Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services

SUBJECT: Local Improvements by Initiative - June 11, 2002 - First and Second Step Report

RECOMMENDATION

COUNCIL POLICY

Policies governing the Local Improvement process are set out in the Vancouver Charterand Local Improvements Procedure by-law.

PURPOSE

A Court of Revision is scheduled for June 11, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. to review a number of petition and initiative projects. The report for petition projects will be advanced to Council separately at a later date to allow as much time as possible for residents to circulate their petitions. The purpose of this report is to begin the formal Local Improvement process by advancing the initiative projects to the Court of Revision and reporting on the financial arrangements for the projects. Approval of this report does not commit Council to undertake the projects.

First Step

As required by the Local Improvement Procedure By-law, projects for the following categories and detailed on the attached schedule (Appendix I), are advanced to Council by Initiative for review at a Court of Revision, which will be held at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 11, 2002.

Court #607

I. Lane Lighting
II. Pavement and Curbs, Higher Zoned
III. Pavement and Curbs, Local Residential
IV. Lane Pavement, Higher Zoned
V. Speed Humps
VI. Pedestrian Collector Sidewalks
VII. Sidewalk Reconstruction

Court #608

I. Lane Pavement, Local Residential

Financial Implications

Local Improvements:
Local Improvements is estimated at $3.04 million. This City's share is $2.15 million funded as follows:
- $.43 million for the City's share of projects is available from existing Engineering Department Basic Capital Accounts as itemized in Appendix II
- $1.72 million is subject to the approval of the 2002 Streets Basic Capital Budget

Second Step

The Director of Finance reports as follows:

In accordance with the Local Improvements Procedure By-law, I am submitting the attached City Engineer's report. The estimated cost of these projects is $3,048,101. The property owners' share of the projects is $895,952. The City's share is $2,152,149. I have to report that the necessary financial arrangements can be made to carry out this work subject to approval of the 2002 Streets Basic Capital Budget.

- - - - -

Appendix I

COURT OF REVISION - JUNE 11, 2002

INITIATIVE PROJECTS - SCHEDULE #607

I. LANE LIGHTING

1. Lane east of Knight Street from 27th Avenue to 28th Avenue
City staff deemed initiating the above stated project justifiable based on police and resident owners' (owners who are currently living there) support. Constable Gerry Burke of the Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood Safety Office, wrote a letter of support to the City, in which he stated through his experience in patrolling of this lane, he discovered the lane was dark and there were prostitutes hanging out. He therefore suggested some form of improved lighting would be appropriate.

Furthermore, Mr. Victor Ghirra of 1419 East 28th Avenue, took up a petition to the eight (8) property owners in August, 2001. Though he was not able to obtain the minimum 2/3 (6 out of 8) owners' support, he was able to obtain signatures of support from all four (4) of the resident property owners. (Of the remaining four (4) absentee owners (owners who are not living there), one was not in support, one was not sure, and two could not be contacted by Mr. Ghirra at that time.)

Based on the foregoing, City staff are recommending to initiate this project.

II. PAVEMENT & CURBS, HIGHER ZONED

The following higher-zoned streets that are being initiated have strip pavements that are in poor condition. These streets are often difficult to improve by the petition process due to absentee owners. These streets therefore deteriorate, resulting in complaints and maintenance concerns. Furthermore, some of these streets have other reasons in addition to poor pavement condition and the reasons have been noted alongside the project. The initiative process is an effective method to use to deal with these situations.

2. Crompton Street from S.E. Marine Drive to N Kent Avenue

This project is being initiated because of the poor pavement condition on this street. The street is an important component of the transportation network in the area. The street serves as one of several collector streets that provide access between SE Marine Drive, the Knight St. Bridge on-ramp and Kent Ave. North . In addition, this section of Crompton is a key link for cyclists between the east-west Kent Bikeway, the north-south Inverness/Windsor bikeways and the Knight St. Bridge.

