Report to:  GENERAL COMMITTEE                                   Date of Meeting:  April 24, 2006

 

 

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated April 24, 2006 entitled “Cornell Public School - Country Glen Road – Adult School Crossing Guard Studies and All-way Stop Control Warrants” be received;

 

AND THAT, based on the results of the studies, an Adult School Crossing Guard and an All-way Stop Control not be installed at the intersection of Country Glen Road and Cornell Common Road/Donald Sim Avenue at this time.

 

 

 

RECOMMENDED BY:  

                       

 

                        __________________________        ______________________________

                        Alan Brown, C.E.T.                              Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.

                        Director of Engineering                         Commissioner, Development Services

 

 

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to discuss the All-way Stop Control warrant studies conducted at the intersections of Country Glen Road and Cornell Common Road and at Country Glen Road and Gowland Road, and to provide the results of Adult School Crossing Guard studies conducted at the intersection of Country Glen Road and Cornell Common Road.

 

BACKGROUND:

Cornell Community

The subject area is located within the Cornel Community, specifically at Cornell Village Public Elementary School. This school fronts onto Country Glen Road and is flanked by the intersections of Gowland Road / Almira Avenue to the north and Cornell Common Road / Donald Sim Avenue to south (see Attachment ‘A’).

Resident Concerns and Multiple Studies Conducted

Since 2003 the Engineering Department has received 3 requests, from the Cornell community, for the services of an adult school crossing guard at the intersection of Country Glen Road and Cornell Common Road / Donald Sim Avenue.

 

In response, Engineering Department staff have conducted 3 previous studies and concluded that the services of an adult school crossing guard were not warranted. The following shows the dates of the previous studies:

 

• September 27, 2003
• April 9, 2005
• May 26, 2005

 

As an alternative to the services of an adult school crossing guard, a student school safety patroller was employed at the subject intersection. Shortly after, the student school safety patroller was removed by the school due to concerns about safety from the Parent Council.

 

General Committee, on January 23, 2006 received a deputation from the residents of the Cornell Community. Their deputation included concerns as discussed above and they requested an Adult Crossing Guard.  In addition, the Clerk’s Department forwarded the attached letter (Attachment ‘B’) from the Principal of the school also requesting a crossing guard and all-way stop control at the intersections of Country Glen Road and Cornell Common Road and Country Glen Road and Gowland Road/Almira Avenue.

 

 

 

OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:

In response to the community concerns, Engineering Department staff conducted additional studies. All the studies were conducted on Thursday February 2, 2006 which was representative of typical conditions. The following discusses the details and results of the additional studies.

 

Adult School Crossing Guard Warrant Results

As mentioned earlier, crossing guard studies have been conducted 3 times in past three years at the intersection of Country Glen Road and Cornell Common Road / Donald Sim Avenue. Similar to the previous studies, the latest study conducted February 2, 2006, showed that the subject intersection does not meet warrants for an adult school crossing guard and is therefore not recommended.

Warrant for School Crossing Service

To determine the need for an adult school crossing guard service at a given location, Engineering Department staff conduct a gap time study as per the School Crossing Warrant criteria in accordance with the Ministry of Transportation and the Ontario Traffic Conference guidelines.

The Ministry of Transportation and Ontario Traffic Conference warrant for a School Crossing Service considers the following:

 

 

Consideration	Description
Safe Gaps	A safe gap is a break in traffic that permits sufficient time for a child to safely cross a road.  Depending on the number of safe gaps that are frequently available, as studied in 5-minute intervals, the level of crossing service is determined.
Crossing Service - not provided	Where there exists 4 or a greater number of safe gaps available for crossing children in the majority of 5 minute intervals of the study period
Study results	10 out of 12, five minute intervals had sufficient gaps in the morning period and 11 out of 12, five minute intervals had sufficient gaps in the afternoon period

 

All-way Stop Control Warrant Results

To determine the need for all-way stop control, the local traffic conditions must meet the minimum requirements of the all-way stop warrant adopted by the Town.  The warrant is based on guidelines established by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario and assists in assessing the need for additional right-of-way control at an intersection.  A turning movement count was conducted during the peak hour of the day at the subject intersections and the resulting warrant analysis is below.

 

Country Glen Road and Cornell Common/Donald Sim Avenue

	WARRANT 1			WARRANT 2
	Vehicular Volume			Volume Split
	(All Approaches)
Criteria	Recorded Value	Criteria   Met?	Criteria	Recorded Value	Criteria Met?
> 350	294	No	< 65 /35	93 / 7	No

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Country Glen Road and Gowland Road/Almira Avenue

	WARRANT 1			WARRANT 2
	Vehicular Volume			Volume Split
	(All Approaches)
Criteria	Recorded Value	Criteria   Met?	Criteria	Recorded Value	Criteria Met?
> 350	257	No	< 65 /35	81 /19	No

 

All-way stop control is warranted when both warrants 1 and 2 are satisfied.  In accordance with the above analysis, Warrants 1 and 2 were not satisfied at either intersection.  Therefore, the Engineering Department does not recommend an all-way stop control at the subject intersections at this time.

 

 

FINANCIAL TEMPLATE (Separate Attachment):

Not applicable

 

 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Not applicable

 

 

ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS:

Not applicable

 

 

ENGAGE 21^ST CONSIDERATIONS:

Not applicable

 

 

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

[Insert text here]

 

 

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment ‘A’ – Crossing and All-way Stop Control Study Locations

Attachment ‘B’ – Cornell Village Public Elementary School, Principal’s Letter

 

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