See below on how you can contact the City Councillor to ensure the proper measures are installed.
This update has created a bit of a stir in our community, where we have been fighting for hard traffic calming measures at École élémentaire catholique Notre-Dame-des-Champs.
"Speed humps (3 m wide and 80 mm high) will be installed between Penency Terrace and Glenlivet Ave. by the Richcraft/Minto/Ashcroft development partnership as part of an agreement with the City of Ottawa. This work is anticipated for August 2019 and the locations were selected based on consultation with the community."
Previous Plan
The update above was questioned. It was confirmed to the community last year that four, not two, speed humps were to be installed from Penency Terrace to Compass Street, with a fifth speed hump to be installed at a later date once Compass to Fern Casey was urbanized.
Delays
Although these measures were to be installed by the start of the 2018-2019 school year, a delay was caused by the discovery of sewer deficiencies at Glenlivet and Penency. These deficiencies required repair by the developers before a third and final layer of asphalt could be laid. Only then could the speed humps be installed.
Because of the delay, Minto installed temporary measures, such as flex signs and delineators, to mitigate the traffic issues at the school crossing until the hard measures could be installed in the summer of 2019 before the start of the school year.
Important to note that despite a digitalized pedestrian crossing, parents continue to report frequent close-calls with vehicles who do not stop when lights are flashing and travel at excessive speeds.
Clarification from the City of Ottawa Traffic Services Department
The community association was referred to the City of Ottawa traffic services engineer responsible for this project, who confirmed the following facts on 26 April:
The location indicated by the Councillor in the above post is not only where they intend to install the speed humps, but will be the only location where speed humps will be installed. Only two humps will be installed in total, and 300 meters west from the pedestrian crossing.
The number of speed humps was reduced from 5 to 2, in order to appease OC Transpo, concerned about an uncomfortable ride for their riders. Speed bumps and humps are aggressive and are also not preferred by Emergency services.
The engineer suggested they could recommend speed tables, which are preferred by OC Transpo and Emergency services, to which the community association was agreeable.
The sewer repair has been further delayed due to soil conditions (no further information).
The community association requested that Councillor Dudas and the City re-evaluate the location of the planned two speed humps, so that the installation resolves the problem at hand, which is the unsafe school crossing 300 meters east of the planned installation. The engineer was amenable to re-evaluating the current location.
The community association requests that if speed tables are installed instead of the more aggressive speed humps, that four are installed instead of two, to increase their effectiveness.
Soft Measures and Enforcement
Also note that the above update includes "School Thermoplastic (two school zone signs embedded in the pavement, one eastbound and one westbound)" to be installed this spring/summer. However, this cannot be done until the final lift of asphalt is laid. These are also additional soft measures to add to the already ineffective soft measures in the school zone.
Community members are regularly reminded to report traffic complaints to Ottawa Police Services.
Email our City Councillor
You can copy and paste the following message to Laura.Dudas@ottawa.ca:
As a resident of Bradley Estates, Bradley Ridge, Spring Valley Trails, Eastboro, Trailsedge, or as a parent of a student attending l'École élémentaire catholique Notre-Dame-des-Champs, I request that Councillor Dudas instruct the City of Ottawa Traffic Engineering Services department to relocate the traffic calming installation to directly east and west of the pedestrian crossing at 6280 Renaud Rd, from the planned location between Penency Terrace and Glenlivet Avenue.
I request that if less aggressive speed tables are installed instead of speed bumps or humps, that all five are installed as per the 2015 approved plan presented in 2018 to the community, instead of the two that are planned.
FRENCH VERSION:
En tant que résident de Bradley Estates, de Bradley Ridge, de Spring Valley Trails, d'Eastboro, de Trailsedge ou d'un parent d'élève qui fréquente l'École élémentaire catholique Notre-Dame-des-Champs, je demande à la Conseillère Dudas de donner des instructions de déplacement quant à l’installation d’apaisement de la circulation qui est présentement prévue. Mme Dudas doit communiquer avec le Service de Génie de la ville d’Ottawa pour les aviser que les installations d’apaisement ne peuvent pas être installées comme prévu entre Penency Terrace et Glenlivet Avenue. Elles doivent être installées directement à l’est et à l’ouest du passage pour piétons au 6280, chemin Renaud, là où il y a des risques que les personnes soient reversées par une voiture. Je demande que, si des tables de vitesse qui sont moins agressives sont installées à la place des ralentisseurs, ces cinq tables soient installées conformément au plan de 2015 qui a été approuvé et présenté à la communauté en 2018, au lieu des deux qui sont présentement planifiés.
27 April Update - Councillor Meeting
On 27 April, Councillor Dudas announced that she will be hosting a community meeting on 6 May to address the traffic issues in our community, particularly on Renaud Road.
Il y aura aussi une (autre) séance d'information organisée par la conseillère. S’il vous plait confirmer votre présence via le lien suivant.
We urge you to come out to ensure that once again, we make it clear to city officials what and where the problem is.