4. North Kent from Crompton Street to Victoria Drive

This project is being initiated to resolve the poor pavement conditions encountered by general traffic using the street as well as provide essential improvements for the proposed Kent Bikeway. The Kent Bikeway is a link of local and regional significance that was identified in the 1997 Transportation Plan as one of the routes that should be developed in accordance with Council's policy to provide a more complete bicycle network as a top priority. Neighbourhood Transportation will be reporting to Council on April 23, 2002 seeking support and approval for this route.

5. 15th Avenue from the L/W Main Street to Quebec Street

III. PAVEMENT & CURBS, LOCAL RESIDENTIAL

The following residential street improvement projects are being initiated due to the poor condition of the temporary pavement. Some of these streets are flankage streets and are often difficult to improve by the petition process. Futhermore, most of the projects have been ballotted and brought forward because of the positive support received.

7. McGill Street from Kootenay Street to Fellowes Street
An owner requested assistance because of the difficulty in circulating a petition. A review found an absentee rate of 45% which would make circulating a petition difficult.

8. Sasamat Street from Belmont Street to 1st Avenue

9. St. George Street from 52nd Avenue to 53rd Avenue
Project also adjacent to John Henderson Elementary School where staff are supportive of the project for safety reasons.

10. St. George Street from 53rd Avenue to 54th Avenue

11. Turner Street from Lilllooet Street to the dead end west

12. Windsor Street from 50th Avenue to 51st Avenue

13. Windsor Street from 51st Avenue to 52nd Avenue

14. 31st Avenue - N/S - Heather Street to 36 feet east of the west property line of Lot 13 Blk 779 DL 526 Plan 7206

15. 43rd Avenue from Commercial Street to Beatrice Street

IV. LANE PAVEMENT, HIGHER ZONED

Higher-Zoned lane paving addresses Council's stated priority on infrastructure renewal. These lanes tend not to be improved by petition because of absentee ownership, yet they carry much more traffic than residential lanes, and the lane surface deteriorate as a result. This causes high maintenance cost and a significant number of complaints from commercial and/or apartment tenants.

16. L/N of Kingsway from Miller Street to L/E Welwyn and L/E Welwyn from L/S 22nd Avenue to L/N Kingsway and L/S 22nd Avenue from Welwyn Street to L/E Welwyn Street

17. L/E of Oak Street from 22nd Avenue to L/N 22nd Avenue

V. SPEED HUMPS

The following speed hump projects are being initiated as a result of complaints about safety due speeding vehicles using the lanes as an alternate route in order to avoid signalized intersections or as a short cut to their destinations. Circulating a petition would be difficult because of the number of strata owners involved of which some are absentee owners.

18. L/E of Cambie Street from 17th Avenue to 18th Avenue
An adjacent residential owner advised us of a dangerous situation existing in this lane. Residential owners reside on the east side of the lane and commercial owners on the west side. The owners experienced the problem first hand after being struck by a car.

19. L/E of Fraser Street from 29th Avenue to 30th Avenue
Informal petition submitted by tenants with safety concerns.

20. L/W of Granville from 63rd Avenue to 68th Avenue and the L/E of Granville St. from 62nd Avenue to 67th Avenue
The Granville Street BIA has advised us of speeding in lanes within the business area. To properly deal with the traffic situation, it is appropriate to install speed humps in all lanes in this area as one project instead of individual projects.

21. L/S of Hastings Street from Penticton Street to Slocan Street
Request from concerned residential owner. South side of lane is residential, north side is
commercial. The City generally assist residential owners in this situation.

22. L/E of Heather Street from 16th Avenue to 17th Avenue
Request from a property management company to have speed humps installed. Although the lane was approved last June 2001, the lane has not been constructed yet due to volume of work.

23. L/W of Renfrew Street from Grant Street to Graveley Street
Letter from a concerned resident advising of a safety situation, but because of absentee owners circulating a petition would be difficult.

24. L/S of Robson Street from Gilford Street to Denman Street
An adjacent strata owner advised us of a safety situation existing in this lane. This project is being initiated because of numerous strata owners and the traffic from its proximity to Denman Street

25. L/E of Victoria Drive 43rd Avenue to 44th Avenue
An adjacent commercial owner advised us of a safety situation existing in this lane with residential owners on one side and commercial owners on the other.

