Ottawa city council is taking a step back from major traffic calming projects, telling councillors to deal with the colossal backlog of recommended work in a piecemeal way and at their discretion.
More than 462 projects, aimed at slowing traffic in residential neighbourhoods, lay dormant on the city’s to-do list.
The $6.5-million price tag for their completion is way beyond the City of Ottawa’s budget and obtaining funding has been an ongoing challenge for neighbourhoods, some waiting up to 15 years for work to get underway.
This year’s annual budget amounts to only $30,000 per ward, or less than $700,000 citywide.
“Staff should come up with a more creative solution than giving councillors this money to run and play with,” says Rideau-Rockliffe Coun. Peter Clarke.
“Thirty thousand dollars does not actually deal with the city-wide problem.”
A report approved by the city’s transportation committee earlier this month leaves it up to the councillor in each ward to make decisions on how to spend their traffic calming budgets.
The committee says the politicians know their ward best. Traffic department staff will continue to provide advice and assist in decision-making for each neighbourhood, but are no longer involved in lengthy and costly examinations.
“I’ve been very disappointed for quite a few years that the majority of council [members] will not agree to fund traffic calming,” says Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes.
“It is a problem now that we have so little flexibility here to change.”
Somerset Ward, which has one of the oldest and most costly lists of projects on the wait list, will not see significant changes made to the neighbourhood.
With 15 years of projects in backlog and an estimated $1.2-million price tag for Centretown alone, Holmes says she is frustrated many projects will have to be abandoned.
Solutions for traffic calming such as raised intersections, changing O’Connor and Metcalfe back to two-way streets, and creating safer intersections for children to cross on Bronson Ave. are outlined in past studies.
The report includes a price list of options and $30,000 will not go too far. “So you can do signage, you can do a couple of speed bumps and a couple of stop signs. But that’s what you’re pretty much restricted to,” says Holmes.
The new streamlined process, evenly distributing the funds across city wards, eliminates red tape and lets councillors create a dialogue in their neighbourhoods regarding a course of action. Each member will work with city staff to ensure their strategies fall under the Highway Traffic Act and municipal regulations.
Neighbourhoods that require costly updates will remain disadvantaged by the new strategy, says Holmes. Projects like raised intersections will have to be delayed or abandoned because there is no money.
“I’m in a position where I’d have to save up years’ worth of money,” she says. “It’s highly unrealistic.”