[All] "22 Aug. 2013 Delegation (Missed) Presentation re: increasing intersection safety near St. Benedict High School"

Tue Sep 3 00:13:17 EDT 2013

Regional officials et. al. ,

Hope you find this useful -- one of your Councillors requested this  
material.
The presentation was altered after reading Councillor Strickland's  
roundabout resolution and the staff report in the Agenda on the website.

A copy of my original delegation presentation is included at the bottom.

Best regards and love to all,
Robert

Increasing intersection safety near St. Benedict High School

"An annual report released (last September) by the Region of Waterloo  
ranked intersections at Franklin Boulevard and Elgin Street/Saginaw  
Parkway, and at the nearby Franklin and Can Amera Parkway, as (two) of  
the most dangerous in the region."
http://www.therecord.com/news-story/2612632-are-roundabouts-the-answer-for-waterloo-region-s-most-dangerous-roads-/

Roundabouts can better solve the inter-vehicular and vehicular/ 
pedestrian safety problems at both intersections.

According to today's staff report, here's why roundabouts are  
preferable:

1. If roundabout are not installed at the Elgin/Saginaw intersection,  
then:
 4 times more injury collisions at  signals than roundabouts
 Does not improve existing  pedestrian collisions (existing 7  
collisions over 5 years where 2 on  average would be expected)
 Pedestrian collisions are expected  to increase with wider  
intersection  (up to 9 lanes)

2. On the other hand,  if roundabouts are installed, then:
 Roundabout would reduce vehicle  injury collisions by 75%
 Roundabout would reduce  pedestrian collisions (on average by  63%  
compared to traffic signals)
 Improvement to vehicle and  pedestrian collisions occurs in 2016

And if a very-convenient-to-use pedestrian bridge were to be installed  
across Franklin Blvd. at the highly student used Elgin Street/Saginaw  
Parkway intersection, then vehicular/pedestrian accidents would be  
further minimized. (See sketch of a possible bridge crossing design in  
visual below.)

So as to help better ensure that students and others would use the  
bridge: 1) have no street-level crossings of Franklin at both  
intersections; 2) use "discouraging" fencing between, around and  
beyond both intersections.

Pedestrian-controlled traffic lights for the Elgin crosswalk (and  
possibly for Saginaw) would create better safety levels.

Here is my overlay-sketch that shows a way it can be done from my  
previous delegation presentation.

Suggested Pedestrian Crossover Bridge & Ramps for Franklin Blvd/ 
Saginaw Pkwy. Roundabout

PDF:

Here what I said at that earlier Regional delegation:
"A crossover bridge -- with "student" initiated stop lights for the  
Elgin crossing -- is likely the best way to maximize pedestian/cyclist/ 
wheelchair safety at a reasonable cost and could be easily accomodated  
by the current traffic circle design as suggested by the included  
first iteration of a possible crossover bridge route system. "

The likely validity of this approach was strengthened by the  
consultant who designed this roundabout when he said -- after studying  
my  sketch -- that a pedestrian crossover bridge was feasible.

Today's staff report has this to say about pedestrian crossover bridge:
"A pedestrian bridge could be constructed for a roundabout or traffic  
signal option.  Staff have  not done a design of a potential bridge  
structure and there are many different options that could  be  
considered.  A very preliminary cost could be $1.5 million to $3  
million or more. "

These pedestrian crossover bridge costs would likely be considerably  
less than these staff report costs for reverting to a signaled  
intersection:
 Additional cost for EA Addendum  and detail design
 Increase in construction cost (3  years construction escalation  
and   contract overlaps)
 Increase in property cost (market  increase)   Additional road  
maintenance cost
 Total increased cost estimated at   $2 million to $3.5 million

The option of maintaining the roundabouts at Franklin Boulevard at  
Elgin Street/Saginaw Parkway and Franklin at Can Amera Parkway -- made  
viable by a well-designed  pedestrian crossover bridge system at  
Saginaw/Elgin -- would enable the main goal of optimizing Franklin  
Blvd. throughput at least cost, to not be frustrated.

Sean Strickland might consider modifying his resolution accordingly  
such as suggested here:

NOTICE OF MOTION

I, Sean Strickland, intend to introduce the following motion at the  
August 22,
2013 meeting of Regional Council.

