Integrated Transportation Advisory Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:
Time:
-
Location:
Room 247, Level 2, City Hall

1.
Members Present:

Alan Kirkpatrick (Chair), Kerry Eaton, Brian Hayman, Tim Park (SDC), Ken Rutter, Carm Piro, Jason Manayathu

2.
Others Present:

Jeff Black (Manager of Traffic Operations & Signals), Steve Vrakela (Supervisor of Traffic Signals), Rob Hagley (Marketing and Customer Service Coordinator), Dan Ozimkovic (Transportation Technologist), Georgie Gartside (Clerk)

3.
Regrets:

Councillor Blair Lancaster, Kayla van Zon, Tom Carrothers (BSAC), Claudia Segatore (Cycling), Doug Benton (BAAC), Devon Ambrose

4.
Declarations of Interest:

None.

5.
Approval of Minutes:

6.
Delegation(s):

None.

7.
Regular Items:

7.1
Transit Update

Rob Hagley provided the following update:

  • buses will be moving from north to south side of Burlington GO station in 2019.  Currently, there are about 12 routes going into north side.
  • 5-year Transit Business Plan RFP will go out this week and business plan to be developed in spring 2019. Staff will engage new Council to understand where they want to go and ITAC will also be engaged. Business plan will be presented in two stages - overview of plan and then initial presentation of the plan in early summer. Implementation of plan to start in 2020.
  • a new customer-focused transit group is being established. Starting in January, transit staff will rotate through various city facilities to engage residents and transit users and will have Presto machine to facilitate transactions.
  • additional conventional and handi-van vehicles will be requested in 2019 budget.

7.2
Transportation Planning Update

Dan updated the committee on the following:

Cycling plan - phase 1 was completed before the election and they are now working on phase 2. Part of phase 2 will include public engagement and ITAC will be part of that. Goal is to present the plan to Council in April or May 2019.

North Burlington Active Transportation Strategy - a strategy for walking and cycling north of Hwy 407 is being developed. Bruce Trail crossing improvements will also be reviewed. ITAC will be engaged for input. Looking to present the strategy to Council in April or May 2019.

Lighting of multi-use paths - Council directed staff to look at the feasibility of lighting the multi-use paths. A consultant was hired and they are suggesting lighting the paths. The cost is over $3 million. Staff will present a report early next year laying out the consultant's recommendations and associated costs to determine Council's interest in proceeding. If approved to go ahead, staff will undertake consultation with residents backing onto the paths. 

Downtown multi-use path - a portion of the hydro corridor from Ontario Street to Graham's Lane is currently being paved. It will be a 4 meter wide multi-use path and the goal from the current cycling plan and trail strategy is to eventually connect Lakeshore to Fairview through the hydro corridor. 

Francis Road multi-use path - staff reviewed 12 proposals for the Francis Road multi-use path. Funding was provided through a provincial grant in the amount of $650,000. The path will be constructed in 2019.

Bay Area Transportation Forum - in 2017, Hamilton hosted the forum to discuss active transportation in both cities and how we can work together. Burlington will host the forum next year at Royal Botanical Gardens on March 28, 2019.

7.3
Traffic Operations Update

Jeff provided the following update:

  • red light cameras are being reviewed for feasibility and costs. Region has them on regional roads. Staff will report to Council mid-January.
  • automated speed enforcement - under the 2015 Safer Schools Act, automated speed enforcement was proposed to be used in school zones and community safety zones, which is similar to photo radar. Multi-municipal working group is designing regulations around this and Burlington is part of the group. Targeting Sept. 2019 to see something in place. Part of the work of the group is for a municipality to test the software.
  • a pedestrian crossing signal was recently added at Lakeshore and Shoreacres. Harvester Road and Appleby GO Station pedestrian signals will be added soon.
  • update to City's Traffic By-law is currently underway.
  • staff are developing a pedestrian crossover strategy in response to the province's amendments to the pedestrian crossing laws. The volume of roads determines the type of signage, flashing lights and pavement markings. Need to ensure education is provided for residents.
  • implementation of transit signal priority is planned for mid 2019. The purpose is to keep Burlington Transit buses on time by allowing them to communicate with the traffic signals. First location identified is the Plains Road corridor.
  • traffic calming is ongoing and staff continue to undertake before and after studies, all of which have been positive. Some concerns received, but residents fronting onto speed humps are happy. Digital speed limit boards continue to be rotated around the city at problem speeding locations.
  • LED streetlight replacements have been completed at all targeted locations. The result is a half a million dollars in savings in hydro per year.

Steve provided a presentation about the city's traffic signal system which was implemented four years ago and shared the following information:

  • significant investments made at intersections so maintenance staff doesn't have to go out and undertake repairs; much of it can be done through a laptop.
  • many primary streets rest on green until a vehicle or pedestrian arrives at the side street.
  • corridors are reviewed every 3 years to determine opportunities for efficiencies.
  • communications upgrade happening along Plains Road and a portion of Maple Avenue. Transit signal priority will start along Plains corridor also. 
  • city is using a trial version of the smart intersections system. A camera is mounted at an intersection and the software detects vehicle types, pedestrians and cyclists. Vehicles can be counted and it enables staff to run reports to determine optimized timing for the intersection, as well as analytical data with pedestrian and cyclist counts. Lakeshore and Maple is one of three intersections currently using the system. 
  • incident management - staff are reviewing incidents such as Skyway Bridge and gas leak closures to see how they can mitigate traffic in future.

7.4
Sub-Committee Updates

a.
Transit

No update.

b.
Traffic Operations

No update.

c.
Transportation Planning

No update.

7.5
Roundtable Updates

a.
Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee

No update.

b.
Burlington Cycling Committee

No update.

c.
Burlington Seniors' Advisory Committee

No update.

d.
Burlington Sustainable Development Committee

Tim advised that the sub-committees have been active over the summer and the committee held a Fall Tree and Garden Care event on Sept. 13.

8.
Other Business:

8.1
Citizen Committee Recruitment and Review

Georgie advised that a workshop will be scheduled at the end of January for all citizen committees to share ideas about how the city can best utilize citizen committees. Members of ITAC will receive an invitation to attend. Following the workshop, a staff report will be presented to Council with the results and recommendations going forward.

Members whose terms will expire at the end of December are asked to extend their membership to the end of February. Georgie will send an email to confirm with members.

8.2
December Social

Committee members agreed to a December social. Georgie to send available dates during the first two weeks of December.

9.
Adjournment: 8:56 p.m.

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