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TO: |
Mayor and Members of Council |
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FROM: |
Paul Ingham, General Manager, Operations |
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PREPARED BY: |
Mark Ingwersen, Manager, Parks Maintenance & Linda Irvine,
Manager of Parks and Open Space Development |
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DATE OF
MEETING: |
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SUBJECT: |
Pathway Winter Maintenance and Lighting |
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RECOMMENDATION:
THAT
the staff report entitled “Pathway Winter Maintenance and Lighting”, dated
AND THAT Council approve Option #2 for existing parks, Connector to public transit, major commercial area and/or major parks and natural barriers between neighbourhoods, and that Operations Department staff continue to plough the 3 pathways already maintained at Cricklewood, Royal Orchard and Ashton Meadows Parks, as well as commence ploughing the 3 additional pathways at Riseborough, Harvest Gate and Aldergrove Parks;
AND THAT any requests to light
any of these 5 locations (Aldergrove is currently lit) identified in Option #2 be
included in subsequent Capital Works capital budget requests for Council’s
consideration;
AND THAT winter maintenance
and lighting of pathways in new parks be determined as part of the design of
the park
PURPOSE: To update Council on a strategy for the
Town’s pathway network, which will establish specific criteria for pathway
paving, lighting and seasonal maintenance.
BACKGROUND:
Pathways in
older parks are usually constructed of crushed limestone and have only been
paved when necessary to eliminate washouts.
The pathways in most new parks, with the exception of natural areas and
valley lands, are generally paved. The Operations Department does not currently
maintain park pathways during the winter months, as the Town provides snow
clearing and sanding of sidewalks to provide safe pedestrian routes throughout
the Town of
Over the past
several winters, the Operations Department has received occasional requests to
plough and sand pathways in parks, particularly when they can be used as a
shortcut to access an adjacent school.
These requests are typically received only after very heavy snowfalls or
ice storms. As the current policy on
winter maintenance does not allow for ploughing and/or sanding of park
pathways, these requests are typically denied. Staff advise residents that there is a safe,
clean, well maintained sidewalk system throughout the local road network for
pedestrians to use.
Requests to
install lights in a park are rare and in some cases where lights have been
installed for “safety” reasons, residents backing onto the park have complained
about the light pollution and invasion of their privacy by these lights. The Town does provide safe, well lit
sidewalks in the Town for pedestrians to use when conditions in parks are not
appropriate for use.
OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:
Parks and Developmental Services Staff have developed a number of
options related to both lighting and winter maintenance. There will be different criteria between new
and existing parks due to the current design philosophy for new parks and
neighbourhoods. Presently, the Town of
EXISTING
PARKS
Winter Maintenance Options:
1. Continue As Per Current Standards And
Not Maintain Park Pathways in Winter
●
Continue with current standard and not maintain any additional park pathways
during the winter months. Staff will
continue to encourage residents to use the public sidewalk system to access
schools, etc., when use of park pathways is not appropriate. No additional
funding required.
2. Pave and Plough Connectors
to public transit, major commercial areas and/or major parks and natural barriers between neighbourhoods
●
Staff have identified several locations where the use of park pathways would
result in a substantially shorter route for residents to access public transit
corridors, a major commercial area and/or major parks and natural barriers between neighbourhoods. The 6 park locations that have been
identified are Risebrough, Harvest Gate, Aldergrove, Cricklewood, Royal Orchard
and Ashton Meadows Parks (see Attachment “A”).
The Town’s contractors already plough Cricklewood, Royal Orchard and
● The cost to maintain these 3 locations is approximately $1,000 annually, based on current sidewalk winter maintenance costs of $1.70/lineal metre. The cost to maintain the 3 additional locations would be approximately $1700 annually which can be accommodated within the existing sidewalk winter maintenance program. There would also be a capital cost of approximately $10,000 to pave the Aldergrove park pathway to facilitate ploughing/sanding. This option is reasonable and cost effective and provides residents with a substantially shorter route to access public transit and major commercial areas.
3.
Pave and Plough All Pathways In Parks Adjacent To
Schools
●
There are 32 parks located adjacent to school sites and of these parks,
paving will be required at 20 locations at a cost of approximately $752,064. The annual cost to plough these pathways will
be approximately $34,665 per winter season.
● It is important to note that staff has contacted both the York Region District School Board (see Appendix A) and the York Region Catholic District School Board to determine whether or not they would undertake winter maintenance of walkways from board/town property lines to their schools. Both school boards have indicated that they would not be willing to provide this service. Should the Town begin ploughing these park pathways, it would result in ploughed walkways to the edge of a park, and then no ploughing or winter maintenance on school board property which would create unsafe conditions.
