SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 3
VTC AGENDA
SEPTEMBER 14, 1995
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: August 17, 1995
Dept. File No. 717 148
TO: Vancouver Traffic Commission
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Maple Crescent and Nanton Avenue - Traffic Circle
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT a permanent traffic circle be installed at Maple and
Nanton Avenue, with funding of $6,000 from Streets Basic
Capital Unappropriated Account Number 13/32/9801/999 - Other
Improvements.
B. THAT neighbourhood residents be requested to adopt circle
landscaping and the Streets annual operating budget be
increased by $100 to fund maintenance. In absence of this,
the Streets annual operating budget be increased by $500 to
fund maintenance.
OUNCIL POLICY
Council has a long standing policy of protecting neighbourhoods from
intrusion of non-local traffic.
On January 12, 1995, Council approved that property owners be given
the option of installing traffic circles on local streets where
appropriate through the local improvement petition process with 100%
property-owner funding, and that the Streets Operating Budget be
increased by $500 annually for the maintenance of each circle.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to present the results of a public
opinion survey regarding the proposed Maple Crescent and Nanton Avenue
traffic circle, and to recommend proceeding with installation of a
traffic circle.
BACKGROUND
In 1994, residents forwarded a petition to Engineering Services asking
that traffic control in the area of Maple Crescent and Nanton Avenue
be reviewed.
In the spring of 1995, a neighbourhood public opinion survey was
circulated to residents.
DISCUSSION
Residents in the area of Maple Crescent, Nanton Avenue and Cypress
Crescent are concerned about traffic volumes and speeds along Maple
Crescent. To help calm traffic along this local residential street a
traffic circle is proposed at Maple and Nanton Avenue.
Maple Crescent parallels the Arbutus Rail corridor between 32nd Avenue
and King Edward Avenue. There are no traffic controls for vehicles
travelling along Maple. Nanton Avenue is the only east/west
connection crossing the rail line and Maple Crescent, and is
controlled by east/west stop signs (see Figure 1).
A number of residents were concerned about motorists not obeying the
existing east-west stop signs. The Police Department was informed of
this and a study including added enforcement was conducted. During
the study there was not a significant number of drivers who failed to
stop at the existing stop signs.
Four-way stop signs were also considered at this location. However, a
traffic circle will cause less noise in the neighbourhood than stop
signs. Furthermore, a traffic circle would emphasize that Maple
Crescent is a residential street.
In almost all cases within the City, traffic circle installa-tions on
local streets have been very popular. For this reason and since
traffic circles do not cause a large disruption in traffic patterns,
it is recommended that the traffic circle be made permanent. This
would be consistent with Council's decision of February 2, 1995, that
to supply better service to the public, traffic circles be installed
on a permanent basis with landscaping, where appropriate.
Public Opinion Survey
Residents living within one block of the proposed traffic circle were
surveyed with the following results:
Surveys Distributed 27
Surveyed Returned 18 (66% return rate)
In Favour of Traffic Circle 18 (100%)
Opposed to Traffic Circle 0 (0%)
A 66% response rate is quite high for surveys of this type. The
results also show unanimous support for the installation of the
traffic circle. The survey area is relatively small; however, it is
in agreement with Council's July 18, 1995 decision defining survey
areas for local traffic circles. For installation of traffic calming
on busier streets, such as a collector street, a much larger survey
area would be appro-priate. Because this is a local residential
street only the immediate area was surveyed regarding the traffic
circle (see Figure 1).
Although there is unanimous support from residents, concerns were
received with the surveys. The most common concerns are a preference
for 4-way stop signs and concerns related to visibility. The most
common comment in favour of the traffic circle is that it will slow
down traffic. In almost all cases it was expressed that some type of
traffic calming measure is needed.
A sample of the ballot delivered to residents and a summary of their
comments is included as Appendix A.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The traffic circle is estimated to cost $6,000 and can be funded from
the Streets Basic Capital Unappropriated Account Number 13/32/9801/999
- Other Improvements.
It should be noted that on January 12, 1995, Council approved that
property owners be responsible for funding the installa-tion of
traffic circles in most cases. However, in this case discussions with
residents began before the new policy so owners have not been asked to
fund the traffic circle.
Future maintenance of the traffic circle including landscaping will
need to be funded through a $500 increase in the streets annual
operating budget. However, residents will be asked to adopt the
landscaping of the circle, which would lower the costs to
approximately $100 per year.
CONCLUSION
It is recommended that a permanent traffic circle be installed at the
intersection of Maple Crescent and Nanton Avenue. Of the
neighbourhood residents who participated in the survey a strong
majority (100%) were in favour of implementing the traffic circle.
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