26. L/S of 6th Avenue from Heather Street to Willow Street
Tenants from Stanley Noble Strong Co-op have expressed safety concerns from vehicles speeding through the lane. Some of the tenants that access and egress the co-op must do so from the lane using wheel chairs.

27. L/S of 7th Avenue from Keith Drive to L/W of Clark Drive & L/W of Clark Drive from 7th Avenue to 8th Avenue
Letter from director of community home run by Coast Foundation advises us of a a safety situation involving their tenants and vehicles.

28. L/S of 8th Avenue from Alma Street to Dunbar Street
Request originated from a concerned residential owner. North side of lane is residential, south side is commercial. The City generally assist residential owners in this situation.

29. L/S of 8th Avenue from Bayswater Street to Balaclava Street
Request from concerned residential owner. North side of lane is residential, south side is commercial. The City generally assist residential owners in this situation.

30. L/S of 8th Avenue from Carolina Street to Fraser Street
A concerned resident advises us a safety situation in the area. Due to the density of the area with the mixture of commercial business on Broadway this project is being intiated for safety reasons.

31. L/S of 32nd Avenue from L/E of Oak Street to Laurel Street and L/E of Oak Street from 32nd Avenue to 33rd Avenue
This project was also approved in June 2001 but not yet constructed due to the volume of work from last year. Prior to the Dec 4, 2001 Court of Revision, numerous residents called wondering why speed humps were not included. Owners felt speed humps are necessary because of their proximity to the intersection of 33rd Ave. and Oak St. This project has an absentee rate of 67%

32. L/S of 41st Avenue from Larch Street to Balsam Street
We received a complaint about a safety situation in the lane. As there are 94 strata owners and 1 other property owner, circulating a petition would be difficult.

VI. PEDESTRIAN COLLECTOR SIDEWALKS

On February 9, 1982, Council reaffirmed its policy objectives of providing sidewalks:
- on both sides of arterial streets;
- on both sides (as needed) of pedestrian collector routes;
- on both sides of higher-zoned streets; and
- on local residential streets, where property owners petitioned for them.

The construction of new pedestrian collector sidewalks responds to Council's top two priorities for transportation improvements; pedestrians and transit. Of the 12 new sidewalk projects initiated, 9 projects provide access to bus routes and 3 projects provide access to schools or parks.

33. E/S Barnard Street from S.W. Marine Drive to 75th Avenue except 10 ft frnt Lot A of 2, 67ft frnt Lot 1 of 8, 59ft frnt Lot 2 of 2 all of DL 317 & DL 318 Plan 14131,8882 &7710

34. E/S Kamloops Street from Dundas Street to Triumph Street

35. E/S Kamloops Street from 8th Avenue to L/S of 8th Avenue

36. W/S Ontario Street from King Edward Avenue to 26th Avenue

37. E/S St. Catherines Street from 22nd Avenue to 23rd Avenue

38. W/S St. Catherines Street from L/S 21st Avenue to 22nd Avenue

39. W/S St. Catherines Street from 23rd Avenue to 24th Avenue

40. S/S 6th Avenue from St. Catherines Street to Prince Albert Street

41. N/S 13th Avenue from Arbutus Street to C.P.R.

42. N/S 14th Avenue from Arbutus Street to C.P.R

43. S/S 14th Avenue from Arbutus Street to C.P.R

44. N/S 45th Avenue from Inverness Street to Knight Street excluding Lot A of 1 to 6 Blk DL 714 PLN 8240 (6060 Culloden Street)

VII. SIDEWALK RECONSTRUCTION

The Sidewalk Reconstruction Program is directed toward poor condition sidewalks in commercial areas which involve high pedestrian usage and are on transit routes. In this report there are 4 projects recommended for initiative. Sidewalks rating reconstruction are often badly cracked and sloped and may be patched in many places by asphalt fillets. In spite of inspection and regular maintenance by City staff, sidewalks in this condition are more prone to trips, water ponding and liability concerns for the City.

