Transportation Committee
	TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
	FROM:	Alan Brown, Director of Engineering
	PREPARED BY:	Arup Mukherjee, Manager of Transportation Domenic Smarrelli, Intermediate Traffic Coordinator
	DATE OF MEETING:	2003-Sep-29
	SUBJECT:	Tender for 2002/2003 Traffic Calming Projects

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT staff undertake further discussions with YRT regarding their September 11, 2003 Policy in reference to traffic calming on transit routes and report back;

AND THAT YRT be requested to form the task force as noted at their September 11, 2003 transit committee meeting as soon as possible;

AND THAT YRT be requested to make a presentation to Markham Transportation Committee with an update of their traffic calming policy as soon as possible;

AND THAT the implementation of the 2002/2003 traffic calming tender be deferred pending;

Ø resolution of the YRT policy,

Ø its impact to the approved traffic calming project design,

Ø modifications to the design if necessary

Ø resolution of competitive tenders and funding.

PURPOSE:

This report outlines the recent YRT policy for traffic calming on transit routes which will impact the current design, schedule and costs for the 2002/2003 traffic calming projects.

BACKGROUND:

2002/2003 Traffic Calming Projects

The 2002/2003 Traffic Calming projects were undertaken in accordance with the Town’s Neighbourhood Transportation Committee process and the formal EA process. Formal public meetings were held during February and March 2003 and project street voting was conducted during March and April 2003. Results of the public consultation and vote results were outlined at the May 26, 2003 Transportation Committee meeting. The 2002/2003 traffic calming programme was subsequently adopted by Council at the June 10 Council meeting. The 2002 project for Willowbrook and Aileen Road was formally appealed to the MOE and is currently being assessed by the MOE. There were no formal appeals for any of the 2003 projects during the 30-day formal public review period. Staff proceeded to prepare the detailed design and the tender for the projects closed on August 13, 2003

OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:

York Regional Transit policy

At the September 11, 2003 Transit Committee, YRT adopted a policy to oppose vertical traffic calming measures (ie speed humps and raised intersections) on their transit routes based on their experience to date. As noted in their report (Attachment A), these devices are a concern to passenger safety, comfort and the ability to maintain reliable schedules. A similar policy was also adopted recently by TTC. YRT is prepared to have further discussions with municipalities to determine if alternative designs of traffic calming measures can address their concerns. In recognition of the local impacts of this policy, Regional Transit Committee requested that a committee or task force be set up to undertake a review of traffic calming measures. It was recommended that the task force consist of representatives of the local municipalities, Fire Departments, Emergency Services and YRT.

Based upon this policy seven out of nine projects for the 2002/2003 programmes will be affected. For the two projects that are not currently affected, it should be noted that implementation of traffic calming devices on these streets may affect future decisions to implement transit service on these routes. Given the Town’s goal to increase mode split and encourage transit use, it is important to work with YRT to develop traffic calming measures that will accommodate both the Town’s and YRT’s needs. The specific projects are noted below:

2002/2003 PROJECTs

COMMUNITY	WARD	STREET NAME	AFFECTED BY YRT POLICY
Thornhill	1	Willowbrook Road/Aileen Road	Yes
Thornhill	1	Henderson Avenue, in its entirety	Yes
	2	Simonston Boulevard, west side of Don Mills Road	Yes
Unionville	3	Main Street Unionville, From Hwy 7 to Carlton Rd	Yes
	6	John Button Boulevard, in its entirety	Yes
Markham Village	4	Cairns Drive, in its entirety and Raymerville Drive, from Cairns Drive to Stone Mason Drive	Yes
	5	Larkin Avenue, from Mint Leaf Gate (west side) to Fincham Avenue (north side) and Fincham Avenue, from Wooten Way North to 9^th Line	Yes
Milliken Mills	7	Elson Street and Featherstone Avenue, in their entirety	No
	8	Mallory Avenue and Teddington Avenue, in their entirety	No

Funding Shortfall due to higher Tender Prices

The combined construction budget estimated by staff for the 2002/2003 projects is $575,000 and was based on recent tender prices for similar projects. Staff made every effort to anticipate potential increases in project costs above and beyond last years contract and included a 10% contingency plus 10% increase in construction costs.

Town staff received one bid of $715,011.45, inclusive of 7% GST, to construct the Traffic Calming 2002/2003 projects. The receipt of one bid may be attributed to (1) contractor availability, (2) the sporadic nature of the scope of work and (3) the contractor ability to perform the prescribed scope of work. Staff are concerned that the tender price for traffic calming is substantially higher than previous contracts for traffic calming. The costs to construct a speed hump in the current bid are $6,200 which represents a 50% increase from the previous years contract and staff are concerned about the sustainability of this cost.

The total costs to undertake the traffic calming projects and the total available funds in the traffic calming budgets are noted in the following table:

Bid Price	$715,000
Contingency (10%)	$71,500
Outstanding Consultant Fees	$50,000
Total Required	$836,500
Available Traffic Calming Budget	$669,743
Funding Shortfall	$166,757

Recommendation:

Given the YRT policy will delay implementation of the traffic calming projects to 2004, staff recommend we not award this contract at this time. Based on the final YRT policy, staff may have to redesign the projects and consult further with the public including an EA amendment. Staff will make all efforts to finalize issues so work can proceed in Spring 2004.

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment A: YRT Report and Policy

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

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

Document2

Q:\Development\Engineering\REPORTS\2003\9\Tender For 2002-2003 Traffic Calming Projects 3 092903.doc