Dear Editor,
Pre-planned Traffic jams… or proper traffic design?
Re: Brookswood – Fernridge
Proposed 43 lot subdivision, (10.5 acres) bounding east side of 200th Street between 35 Avenue, 36 Avenue and Noel Booth Park.
The third reading for the above subdivision at the Nov. 27, 2017 Township council meeting was denied (thankfully) and sent back to staff for further review, plus another public hearing if necessary.
Why is the most prominent single family subdivision on 200th Street and 36th Avenue, near the future Town Centre getting screwed up?
The intersections of 200th Street at 35th and 36th Avenues are already a traffic problem, especially at school pick-up and drop-off times.
Shouldn’t we be trying to disperse and move traffic efficiently rather than forcing people into traffic jam congestion delays?
We should be treating these intersections at 200th Street with major importance to handle long-term traffic functions 25 years out without being distracted by special interest groups.
At issue here is a proposed 43-lot subdivision with only one access/egress off of 35th Avenue which is a dead-end road serving Noel Booth Elementary School.
Probably 85 per cent of the traffic generated by the school comes from the built part of Brookswood or north of 35th Avenue.
How such an inferior design got this far (to third reading) without resolving the most important issues is troubling.
Upon inquiring with the planning staff and traffic engineer, it is they who have been the impetus resisting the most obvious necessary solutions.
Staff are taking an unyielding stand that there should be no more access’s to 36th Avenue based only because 36th Avenue is two-lane arterial.
This is not a valid argument as there are and will be many more subdivision and local roads accessing arterial roads.
Half of this 43-lot subdivision shared with 35th Avenue will be a very minor contribution.
It was painful to watch council go through contortions trying to avoid the obvious lone solution staring everyone in the face, which is to provide the second access/egress off 36th Avenue via the subdivision’s north/south through road.
Council and the public should be shown traffic and road upgrade plans integrated with subdivision layout plans, prior to the public hearing stage.
1. Developers are required to do $ improvements up to the centre-line of streets and intersections. ‘Not the Taxpayer’
This developer should provide the necessary road dedications and;
- Install on 200th Street northbound, a right turn lane onto 36th Avenue.
- Install on the south side of 36th Avenue, an extra traffic lane for the entire length of the subdivision plus 30m (100’).
This road lane will serve traffic merging, the subdivision access/egress and also replace the existing transit bus stop.
2. The concern of school traffic going through the subdivision north/south road should be a positive opportunity to relieve the 35th Avenue/200th Street congestion and the design of the north/south subdivision road should be upgraded to facilitate through traffic as follows;
- 1.5 m (5’) sidewalks both sides, on grassed boulevards.
- parking lane both sides,
- bike lane both sides
- two traffic lanes with dotted white centre-line.
- marked crosswalks etc.
With new subdivisions, we cannot sacrifice safety and proper road design for the sake of a few trees, a few lots, or a slight increase in traffic.
Regarding trees, you can always plant new trees but you can’t redesign a subdivision and acquire road dedications after it’s built.
Roland Seguin, Fernridge