Cambridge is eyeing a move to a proactive approach regarding speed management as a staff member told council at a Tuesday evening meeting the current complaint-based program is a strain on the city’s resources.
City manager of transportation engineering Shannon Noonan told council of 60 locations residents said were a speeding concern, only six or 10 per cent of these warranted traffic calming measures due to the 85th percentile speed was over 10 km/h above the posted limit.
In this case, the 85th percentile is the speed at or below what 85 per cent of drivers travel on a given road segment.
These roads are sections of: Black Bridge Road, Elgin Street North, Langs Drive, Northview Heights Drive, Preston Parkway and Saginaw Parkway.
Actions the city will take include installing seasonal rubber speed cushions and traffic calming measures, road improvements, municipal speed cameras and selective traffic enforcement.
A further 14 locations, where the 85th percentile speed was between 5 km/h to 10 km/h over the limit, were found to need speed awareness measures such as radar message boards or Tommy & Friends signs — life size cut outs of children urging drivers to slow down.
Noonan said speed studies are conducted over 24 hours in the spring and fall to ensure decisions are based on normal traffic patterns such as school still being in session.
“While the speed management program is designed to provide a consistent and equitable approach to road safety concerns within the city, it is proving to be a significant strain on staff and financial resources as a majority of the concerns raised do not produce data to support the implementation of traffic calming measures,” Noonan said.
Due to advancements in technology, Noonan said there's an opportunity to shift to a more reactive program.
“Rather than having to go out and collect data on an annual basis through complaints we receive, we can receive this data proactively,” Noonan said. “Through data collected through GPS, through satellite information, we can get speed time, travel data that we can use to evaluate these roads in a proactive manner.”
Councillor Ross Earnshaw understood the established program puts stress on staff but noted it does ultimately identify problem areas and wanted to know if there’s still opportunity for feedback from council and residents.
Noonan said there would be.
“What the difference will be though is that we’ll have the information on hand immediately to be able to respond to those concerns,” she said.
Council unanimously approved the speed management recommendations as well as expanding the municipal speed camera program to 10 more locations.
These new camera locations are:
- Concession Road (Coronation Public School)
- Elgin Street (St. Anne Catholic School)
- Rose Street (Preston Public High School)
- Saginaw Parkway (Saginaw Parkway Public School and St. Teresa Catholic School)
- Scott Road (Silver Heights Public School)
- Stewart Avenue (Stewart Avenue Public School)
- Sunset Boulevard (Blair Road Public School)
- Langs Drive (William G. Davis Public School)
- West River Road (Tait Street Public School)
- Winston Boulevard (Hespeler Public School)