4. Pave and Plough All Pathways In Parks Across The Town
of
● The cost to pave all park pathways with the exception of natural areas/valley lands will be approximately $2,477,088. The annual cost to plough all of these pathways will be approximately $105,000 per winter season. This would provide a consistent level of service across the Town, but at a significant cost.
● The cost to provide winter maintenance for only
those pathways that are currently paved would be $61,000 per winter
season. However, this would provide on
average a higher level of service in parks in new neighbourhoods that have the
majority of paved pathways, resulting in an inconsistent level of service
between new and older areas of Town.
The pathways have been categorized as follows:
TABLE – 1
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Type of Park Pathways |
Paved Pathways (lm) |
Un-paved Pathways (lm) |
Total Lineal Metres |
Cost to Pave* |
Cost to Plough completed inventory** |
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Connector
to public transit and /or major commercial area |
1,453 |
95.7 |
1549 |
$9,570 |
$2,633 |
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Natural
Areas/Valley Lands |
1,544 |
8,351 |
9,895 |
N/A |
N/A |
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Parks
Adjacent to Schools |
11,548 |
7,738 |
19,286 |
$752,064 |
$32,786 |
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Stand
Alone Parks |
22,791 |
17,969 |
40,760 |
$1,725,024 |
$69,292 |
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Total Pathways in the Town of |
37,336 |
34,154 |
71,490 |
$2,486,658 |
$104,711 |
* The current average cost to pave 1 lineal
metre of pathway (1.5 metre width) is approximately $96.00.
** The current contract cost to plough/sand
1 lineal metre of pathway (sidewalk) is approximately $1.70/season, which
includes labour, equipment and materials.
Pathway Lighting Options:
A pathway requires a light standard approximately every 50m to meet reasonable lighting standards. The cost of one light is approximately $6000. Lighting of a substantial number of park pathways would result in significant annual cost for electricity and maintenance. The capital cost to light pathways maintained during the winter months is outlined under the following options:
1. Continue As Per Current Standards And
● No additional pathways would be lit and therefore there would be no additional costs.
2. Light connector paths to public transit
and/or major commercial area
● Aldergrove is already lit, however the total Capital cost to light the additional 5 pathways would be $143,784.
Aldergrove already lit
Riseborough $63,720
Harvest Gate $12,600
Royal Orchard $15,564
Cricklewood $25,140
Ashton Meadows $26,760
3.
Light All Pathways Located In Parks Adjacent To Schools With The Exception of
Natural Areas/Valley Lands
● There are 32 parks located adjacent to school sites and the capital cost to light these pathways would be approximately $2,446,920, plus hydro costs and maintenance.
4.
Light All
Pathways In Parks Across The Town of
of Natural Areas/Valley Lands
● The cost to light all park pathways with the
exception of natural areas/valley lands would be approximately $ 7,391,400,
plus hydro costs and maintenance.
The lighting of park pathways has been a contentious issue with some residents objecting to light pollution and invasion of privacy. If at any time a resident feels uncomfortable traveling through a park at night, they do have the option of using the Town’s pedestrian sidewalks, which are all lit and maintained year round.
Staff suggest that, due to the contentious nature of this issue, park lighting be considered only on paths maintained in the winter and then only on a request basis. Any request would require a volunteer resident to circulate a petition confirming that the majority of resident backing onto the park are in favour of lighting. The request would then be submitted by the Capital Works group as part of the following year’s capital budget submission.
NEW AND FUTURE PARKS
Within OP5, and the Town’s
new residential communities in the urban expansion area such as
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommend Option #2 for existing parks, Connector to public transit, major commercial
area, and/or major parks and natural barriers between neighbourhoods. The Operations Department would continue
to plough the 3 pathways at Cricklewood, Royal Orchard and
In new parks, staff recommend that winter maintenance and lighting requirements be determined as part of the design, public consultation, approval and construction process.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
Option #2 would not have any
financial impact based on current budget submissions for 2006. Paving of the existing pathway through
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Comments received from Linda Irvine, Manager of
Parks and Open Space Planning have been included in this report.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment “A” – Town Map Indicating Park
Locations
Attachment “B” – Pathways in Parks Currently
maintained
Attachment “C” – Additional Pathways to be
maintained
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Paul Ingham, General Manager, Operations |
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Director,
Operations and Asset Management |
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Jim Sales, Commissioner
of Community & Fire Services |
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Commission share/operations & asset
management
reports/2005/Operations/Parks/Pathway Winter Maintenance & Lighting
ATTACHMENT ‘B’
ATTACHMENT ‘C’