"WHEREAS Regional Council has approved the design and construction of  
11 roundabouts along Franklin Blvd. in Cambridge and;

WHEREAS these 11 roundabouts include a roundabout at the corner of  
Saginaw Parkway and Franklin Blvd. which is directly in front of St.  
Benedict High School and;

WHEREAS a similar roundabout located in front of St. Mary's High  
School in
Kitchener has proven to be difficult for motor vehicle traffic and  
pedestrians (and others) to use safely and;

WHEREAS the St. Mary's roundabout has required several measures to  
improve its functionality and safety including, reduced speed limit  
signs, additional large portable electronic signs, the closure of a  
traffic lane, and the use of school crossing guards;

WHEREAS initial indications are that these measures sufficiently  
improved functionally and motor vehicle safety, while pedestrians and  
others continue to remain in harms way as long as they are forced to  
cross the very busy Homer Watson Blvd., especially when the crossing  
guards are no longer used;

WHEREAS a pedestrian bridge is a feasible and reasonably costing way  
to optimize the safety of pedestrians and others provided that it is  
designed to maximize use (convenient, gently-sloped ramp, elimination  
of any on-road pedestrian crossings on Franklin Blvd. at the Saginaw/ 
Elgin and Can/Am intersections , and fencing between, around and  
beyond both intersections);

THEREFORE BE IT resolved that in light of the insufficiently addressed  
safety concerns  suffered by pedestrians (students, visually impaired,  
etc.), cyclists, and wheel chair users at the roundabout in front of  
St. Mary's High School (Kitchener), and considering the current safety  
problems for pedestrians at the Saginaw/Elgin intersection, that  
Regional Council request of staff to explore the cost and other  
specifics of a pedestrian bridge for both a signaled and roundabout  
intersection at Saginaw/Elgin; and further the project continue in a  
staged manner reporting back at the end of year 1 for a review -- or  
sooner as necessary.

*************************************************************************************************************

Safety concerns have to be bumpted up to a much higher level what with  
all the new risks our new technologies are creating.

So I have a further suggestion so as to better use a broader range of  
Regional staff resources in ensuring that adequate safety  
considerations are part of the design of all major technological  
projects -- including roundabouts.

Safety is a type of health concern involving injury prevention. This  
means that the Medical Officer of Health has a role to play --  
including early stage involvement -- in helping to ensure that proper  
weight is given to safety through at least commenting on project  
design weaknesses that could make a project unsafe in various ways.

Her current role of helping the community adapt to an implemented  
problematic project (like roundabouts) can sometimes be a very  
frustrating task if the project realization is wrought with  
potentially injurious design features -- or is suffering from the lack  
of ones needed for adequate safety levels.

This implies that the MOH and appropriate Health Department staff  
should be required by new Regional policies to collaborate as peers in  
all stages of the design of expensive technological projects

Of course, this may require the hiring of appropriately trained and  
experienced staff members.

Importantly, these new staff should have a very positive attitude  
towards the idea of using leading-edge sustainably innovative  
technologies  -- even of they are challenging to understand --  
otherwise their negativity could create irrational safety concerns .

Possibly a joint appointment with the UofW at even a PhD level might  
be workable.

The presence of these leading-edge experts should help advance the  
insights of most Regional officials on project safety and help ensure  
minimum accidents -- thus minimizing negative reprecutions from the  
community,courts and insurers.

More, the relatively small cost of investing in making a project (or  
existing situation) decidedly safer -- using innovative technological  
precedents, on-staff leading edge safety experts, ... -- would likely  
be paid for many times over by avoiding likely repeated accident  
injury lawsuits.

And what about the lives saved from permanent injury or death?

In context presentation concerning the Franklin Blvd. traffic circle  
project with particular emphasis on the need for both a Saginaw/Elgin  
roundabout -- and a related crossover bridge for safety reasons

Successful highly innovative -- even World leading -- projects are a  
hallmark of the Waterloo Region Innovative Ecosystem. It is expected  
that  all large projects especially will meet, even exceed this high  
bar of innovative accomplishment.

So when the Regional Government of Waterloo commissions the building  
of expensive innovative projects -- such as a biosolids treatment  
plant(s) or an LRT system or road roundabouts -- no effort must be  
spared so as to ensure that the design of all of these plans not only  
meets and exceeds public expectations but also is generally considered  
a sustainably innovative World exemplar.

For these three expensive innovative projects, this means at least  
that we must optimally adapt the best existing designs of these  
technologies to our specific Regional situation. Then we could add  
other complementary innovative technologies to the design of the plan
-- at least to the degree they are cost-effective and sustainable --  
so as to enhance the project towards the expected innovative  
excellence..

