Report to/Rapport au:

Transportation and Transit Committee/

Comité des transports et des services de transport en commun

 

and Council/et au Conseil

 

 4 October 2001/le 4 octobre 2001

 

Submitted by/Soumis par:  Rosemarie Leclair, General Manager/Directeur général

Transportation, Utilities and Public Works/

Transport, services et travaux publics

 

Contact/Personne ressource:  Michael J. Flainek, P. Eng., Director/Directeur

Traffic and Parking Operations Branch/ Circulation et Stationnement

580-2424, extension 26882, Michael.Flainek@city.ottawa.on.ca

 

 

 

Ref N°:   ACS2001-TUP-TRF-0030

 

 

SUBJECT:     DISPOSAL OF OLD BOUNDARY SIGNS AND NEW STREET NAME SIGN DESIGN

 

OBJET :         ÉLIMINATION DES ANCIENS PANNEAUX LIMITROPHES ET ADOPTION D’UN NOUVEAU MODÈLE DE PLAQUE NOMINATRICE DE RUE

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

 

That the Transportation and Transit Committee recommend and Council approve:

 

1.                  That the boundary signs and other obsolete street and information signs of the former municipalities be offered free of charge to organizations, associations, agencies or individuals that may require them for historical purposes, and that unclaimed signs be recycled or disposed of on 1 January 2002.

 

2.                  That existing street name signs be replaced with the new sign on a program basis as they require maintenance.

 

 

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

 

Que le Comité des transports et des services de transport en commun recommande au Conseil municipal d’approuver :

 

1.                  Que les panneaux de démarcation, les plaques de rue et autres panneaux de circulation périmés des anciennes municipalités soient offerts, à titre gracieux, aux organismes, associations, agences ou particuliers qui pourraient les demander dans un but historique, et que les panneaux non réclamés soient recyclés ou qu’il en soit disposé le 1er janvier 2002;

 

2.                  Que les plaques de rue actuelles soient remplacées par de nouvelles plaques dans le cadre du programme d’entretien.

 

 

BACKGROUND

 

With amalgamation, concerns with existing signage have been centered on two specific issues in the short term.  These two specific issues are the subject of this report.  Additional issues, with respect to harmonizing of various types of signage, will be the subject of subsequent reports to the Transportation and Transit Committee.

 

The first issue deals with the arrangements that the Transition Team undertook for the installation of boundary signs in the new City of Ottawa as part of its preparation for Day 1.  As the former municipalities no longer exist, staff have carefully removed and stored all their boundary signs.  Since these signs have historical significance they have not been discarded, and the disposition of these signs needs to be determined.

 

The second issue deals with duplicate street names.  The Planning and Development Committee, at its meeting of 13 September 2001, approved a staff report entitled Municipal Addressing Study – Duplicate Street Names which recommends, among other things, renaming some streets in the new City to remove duplicated names.  This action is necessary to augment emergency service response.  As part of the project implementation, TUPW will be responsible to manufacture and install the new street name signs.  Before these signs are changed, a new standardized street name sign design must be established for the City.

BOUNDARY SIGNS

 

Inventory

 

The following chart shows the number of former boundary signs that city staff have removed and stored.

 

MUNICIPALITY
NO. Of SIGNS

Twp. of West Carleton

6

Twp. of Goulbourn

6

Twp. of Rideau

8

Twp. of Osgoode

10

City of Ottawa

0

City of Vanier

3

City of Kanata

6

City of Nepean

11

City of Gloucester

7

City of Cumberland

7

Village of Rockcliffe Park

0

Region of Ottawa-Carleton

23

TOTAL

87

 

Disposal

 

The former municipalities were in many cases initially established in the nineteenth century although some later evolved into cities.  Most of the former municipalities have museums, historical societies, etc and would appreciate the opportunity of adding these signs to their collection of artifacts.

 

Since councillors are most familiar with their respective wards, it is requested that they provide staff with a list of potential recipients.  Staff will contact the persons/agencies/associations/organizations on the lists to determine their interest.  The signs will be provided free of charge.  This appears to be the most expedient method of determining who should receive the signs.  The signs will be provided as is and repairs, if required, will be the responsibility of those recipients.  This will be undertaken in liaison with the People Services Department.

 

It is further proposed that unclaimed signs be recycled or disposed of on 1 January 2002.

