Speed bump requests get green light in Windsor, if neighbours on board
Does your Windsor street feel like a drag strip? You can now request speed bumps, but only if your neighbours approve.
City council this week passed a traffic calming procedure that will let residents call 311 and ask for speed bumps. A majority of the residents on the block would have to be on board for the city to move ahead with installation.
Prior to the new procedure, residents had the potential to receive speed bumps on their roads through traffic calming procedures, but local road requests were combined with a variety of other roadway requests, making the process long and subject to prioritization. In addition, traffic calming plans sometimes involve more than one traffic calming measure “and take years to implement based on the complexity of the project and priority of the roadway,” a city staff report said.
The new procedure has been created for local streets with curbs, primarily residential, where speed bumps don't pose a risk for transit, trucks, or emergency services.
Streets ineligible for speed bumps include scenic drives, collector or arterial roads, transit, truck, and emergency services routes, roads with speed limits above 50km/h, and roads classified as industrial. The city's engineer can also deem roads unsuitable if there are special circumstances related to feasibility or implementation.
On eligible roads, 50 per cent of block residents polled must support speed bumps for the city to seek council approval for installation.
A number of locations under traffic calming review could be referred to the speed bump procedure. They include Norman Road from South National Street to Haig Avenue, Virginia Avenue from Wyandotte Street East to Tecumseh Road, and Partington Avenue from College Avenue to Tecumseh Road.
It's possible the demand for speed bumps will exceed the city's ability to process requests, the staff report said. Administration anticipates that three to five requests can be reviewed and processed per month, depending on the length of the involved road segment.
Speed bump installation will be funded by the capital traffic calming budget, which has about $420,000 in uncommitted funds. Each speed bump would cost an estimated $7,425, including the required signage and pavement markings.
Council has also committed about $775,000 to traffic calming initiatives, including BIA community safety zone signs, arterial speed control programs, Cabana Road radar speed feedback signs, and a traffic calming project on Drouillard Road.