RECOMMENDATION:
That the Region of York and City of Toronto be
requested to issue letters authorizing the Town to undertake the safety audits
for rail crossings on Regional and Toronto arterials along the Uxbridge Line;
That the Town of Markham upfront costs to
undertake safety audits to eliminate whistling at Regional and Toronto
crossings along the Uxbridge Line from Major Mackenzie Drive to Steeles Avenue subject to receipt of authorization from the
Region of York and City of Toronto;
And that staff report back with the estimated
capital costs to implement the safety measures for the crossings along the
Uxbridge Line from Major
Mackenzie Drive to Steeles
Avenue;
And that the Region of York and City of Toronto be
requested to reimburse the Town of Markham for the safety audit costs.
PURPOSE:
This report seeks Council
approval to upfront the safety audit costs for Regional and Toronto crossings of the Uxbridge Line subject to
authorization from the Region of York and City of Toronto. This report
also recommends that Markham be reimbursed for the safety audit costs by the
Region of York and City of Toronto.
BACKGROUND:
Residents in the Main Street Unionville area
raised concerns about the noise from trains whistling at the grade crossings
along the Uxbridge Line. In response to
these concerns, Staff prepared a presentation outlining the process to eliminate
whistling at the June 23, 2003 Transportation Committee
meeting. Council directed staff to
report back on the financial implications of proceeding with the safety audit
and subsequently a report was presented at the September 29, 2003 Transportation Committee meeting.
This report outlined the costs with respect to eliminating whistling at
local road crossings along the four rail lines in Markham and
requested the Region of York to proceed with similar audits along the Regional
road crossings. The report also
confirmed that based on information from CN Rail, the two crossings on the Bala Subdivision in Thorhnhill
are exempt from whistling. Council
directed staff to proceed with the safety audits for
local road crossings (locations 4-17 on attachment 1) along the Uxbridge Line
as a first phase and undertake safety audits along local road crossings for the
Havelock line as a second phase.
Council further adopted a recommendation from
the January 26, 2004 Transportation Committee meeting requesting a report from
staff on the costs to eliminate whistling at both Regional and Toronto road
crossings along the Uxbridge Line in order to assess whether the Town should
coordinate the audit on behalf of the Region of York and City of Toronto.
OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:
The process to eliminate
whistling at rail crossings involve the following steps which were
discussed in detail in the September, 26, 2003 staff report. These steps must be completed at no cost to
the railway authority.
1. Formal request from
Municipality to eliminate whistling at specified locations, including approvals
from other road authorities as needed
2. Safety Audit undertaken by
railway authority
3. Safety Infrastructure
installed by municipality
4. Safety infrastructure
inspected and approved by railway authority
5. Municipal by-law passed to
eliminate whistling
6. Municipality advises all
operators of railway (as identified by rail authority) regarding intent to
eliminate whistling
7. Railway authority requests
elimination of Rule 14(L)(ii) from Transport Canada
8. Transport Canada approves request from rail
authority
The Uxbridge Line has four crossings with
Regional Roads and one crossing with a City of Toronto
road south of Major
Mackenzie Drive. Based on preliminary discussions with CN
Rail, it costs approximately $2,500 for a safety audit at each crossing for a
total of $12,500. In order for the Town
to undertake the audits at Regional and Toronto
road crossings, CN Rail will require a letter from the Region and City of Toronto
authorizing the Town to undertake the audit on their behalf.
As noted earlier, both the Region of York and
City of Toronto were requested to initiate the safety audits at their respective road
crossings. Based on discussions with
staff from Region of York and City of Toronto,
funding for these audits is currently not identified in their respective 2004
capital budgets. To ensure a coordinated
approach, Transportation Committee requested staff to undertake the additional
safety audit costs for these municipalities using the Town’s capital
budget. The Town should put the Region
of York and City of Toronto on notice that we will be requesting reimbursements. Once the safety audits are completed and the
final audit costs are confirmed, the Town will request the Region of York and
City of Toronto for reimbursement.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
In the September 26, 2003
report, staff estimated $25,000 to undertake audits on local road crossings
with the Uxbridge Line and further anticipated approximately $100,000 with
respect to capital costs to implement the safety audit results for a total cost
of $125,000 for local roads only. This
amount has been identified in the 2004 capital budget. In order to undertake the safety audits at
the additional Regional and Toronto road crossings (Steeles Avenue, Hwy 7, 14th
Avenue, 16th Avenue and Major Mackenzie
Drive) an additional
$12,500 would be required.
Should Council wish to upfront the additional
$12,500 cost to undertake safety audits on Regional and Toronto
roads, it is recommended that this be allocated from the $100,000 estimated to
implement the safety measures. The $100,
000 is an estimate by staff to ensure some level of funding is available to
proceed with construction of safety measures.
Once the safety audits are completed, staff will report back with
details regarding the costs. It is
expected that some rail crossing safety measures could proceed and others may
require additional funds. If the Region
of York and City of Toronto do not reimburse the costs for safety audits, then the available funds
to undertake the safety improvements will be reduced from $100,000 to $87,500.
The upfronting of
costs on behalf of the Region of York and City of Toronto are
only related to the safety audit costs.
The safety audit will identify capital works to be undertaken at each
crossing to ensure minimum standards are in place to eliminate whistling. Once these costs are determined, the Region
of York and City of Toronto will be requested to include them in their respective budgets.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A – At-grade railway crossings
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Alan Brown, C.E.T.
Director of Engineering
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Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Commissioner of Development Services
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P:\Development\Engineering\REPORTS\2004\Feb\Antiwhistling_Regional
Roads.doc