 

STREET NAME SIGNS

 

Existing

 

There is a myriad of street name signs currently in use within the new boundaries of the City.  Their standards vary, such as sign blank design; size and style of letters; colour scheme; and, reflectivity.  Some do not conform to the standards established in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices of Ontario (MUTCD) for these types of signs.  Due to this non-conformity, combined with the requirement to immediately replace the recommended street name signs, an ideal opportunity exists to establish a street name sign design for the new City of Ottawa.

 

Street Name Sign Design Considerations

 

There are a number of variables to consider in effective sign design, including: font type; letter size and spacing; message length; sign position; colour; contrast; vertical and horizontal location.  The MUTCD provides guidance for standardized sign design for different applications, and is the primary reference document for municipalities.  If a specialized sign has to be designed, the MUTCD is always referenced first to determine the base design parameters.

 

Additional reference material is available to assist with effective street name sign design through research papers and information published by manufacturers of reflective sheeting material.  For example, a report entitled Driver Response to Toronto Street Name Signs authored by Dr. Alison Smiley et. al., Human Factors North, in 1999 noted that “older drivers require more warning - hence the need for brighter reflective materials, larger letter size, consistent sign placement and simple design.”  Consistent with this observation was a recommendation to use 200 mm (8”) letters on signs at major thoroughfares.  The recommended sign colour combination was white letters on a blue background.

 

The report recommendations independently confirm what the suppliers of reflective sheeting material have been stating, particularly the older driver visibility requirements (older drivers need more light to see at night, having only 65-77% of the legibility distance of younger drivers) and the need to use larger letters with a higher degree of reflectivity because visual clutter from headlights, advertising signs and building lighting interfere with driver visibility.

 

The proposed design incorporates all of these required standards and study observations while incorporating a distinctive look for the new City of Ottawa.  The following details the new street name sign design.

 

Sign Colours:  The relative contrast between letters and their background is the vital factor in obtaining high legibility, and the best contrast exists when a white letter is utilized on a dark background.  The MUTCD recommends that white letters be used on information signs.  The MUTCD also recommends that green, blue, black or brown can be used as the background colours.  The most commonly used background colour for information signs is green.

 

In order to review the variables mentioned above, staff undertook an on-site review of street name signs with different colour combinations and levels of material reflectivity.  The signs were placed at the side of the road in positions similar to where they would ordinarily be located.

 

Under dusk and evening conditions, it was unanimously agreed to by staff that the highest degree of legibility was achieved by using white letters on a blue background.  A cursory survey of motorists and pedestrians in the vicinity of the test area agreed with this consensus.  This on-site review’s conclusions independently confirmed the City of Toronto study.  It is therefore recommended that the background colour for street name signs be blue.

 

Reflectivity/Legibility:  Material cost is a factor to consider in this application as the cost for the different grades of reflective material varies considerably.  For the staff on-site review, various combinations of engineer grade, high intensity grade and diamond grade reflective material were used.  It is the Department’s opinion that the most appropriate combination is engineer grade reflective material as the background material with high intensity reflective material for the letters.  Other reflective material combinations did provide some additional legibility, but not significantly enough to justify the added unit cost.

 

This recommendation provides an increased degree of sign legibility over the current street name sign standard, which utilizes engineer grade reflective material for both the background and letters.

 

Letter Size/Font:  One of the first issues discussed in the Tourism and Public Service Signs Study, currently underway, is the significant increase in message legibility achieved by using upper and lower case letters to spell the word as opposed to using capital letters only.  This represents the latest research on the subject.  It is therefore recommended that this letter style be adopted, using 130 mm (5”) upper case and 95 mm (3¾”) lower case letters.

 

With respect to letter font type, it is recommended that Frutiger 67 condensed to 60% be accepted as the new standard.  For comparative purposes, street name signs erected on former Regional Roads use 130 mm (5”) capital letters with a Helvetica Medium font letter style.  The recommendations contained in this section significantly improve sign legibility.

 

At intersections where two arterial roads intersect, it is now standard practice to attach oversized street name signs to traffic control signal mast arms to increase sign legibility.  The current standard prescribes the use of 250 mm (10”) letters mounted on a 300 mm (12”) extruded aluminum blade and it is recommended that this standard continue.

 

Address Range:  The Ottawa Transition Board established the Street Naming and Numbering Project to review the duplication of street names in the new city and to recommend a procedure to resolve this issue.  During the public hearing process, it was made clear to staff that both emergency response providers, and the general motoring public considered address ranges on street name signs as being very important in determining which block face the desired address might be located.  It was emphasized that arrows should be used in conjunction with address ranges to show which direction the numbers increase or decrease.

