SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 3
P&E COMMITTEE AGENDA
FEBRUARY 8, 1996
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date:January 24, 1996
Dept. File No. 2051
TO: Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Residential Street Design - Garden Drive Pilot Project
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve in principle the street design concepts
described for the 100 block South Garden to the 400 block
North Garden Drive.
B. THAT Engineering Services staff conduct pre-ballots of
Garden Drive property owners regarding the improvement
projects and report back with the results.
C. THAT Engineering Services staff conduct a traffic ballot of
residents in the area bounded by Nanaimo, Pandora, Templeton
and Dundas regarding the proposed southbound one-way closure
of the 100 and zero blocks of South Garden Drive.
COUNCIL POLICY
Policies governing the Local Improvement Process are set out in the
Vancouver Charter and Local Improvements Procedure By-law.
The CityPlan direction for New and More Diverse Public Places indicates
that Vancouver will encourage friendlier residential streets by
building neighbourhood greenways, increasing the number and variety of
trees on public streets, and calming traffic.
SUMMARY
The General Manager of Engineering Services recommends that Council
approve in principle an innovative street design concept for Garden
Drive. The design is in keeping with the five residential streets
performance criteria (experiential, ecological, community, functional
and economic) which were received by Council in a report dated March 20,
1995.
This concept has been developed in consultation with a group of local
property owners and residents at a series of community meetings co-
hosted by City staff and Kiwassa Neighbourhood House. The overall
project is divided into two assessment areas with different site
characteristics and design elements. Design elements include some
angled parking, a one-way closure, and trees and landscaping in planters
in the street.
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The five-block North Garden Drive project is estimated to cost $450,000
and the two block South Garden Drive project is estimated at $81,000, to
be funded in a manner similar to higher-zoned pavement and curb local
improvement initiatives. The City s share of these costs would be
$210,00 and $27,000, respectively. Although the preliminary estimates
assume that all work would be performed by City crews or contractors,
design elements are being selected to encourage and enable community
involvement in the project s construction.
It is also recommended that initiative and traffic ballots be sent to
Garden Drive property owners and residents to gauge the broader support
for the concept, and that the results be reported to Council.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to recommend Council approve in principle
a street design concept for Garden Drive which has been devised jointly
by the community and City staff. It is recommended that pre-ballots be
conducted to determine the degree of support for the concept, prior to
initiating the project as a local improvement.
BACKGROUND
On January 12, 1995 Council passed the following motions regarding the
design of residential streets:
THAT the City Engineer identify and report back with a trial
location to allow property owners in single-family neighbourhoods
to determine if parking shall be provided on both sides, one side
or not at all, with the pavement width adjusted accordingly.
THAT the City Engineer identify and report back with a trial
location to allow property owners in single family neighbourhoods
to determine if a curved street shall be installed with 100%
property owner funding for the additional cost.
Subsequently, Council passed the following motion on April 11, 1995:
THAT the pilot projects for residential street design described in
Council s resolutions of January 12, 1995 (quoted above), be
expanded to consider performance criteria outlined in this report,
and that designs for these pilots be developed in consultation with
the affected community.
This second report proposed that streets should meet experiential,
ecological, community, functional and economic criteria, as originally
suggested by Moura Quayle in her presentation to the Committee on
Planning and Environment on March 10, 1995.
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At a subsequent Court of Revision a paving petition for 200 North Garden
Drive was reviewed by Council, and it was noted by a local resident that
North Garden Drive would be an interesting test of the five, street
design criteria. Therefore, the paving petition was deferred and staff
were directed to consult with property owners in the Garden Drive area
regarding the street s design.
CONCEPT
The proposed improvements have been planned jointly by interested Garden
Drive property owners, local residents, Kiwassa Neighbourhood House
members, Moura Quayle and City staff.
The design process to date has included an area-wide notification,
traditional town-hall type meetings, a goal-setting session and three-
dimensional modelling workshops. A local street fair was also held to
advertise the project and to demonstrate the impacts of the design ideas
being considered. It is estimated that 150 area residents have
participated in these events. This project has not only tested new
design philosophies, but new public involvement ideas as well.
