

A parking restriction between 6:00 am and 10:00 am on the east side of Peter Street between Beech Street and David Street, has been in place since February 2002. The intent of the parking restriction was to address the concerns of residents regarding GO Transit commuters unnecessarily parking on Peter Street and not using the GO Transit parking facilities.

Although the parking conditions on the east side of Peter Street have improved, residents have expressed additional concerns that GO Transit commuters continue to park on the west side of Peter Street and are not fully utilizing the GO Transit facilities.

DISCUSSION:

Peter Street – Parking Conditions

The Engineering Department conducted a parking study on Peter Street. Several observations on Peter Street show parking has been consistently occurring on the west side of Peter Street, near the Markham GO Transit station. Parked cars never exceeded 10 vehicles throughout the study. It is noted that the on-street parking did not compromise two-way traffic.

Markham GO Station – Parking Stall Inventory

The available parking stalls at the Markham GO Transit station was surveyed on two different occasions during a typical weekday. There were approximately 25 available stalls on the first observation and 42 available stalls on the second observation at the Markham station. The available stalls observed at Markham station were located near the rear of the lot. This discourages GO Transit commuters from parking here, as the walking distance is approximately 75 metres shorter if they were to park on Peter Street.

In July 2004, information letters were distributed on the vehicle windshields of the GO Transit commuters parked on Peter Street, requesting that they use the GO Transit parking facilities. A follow-up visit to Peter Street found that the information letters had no impact, as cars continue to park on Peter Street.

GO Transit Parking Facilities to Accommodate Go Transit Commuters

Because GO Transit currently has sufficient parking facilities to accommodate the GO Transit commuters parking on Peter Street, there is no justification for parking on Peter Street. Therefore, to utilize existing facilities provided by GO Transit and to avoid unnecessary parking activities on public roads, it is recommended that a parking restriction between 6:00 am and 10:00 am, Monday to Friday, be established on the west side of Peter Street, between Beech Street and David Street.

Residents on Peter Street have been advised

A letter was sent to residents on Peter Street advising them of the proposed parking changes and date/time of the meeting where these changes would be considered by Transportation Committee.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The cost of labour and materials to implement these parking measures are accounted for in the 2004 budget for the Operations and Asset Management Department.

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

Subject to Council’s approval, the Operations and Asset Management Department will install the proposed parking restriction signs on the west side of Peter Street, between Beech Street and David Street.

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment 1 – Proposed Parking Restriction Map

Attachment 2 – By-law

Alan Brown, C.E.T. Director of Engineering

Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Commissioner of Development Services