In the Franklin Blvd. roundabout project, the goal is to maximize  
throughput at a much lower cost than building and maintaining two  
additional lanes.  Of course taxes would saved. Travel time and fuel  
would be decreased -- and the road width conserved would remain green.  
The more traffic circles removed, the lower the thoughput and their  
advantages.

The public is concerned about road safety especially when trucks will  
have to use more than one lane and cars will have to adjust to them.  
Most car users will probably learn to navigate this potential  
situation of many serial roundabouts. The car drivers most at risk  
would be neophytes -- an avalanche when it opens. These are reasons  
for staging.

Yes, traffic circles minimize accident severity for powered vehicles.  
But for pedestrians, cyclists, and wheelchair users. who have to cross  
the Region's busiest traffic circle road, their safety is under grave  
risk.

Fortunately, the number of pedestrians, etc. who wish to cross  
Franklin Blvd. along most of its length is minimal. But what about the  
few wheelchair users, elderly, and others who might have difficulty  
using  conventional "pedestrian" crossings at a roundabout ?  To  
alleviate this safety problem, stoplight "protected" crossings coulf  
be strategically placed. Few users would mean few throughput delays.

Regional consultants are recommending that such a stoplight  
"protected" crossing be placed between the Saginaw/Elgin and CanAM  
traffic circles. But here the presence of nearby malls on both sides  
of Franklin Blvd. and of St. Benedicts would likely cause relatively  
frequent throughput delays.

Both Cambridge Councillor Frank Monteiro -- who was a delegation to  
Planning and Works Committee last week -- and myself prefer traffic  
circles along Franklin Blvd. primarily  for superior throughput  
related reasons. And we also share a concern for the safety of those -- 
especially St. Benedict's students -- crossing  Franklin Blvd. at the   
Saginaw/Elgin intersection that would have a traffic circle.

But we don't want the traffic circle removed -- along with the one at  
CanAm -- decreasing throughput unnecessarily. We visualize a crossover  
bridge as a win-win solution to this safety and throughput dilemma.

To relate to a previous thought, this is an example of "adding other  
complementary innovative technologies to the design of the plan ... so  
as to enhance the project".

Now, let's compare Frank's "four-legged spider" approach to what I  
suggested in my fairly recent delegation presentation.

Features of Robert's suggested crossover concrete bridge (like  
Calgary's ...) :
is a minimalist approach which targets the most efficient crossing  
location
designed to be a distance across about the same as that of the  
Region's proposed adjacent on-road crossing
can be used from Elgin St. to the school door without stairs because  
of the dominant use of gentle-sloped ramps
electrical wires and phone cables along Franklin on Elgin side can be  
avoided at a safe distance with
would be no on-road crossing of Franklin
planned crossing of Elgin -- and probably Saginaw -- would be  
stoplight "protected" ("pedestrian" activated) causing virtually no  
throughput delays on Franklin
would be very aesthetically pleasing especially with Councillor Jean  
Haalboom's help
consulting roundabout designer says my approach suggests that a  
crossover is feasible -- could he say more in his position?
Region's World class bridge designer was asked by project staff to get  
involved but was assigned another project to work on
cost would be comparitively low to build and maintain -- a potential  
good exemplar for  others

Features of Frank's suggested crossover metal bridge;
would have a shared centre part over the traffic circle itself
2 road crossover sections at each end of the bridge would connect to  
the 4 street corners
stairs &/or ramps would connect each section to the sidewalk level
close proximity of electrical wires and phone cables could be very  
expensive to avoid
metal bridge could be noisy to cross, more slippery in all seasons and  
dangerous in a lightening storm
possibly no design precedents to better ensure that it would work well
no type of evaluation by a consultant familiar with  the situation
cost would be quite high to build and maintain

Features in Common:
easier to build bridge crossover with the traffic circle -- especially  
with Robert's approach -- than with regular traffic lights because  
Franklin is somewhat shifted to east at the intersection so that it is  
away from the electrical wires and phone cables at the intersection,  
etc.
both enable a virtually risk-free crossong of Franklin Blvd. versus  
the current status quo of the Region's 4th most dangerous intersection  
crossing for "pedestrians"
like with many other over or under road crossings of traffic circles  
around the World, appropriate fencing would encourage use of the  
bridge crossover