The Garden Drive neighbourhood is mostly low-rise apartments, with a few
remaining single-family houses. The street designs being recommended by
the community are intended to increase the greenery and beauty of Garden
Drive while respecting concerns about personal safety, mountain-views,
and on-street parking needs. The community s objectives which formed the
basis for the designs, are attached as Appendix A.
Improvements are being proposed for two distinct areas - South Garden
Drive between Pandora and Dundas (which was recently paved and curbed
with an 11 m road width, planted with some trees and had existing
sidewalks) and North Garden between Dundas and Trinity (which has
strips of old asphalt with very little curbing, has existing sidewalks
and no trees). These two areas have different characteristics,
different design solutions and separate assessment rates. If they are
both approved, they will make Garden Drive a continuous and enjoyable
walking and cycling route between Trinity Street (and McGill Park, as
well as small pocket parks nearby on Wall Street) and Pandora Park (and
the shopping areas to the south along Hastings).
Where possible, streetscape elements are being selected for their
recycled-materials content or being designed to facilitate community
involvement in their installation. For example, staff are trying to
source tree planters that are modular for easy installation without the
use of large equipment. A plant-salvaging program is also being
considered that could allow local residents to save appropriate plants
and trees from construction sites which would otherwise be destroyed by
redevelopment. If local residents are willing to do the digging and
replanting, the Park Board s Sunset Nursery is willing to shelter the
homeless greenery until it is needed.
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North Garden Drive:
The five block North Garden Drive project currently consists of strip
pavement, except for one block of old curb and gutter. Sidewalks run
along both sides of the street but there are no existing trees. The
proposed design concept for the street between Dundas and Trinity is
somewhat diverse from one block to the next (see Appendix B) and
includes:
repaving the street, with most blocks having an 8.5 metre wide
driving and parking area (similar to existing road widths on Oxford
near Garden);
installing curb and gutter along two of the blocks (from Oxford to
Eton);
installing trees in the curbed boulevard area
installing trees in planters or surrounded by bollards in the
uncurbed blocks;
building traffic circles and corner bulges at several intersections
to slow traffic as well as provide more landscaping areas;
installing a half-block of angled parking north of Cambridge Street
on a trial basis. This block has old curb and gutter at a width of
11 metres. This is narrower than the City s parking lot standard
for angled parking with two-way traffic, and will result in an
increased accident potential. The community feel that the low
traffic volumes and surrounding traffic calming measures would
allow the angled parking to be successful, and therefore it is
proposed that it be installed on a trial basis and monitored for
its impacts. Staff would report back on the outcome of this trial;
expanding McGill Park (at the northeast corner of Garden at McGill)
and narrowing Garden to only five metre with no on-street parking;
curving the sidewalk into McGill Park;
installing additional lighting, particularly near McGill Park; and
adding benches, other pedestrian amenities and public art where
appropriate.
The blocks of North Garden Drive that are being improved but not being
curbed will potentially have higher maintenance costs than those blocks
being curbed. Staff will monitor the maintenance on these blocks to
determine future impacts on maintenance budgets for local improvement
projects that incorporate innovative residential street designs.
South Garden Drive:
This section of street had pavement (11 metres wide), curbs and trees
installed in 1994, and has previously existing sidewalks. The resulting
streetscape is full of pavement and very little greenery. To improve
this situation and to disrupt sex-trade traffic circulation, the design
concept for this area (shown in Appendix C) includes:
closing South Garden Drive to southbound traffic between Pandora
and Dundas Streets;
removing parking from the western curb between Pandora and
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Triumph, but allowing angled parking on the eastern side of the
street (15 parking spaces per block, compared with 20 if all cars
parallel-park at the curb). Although angled parking may result in
some vehicle conflicts and increased accident potential as people
back out of stalls, it is noted that volumes are low and reducing
traffic further with a one-way system will reduce that potential.
removing parking from the eastern curb between Triumph and Dundas,
but allowing angled parking on the western side of the street (15
parking spaces per block, compared with 16 if all cars parallel-
park at the curb);
installing more trees in the new big bulge areas using planters
and bollards at each intersection and behind the sidewalk;
installing additional lighting, particularly near Pandora Park;
and
adding benches, other pedestrian amenities and public art where
appropriate.
