Minutes of Meeting 4 June 2012

Attendees:

John Sankey: Passed out the agenda and asked for its approval.

Motion: To approve the April minutes as amended. Moved by Peter Brimacombe, seconded by Christine Johnson, carried.

John Sankey: At the recent Planning Summit, he said that traffic planning must be included in the main planning process. Staff just produced a report of the proceedings but his comments were excised.

Christine Johnson: When will the Strandherd Bridge be finished?
John Sankey: We - referring to the HCCO Board - don't know.
Kate McGrath: We - referring to herself and the Councillor - don't either.

Issie Berish: He is researching the traffic on Hunt Club Road. Do traffic counts exist? Where can he find them? He feels that traffic on Hunt Club is getting worse. Recently it took him 8 minutes to travel from Bowesville Road to Riverside Drive on a Sunday. After that the road was completely clear. The traffic lights at T&T contribute to the problem. He is curious as to the comparative change in traffic counts along Hunt Club.
Jerry Beausoleil: What is the view of the city staff? Is there data? Have they looked at the traffic patterns? What are the solutions?
John Sankey: The problem is understood but it must be co-ordinated with the ward on the Prince of Wales side. Traffic on the Sheflin Bridge is now 2 and a half times designed capacity. Small improvements could lead to a 30% improvement.

Motion: To expedite the west-bound flow of traffic on Hunt Club, the City consider a ban on left hand turns from the T&T parking lot west-bound onto Hunt Club. Moved by Issie Berish, seconded by Fred McLennan, carried.
Christine Johnson: There is a ban on left hand turns from the Jewish Community Centre off Broadview and Cole. This example shows that there can be good access while putting priority on through traffic.

Motion: To ask the City for traffic counts on the Hunt Club and Riverside intersection and the Hunt Club and Prince of Wales intersection. We are looking for the counts of the last 5 years including the most recent. Moved by Christine Johnson, seconded by Issie Berish, carried.
Christine Johnson: Has anyone seen the sign in front of the house on Prince of Wales and Colonnade Road? That is a perfect spot for a bridge.

Kate McGrath: She passed out the Councillor's Report.

John Sankey: Neighbours asked him why environmentally unfriendly plastic blocks are being used instead of natural earth on the approaches to the Pedestrian Bridge? He supposes that it is because of the poor underlying soil structure.

Peter Foulger: The City of Toronto was given the Presto System for free but Ottawa had to pay $23 million.

Jerry Beausoleil: He had an opportunity to speak with a city engineer and reviewed with him the volume of traffic on Hunt Club. The City is acutely aware of the volume. They talked about expensive options - one such option would be to build a bridge that would put Prince of Wales over Hunt Club. Another option would be to increase Hunt Club Road from 4 lanes to 6. The engineer told him that any relief provided by Strandherd Bridge would only be temporary - 3 months. Similarly roadway improvements such as changing left and right turns at traffic lights would provide only temporary improvements. The general answer is to use other forms of transportation - other than the private automobile. A new Transportation Master Plan is underway. We need to add our concerns about Hunt Club.
Peter Foulger: He lives in Hunt Club but works in Kanata. Public transportation out to Kanata is poor.

Christine Johnson: She has two questions for our Councillor: What is the process to follow for citizens to request a library branch in their community? What is the process to follow for citizens to request the development of a local park?

Fred McLennan: Are there plans to upgrade the constructed wetlands?
John Sankey: There are no plans to add picnic tables. From his personal knowledge, plants are planned to support the principles of the constructed wetlands which are to purify the water and reduce erosion.

Gisèle Loiselle: The City cleaned up a small forested area at the corner of Twyford and McCarthy.

Next meeting: Monday September 10 at 19:00