Minutes of Meeting 2 May 2011

Attendees:

Motion: To approve the April, 2011 minutes. Moved by Jerry Beausoleil, seconded by Gisèle Loiselle-Branch, carried.

Greg Killough: Presented the Councillor's Report.

GENERAL DISCUSSION:

John Sankey: As part of the widening of Riverside Drive, could the City raise the issue of the intersection at Hogs Back Drive with the NCC? East-bound traffic on Hogs Back Drive is constantly backed up waiting to turn south on Riverside Drive.

Liz Russell: Registered for "Spring Cleaning the Capital" May 7. She should be out on McCarthy Road at 10 am.

Jerry Beausoleil: Dave Bernier led the dog-walkers in a big clean-up of Owl Park. Dave Bernier is invited to make a presentation to HCCO at the next meeting.

Peter Brimacombe: The big wind storm Thursday blew down trees around the neighbourhood.
John Sankey: There was a whole row of hydro poles blown down on McCarthy Road.
Peter Foulger: The stop lights at Riverside and Uplands were damaged but they were repaired quickly. Construction of the Pedestrian Bridge over the Airport Parkway should be put up for tender?

HUNT CLUB RD./RIVERSIDE DRIVE TRAFFIC ISSUES:

Jerry Beausoleil: He provided a hand-out that describes how he proposes to proceed with the traffic issues and asked for comment. The handout proposes that the HCCO proceed by doing its homework first - ascertain the facts, determine the views of city staff, and enter into a dialogue with our councillor. The HCCO should then determine its views and how it wishes to proceed. Maria's office (Nichole) will organize a meeting with city staff next week. In developing this file, it is important to work with Maria McRae. There are multiple priorities facing the City and there are huge budget constraints. At the same time, the Hunt Club Road/Riverside Drive traffic issues are very serious and the situation continues to get worse. He estimates that the intersection of Riverside and Hunt Club is one of the five worst intersections in the City. The HCCO needs to develop an approach to improve the situation.

Peter Foulger: Emergency services are critical and they can't travel quickly along Hunt Club Rd. The traffic is much worse than last year.

John Sankey: There is a disconnect between the Planning and Traffic Committees. Hunt Club Bridge is currently carrying 2.2 times its design capacity.

Peter Brimacombe: It should be possible to find solutions for Hunt Club Road unlike King Edward Avenue where different communities in the City have opposing interests.

Jerry Beausoleil: There are many ways to add concrete data to our understanding of the issues we are facing. For example, Board members could log their own trips along Hunt Club Rd. particularly in the rush hours. The results would be revealing. Moreover, we can ask the emergency services in our area what their target response times are for getting to an emergency in our community and the extent to which they are hampered by the increasing traffic congestion. He knows a fire chief and can get estimates from him.
Liz Russell: She can ask some paramedics about Hunt Club Rd.

Jerry Beausoleil: He is looking for the traffic study on the Shenkman Trade Centre and the Strandherd Bridge as these will shed light on the issues we face. He will follow up with Greg Killough in Maria's office.

Next meeting: Monday June 6 at 19:30