This section of Garden Drive is within an area currently undergoing a
local area traffic planning process. This local traffic planning
committee has been informed of the Garden Drive proposal, and feels that
it is in keeping with the objectives of their work. A display of the
Garden Drive streetscape proposals will be present at a January 29th
open house on local traffic issues.
Since the street redesign concept would interrupt existing local traffic
patterns, it is recommended that staff conduct a traffic ballot of the
residents in the area bounded by Nanaimo, Pandora, Templeton and Dundas.
Public Art:
Local residents and Kiwassa Neighbourhood House are working with the
City s Public Art Program to include art works in the street redesign.
Some ideas which are being pursued include:
* benches and chess/games tables in the public realm;
* banners on existing light poles along Garden Drive;
and
* a gateway to Pandora park at the foot of Garden
Drive.
These elements would be designed by local artists, with community input,
and funding would be sought through the City s Public Art capital budget
for residential streets projects.
Dundas Street Pedestrian Signal:
If the street redesign projects north and south of Dundas are approved,
local residents have asked that improvements be made to the pedestrian
crossing at Dundas Street.
One idea is to install a pedestrian-activated (push-button type) traffic
signal at Garden Drive. This would be synchronized with the signals at
Nanaimo and at Templeton, so that disruption to
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traffic on Dundas would be minimized. This would create an important
pedestrian link (between Hastings Street commercial area, through
Pandora Park to the Harbour Route Greenway and Burrard Inlet to the
north) and make the improvements more effectively continuous. For this
reason, a signal may be supported by the Greenways staff, and could be
considered for funding recommended as a Neighbourhood Greenway item.
If it is supported in further discussions with the neighbourhood, this
would be reviewed and reported to Council.
Preliminary Estimates for the Street Improvements:
The preliminary estimates for the works are based on the broad design
concept. Staff are still
trying to source recycled and user-friendly construction materials,
which may ultimately reduce
the project s cost. The total estimates are summarized in Table 1.
In preparing the preliminary estimates it was assumed that the work
would be done as part of our local improvement construction process with
City forces or by contract. If residents contribute sweat equity by
installing elements of the streetscape, this would reduce the total cost
of the project, and thereby reduce the property owners assessment
rates.
FUNDING
It is recommended that Garden Drive be balloted and initiated as two
separate projects, as described in the design concepts above. Although
design details vary from block to block within each project area, it is
proposed that costs within each project area be shared by all property
owners.
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Since North Garden is currently unimproved, cost sharing would be
similar to other higher-zoned local initiative funding. The City would
pay for the work at each intersection and provide relief for flankage
properties and shallow lots.
South Garden Drive, however, was recently improved. It is recommended
that the City fund one third of the cost of the current project, since
the benefits of trying the new design concepts and construction methods
are in the City s interest.
Preliminary estimates of property owner costs for various types of the
properties are listed in Tables 2 and 3:
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Greenways Funding:
Due to the location and character of this residential street pilot
project, there is the potential for it to become a Neighbourhood
Greenway linking the future Wall Street Greenway and McGill Park, and
Pandora Park and the nearby Hastings shopping area. It may , therefore,
be appropriate for some funds to be provided from the Greenways fund for
certain elements of this project. Staff will be reporting back on the
details of Greenway involvement once clear parameters are developed for
funding consideration.
PRE-BALLOTING
To assess community wide support and to ascertain if property owners are
willing to pay for the proposed local improvement, it is recommended
that the two project areas receive pre-ballots (see Appendix D).
Since the South Garden design proposal includes developing two blocks of
one-way-northbound traffic, staff also propose to ballot residents'
support in the area bounded by Nanaimo, Pandora, Templeton and Dundas
Streets.
Also, since there are design elements such as corner bulges and traffic
circles which will be of interest to other residents in the area, staff
will also mail out a letter describing the project to residents within
two blocks of North Garden Drive.
Staff will report back on the results of the initiative pre-ballots and
traffic ballot to Council and will recommend the next steps in the
approval process for this pilot residential street project. It is
anticipated that if the neighbourhood broadly supports the concepts that
construction could be done this summer.
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