Marine Drive at Cambie - Accident Reduction Strategy

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: June 5, 2000

Dept. File No.: 830 181

RTS No.: 1512
CC File No.: 5761-1

T&T: July 04, 2000

TO: Standing Committee on Traffic and Transportation

FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services

SUBJECT: Marine Drive at Cambie - Accident Reduction Strategy

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT Council approve proceeding with the signal changes and lane re-designation as outlined below and shown in Appendix A, source of funds to be 50% TransLink and the remaining 50% ($125,000) to be provided from the 2000 Capital Plan.

B. THAT staff continue to monitor safety and operating conditions and report back if further remedial measures are indicated.

COUNCIL POLICY

The Transportation Plan provides that intersection improvements may be required to improve safety at some intersections. These will be designed so as not to increase capacity and wherever possible will be accommodated within the existing road width.

Both Cambie and Marine Drive have been designated as “Major Roads” in the regional Major Road Network.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to recommend Council approve the proposed work described below at Cambie and Marine to address a significant accident problem.

BACKGROUND

Marine Drive and Cambie is the intersection of two major arterials in the City. Both are truck and transit routes. As well, both link major destinations such as the Airport, Burnaby, UBC, the downtown, retail/industrial land uses on Marine Drive, major institutional land uses along Cambie, and the Oak Street and Laing Bridges.

This intersection has a very high accident rate in the City, with 51 reported accidents in 1996. The most common type of accident is related to conflicts between vehicles turning left (east to north) and straight through (westbound) vehicles.

Marine Drive presently has three lanes in each direction and left turn bays. Dual left turns are allowed from east to north to accommodate the high turning demand, approaching 1000 turns in the AM Peak Hour (See Appendix B). This is accomplished by means of one dedicated left turn lane and a shared left-turn and through lane.

Total peak one hour volumes passing through the intersection are in the order of 5000 vehicles in the morning and 6000 vehicles in the afternoon. In addition, the intersection accommodates large turning movements south to westbound and south to east as shown in Appendix B. Overall, this intersection has some of the highest turning volumes in the City, largely because of its position at the edge of the street grid and adjacent to several bridgeheads.

DISCUSSION

This intersection has an unacceptably high number of accidents and it is important to improve safety by reducing this number. At the same time, any changes to the intersection to improve safety should also strive to preserve arterial capacity at near existing levels to avoid shortcutting and to discourage reallocating traffic to other heavily used north/south arterials.

There are two components to addressing the accident problem at the intersection while at the same time preserving capacity.

1. Recommended Signal Modifications to reduce accidents

The greatest accident conflict is between vehicles turning left (east to north) and opposing westbound through traffic. This conflict can be reduced by modifying the traffic signal phasing. Specifically, left turns would only be permitted during the left turn phase (east to north). Left turns would be prohibited once the westbound movement is permitted. This eliminates the existing conflict between eastbound left turning vehicles and westbound through vehicles.

2. Adjusting the existing eastbound lane allocations (See Appendix A)

In the eastbound direction, there are two through lanes, 1 dedicated left turn lane and a shared left turn and through lane. In order to accomplish the signal changes described in part 1 above, the existing shared left turn/through lane must become a left-turn only lane (thus creating 2 dedicated left turn lanes) and leaving only 2 eastbound through lanes.

Computer simulation of this signal adjustment indicates there will be a decrease in capacity of the intersection, particularly for the eastbound left turn movement, and some additional queueing in the eastbound direction can be expected. In this regard, it is important to make sure the 2 left turn lanes and the 2 through lanes function efficiently.

To make sure the intersection continues to function well, it is proposed to prohibit the east to north left turn at Lord Street, one short block west of Cambie. As well, to maintain eastbound capacity, it will be necessary to maintain two through lanes in the eastbound direction by permanently removing the parking on the south side of Marine from Cambie to 70^th Ave.

Presently, parking on the south side of Marine Drive in this area is restricted in the morning and afternoon rush hours and restricted full time on the north side. Land uses that will be impacted by this loss of parking in the mid day and evenings include a Denny’s restaurant and a multi-family housing complex, both of which have off-street parking. Observations of parking in the mid day and evenings have been done and only light to medium parking densities have been observed. To offset this loss, full time parking exists on the two adjmoining cross streets, Cambie and Ash, south of Marine.

Street Capacity

The above changes will result in a reduction in accidents at this intersection but will result in some increased queueing in the eastbound direction particularly in the morning and afternoon periods. The full time removal of parking on the south side of the Marine, prohibition of left turns at Lord Street and additional signing to advise motorists of the new traffic lane distribution should reduce this impact.

Should queueing become a problem because of insufficient capacity in the eastbound direction, the alternative is to still retain the new signal arrangement (necessary to address the accident problem) but widen Marine Drive west of Cambie by one lane in the eastbound direction to maintain the third through lane.

Given that the Transportation Plan seeks to avoid widening wherever possible, it is proposed to make the signal changes without this widening. Should Council approve theproposed recommendation, then staff will monitor the changes to determine the impact and report back if necessary.

Cost of Work

The cost of the signal, electrical and additional traffic signing work is estimated at $200,000. Minor median and paving work is estimated at $50,000, for a total cost of $250,000. Significant saving on paving work will be realized if the work is done now as it will be coordinated with major utility work on Marine in this area.

TransLink will contribute 50% of the cost of this work, or $125,000, as Cambie and Marine are Major Roads. Therefore, the City cost is $125,000.

Funds are available in the 2000 Capital Plan, approved by Council, for this work.

Public Notification

This will be a major change to how the Cambie and Marine intersection functions and therefore, should Council approve these changes, it is proposed to install a sign at the intersection, advising of the changes.

It will be necessary to close the median at Lord Street (one block west of Cambie) to prohibit left turning vehicles at Lord from interfering with the left turns at Cambie. It will also be necessary to prohibit parking full time on the south side of Marine (Eastbound) between Cambie and 70^th Ave.

The directly affected residents and merchants will be notified of the closure of Lord to turning vehicles from the West and changes to parking regulations on the south side of Marine. Should there be significant resident concerns with the proposed traffic changes, staff will report back to Council with this message for further discussion and/or review of other options.

NOTE FROM CLERK: Appendix A and B are not available in electronic form - on file in the Office of the City Clerk.

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