These four projects are also being initiated to coincide with major street repair on Broadway between Cambie St. and Oak St. Council should be aware that as part of the sidewalk reconstruction work, the existing trees will be replaced by another species of tree and root barriers will be installed. The damage to sidewalk varies with the age of the existing trees. Adjacent younger trees there is minor damage to the sidewalk at this time. However, adjacent mature trees of this species there are safety concerns which poses a hazard to pedestrians. Sidewalks in poor condition also provide obstacles for the disabled and seniors.

These sidewalk reconstruction projects are shared 50/50 with the abutting commercial owners, and the program has been very well received since it began about 20 years ago.

45. N/S Broadway from Heather Street to Ash Street
46. N/S Broadway from Willow Street to Heather Street
47. S/S Broadway from Laurel Street to 150 ft west of Willow Street except 56 ft frnt Lot 1 to 6 & 7 West half Blk 357, DL 526
48. N/S Broadway from Laurel St. to 100 ft. west of Laurel Street

INITIATIVE PROJECTS - SCHEDULE # 608

I. LANE PAVEMENT, LOCAL RESIDENTIAL - SPECIAL PROJECT

This pilot project addresses environmental concerns raised by some adjacent owners and Council by proposing the construction of 2 strips of concrete as an alternative to full width paving. To determine the level of support the adjacent owners were balloted. The response received showed 8 opposed and 10 in favour. Owners that did not respond by ballot were called resulting in a further 5 owners in opposition and 2 in favour. Of the 30 owners adjacent this project, 13 responded in opposition and 12 were in favour. The remaining 5 did not respond to the ballot or subsequent phone calls.

This project is being pursued as a pilot project which addresses environmental issues by reducing drainage discharge to the city storm sewer system and serves as an example of an alternative to full width lane paving. Despite the response staff will be meeting with the affected owners shortly to further address this issue and answer questions. This meeting will serve to confirm the level of support and determine whether or not the project will be carried forward.

APPENDIX II

CITY OF VANCOUVER - LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS DETAILED SECOND STEP REPORT

Summary of Estimated Costs and Certificates to the Attached Local Improvement Estimates
Advanced on the Initiative Principle for a Court of Revision June 11, 2002

Court #607

CATEGORY

ITEM NUMBER

TYPE OF PROJECT

P.O.
SHARE

CITY'S
SHARE

TOTAL
COST

EXISTING FUNDS

SUBJECT TO APPROVAL OF THE 2002 CAPITAL BUDGET

I

1

Lane Lighting

$ 1,142

$ 854

$ 1,996

$ 854 30000535

  

II

245

Pavement & Curbs, Higher Zoned

$ 465,686

$ 883,630

$ 1,349,316

$247,656 SCA5B-UNAP

$ 635,974

III

37451

Pavement & Curbs, Local Residential

$ 125,502

$ 794,676

$ 920,178

  

$ 794,676

IV

1617

Lane Pavement, Higher Zoned

$ 61,552

$ 42,991

$ 104,543

$ 40,188 SCA5D-UNAP

$ 2,803

V

18-32

Speed Humps

$ 47,564

0

$ 47,564

    

VI

33-44

Pedestrian Collector Sidewalks

$ 66,183

$ 83,424

$ 149,607

$ 83,424 SCA2A-UNAP

  

VII

45-48

Sidewalk Reconstruction

$ 92,629

$ 315,787

$ 408,416

$ 59,152 SCA2A-UNAP

$ 256,635

   

TOTAL

$ 860,258

$ 2,121,362

$ 2,981,620

$431,274

$1,690,088

Court #608

1

Lane Pavement, Local Residential

$ 35,694

$ 30,787

$ 66,481

  

$ 30,787

   

TOTAL

$ 35,694

$ 30,787

$ 66,481

  

$ 30787

The estimated costs provide for necessary incidental work. The cost of the property owner's share of the above noted projects, and interest, is repayable over 15 years, except for lane lighting which is repayable over five years.

Certified correct as to measurements.

___________________ ____________________ ________________________
Collector of Taxes Director of Finance City Engineer

Certified adopted by the City Council on ______________________ ______________________ City Clerk

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