 

Due to this public input, it is recommended that address ranges with accompanying arrows be included on street name signs, and that 45 mm (1¾”) numbers be the new standard.

 

City Identifier:  A survey of the street name signs currently used within the City’s boundaries demonstrates that five of the former municipalities incorporated their corporate logos into their signs.  The Department is recommending that the City of Ottawa’s logo:  a stylized “O” be incorporated into the street name sign design.  This logo is effective in promoting the City’s image to both our citizens and visitors.

 

Bilingual Message:  To reflect the bilingual status of our new City, it is recommended that all street names incorporate appropriate accents and both English and French prefixes and suffixes, as the case may require.

 

Sign Blank:  The most common sign blank currently in use is an extruded aluminum blade.  With the new requirements for street name signs to include the new City identifier, the address ranges with arrow, and the use of bilingual prefixes and suffixes, the extruded aluminum blade sign will no longer be viable.

 

The recommended new sign blank uses a 200 mm (8”) blade and will come in two different configurations.  Example 1, illustrates the sign blank that will be used when a single street name sign is required, or when one sign blank is mounted over a lower sign blank (a typical cross street).  Example 2, illustrates the sign blank that will be used as the lower sign when one is mounted on top.  As demonstrated, the new design incorporates the additional features described above.

 

 

Example 1:  Single blade or top blade of two signs mounted on single pole.

 

 

 

Example 2:  Bottom blade of two signs mounted on single pole.

 

 

The new sign design is recommended as it responds to concerns about street name signs raised during public consultation for the Municipal Addressing Study.  The new sign design adopts the recommendations from the noted independent study and reflects best practices in the area, all of which result in improved legibility and wayfinding, thereby enhancing public safety and 9-1-1 response.

 

Heritage Signs:  A street or area that Council may wish to designate as having special historical significance, and is so identified in the Official Plan, may warrant special street name signs that better reflect the historical ambience of the area.  Where Council directs that special signage be considered, staff will work with the local community association and Ward Councillor to develop and install unique signs with due consideration of sign design guidelines.

 

Sign Installation/Replacement Schedule

 

There are two issues to consider: first, the immediate requirement to manufacture and install new street name signs to implement the street name changes recently approved by Council in the Municipal Addressing Study, and secondly, to replace the existing street name signs with the new street name signs.  Staff will commence manufacturing and installation of the new street name signs based on the schedule set out in the Municipal Addressing Study as approved by Council.

 

With respect to replacing the remaining street name signs, it is noted that there is currently no systematic life cycle replacement programs that existed in any of the former municipalities.  Minimal operating dollars existed in the former municipalities’ Public Works Department budgets for street name sign replacement due to vandalism, accidents, general maintenance, etc.

 

Through an informal review of existing street name signage it is apparent that there currently exists an on-going requirement to replace existing street name signs which have surpassed their effective life span.  The average expected life span of a street name sign varies from 10 to 15 years.

 

Staff have estimated that there are currently 19,500 intersections throughout the new City.  Based on a 15 year replacement cycle, this would require that approximately 3,300 street name signs be replaced annually at an average cost of $600,000 per year.  At this time, staff have not quantified the immediate extent of this replacement program.  We will be undertaking a review of this replacement program over the next year.  Staff estimate that capital funding in the amount of $250,000 will be required in the Branch’s 2002 Capital Budget to begin this street name sign replacement program.

 

 

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

 

There are no rural implications, other than that the new street name sign being recommended will improve sign legibility at rural intersections.

 

 

CONSULTATION

 

Public consultation is not necessary for the boundary sign disposal issue because the former municipalities no longer exist and the signs are therefore redundant.  Staff will liaise and work with Councillors to determine whom within their respective wards may require these signs for historical purposes.

 

Additional public consultation is not considered necessary for the street name sign issue because a significant amount has already been done.  The Street Naming and Numbering Project established by the Ottawa Transition Board and the subsequent work done on the Municipal Addressing Study – Duplicate Street Names by the Development Services Department included extensive public consultation.  Some of the comments made by the general public related to street name signs, and in particular the desire to include municipal address ranges with arrows on the signs to assist with wayfinding.  Emergency response providers considered the incorporation of address ranges into the sign design essential.

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

There will be no appreciable costs associated with recycling or disposing of the boundary signs, other than a minimal cost to transport a sign to a final location.

 

The Department will be including $250,000 in the 2002 Capital Budget for Street Name Sign Replacement Program.

 

DISPOSITION

 

The report’s recommendations will be implemented following Council approval.