Report to/Rapport au :
Transportation and
Transit Committee/
Comité des transports et des
services de transport en commun
and Council/et au Conseil
14 May 2003/ le 14 mai
2003
Submitted by/Soumis
par: R.T. Leclair, General
Manager/Directrice générale
Transportation, Utilities and
Public Works/Transport, Services et Travaux publics
Contact/Personne ressource: Dale
Philpotts, Director of Surface Operations/
Directeur, Opérations de surface
580-2424
ext./poste 25543, Dale.Philpotts@ottawa.ca
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Ref N°: ACS2003-TUP-SOP 0004
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SUBJECT: MAINTENANCE QUALITY STANDARDS – ROADS AND
SIDEWALKS/PATHWAYS
OBJET : NORMES DE QUALITÉ EN MATIÈRE D’ENTRETIEN ROUTES ET TROTTOIRS
OU SENTIERS
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the
Transportation and Transit Committee recommend Council:
1.
Approve the maintenance quality
standards for roads and sidewalks/pathways as set out in Annex B.
2.
Approve the enhanced service levels
for pedestrian and cycling facilities, as outlined in the report, for
implementation starting in 2004 subject to approval of an additional $180,000
in the 2004 budget.
3.
Approve an additional 8 FTEs required to comply
with the new provincial Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal
Highways. Since this requirement had
not been identified during the amalgamation process and that amalgamation
related FTE reductions still remain to be achieved, this need would be achieved
by reducing the remaining 2004 TUPW FTE reduction targets and associated
savings of $640,000.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des transports
et des services de transport en commun recommande au Conseil municipal :
1.
d’approuver les normes de qualité en
matière d’entretien des routes et des trottoirs ou sentiers telles qu’elles
sont décrites dans l’annexe B.
2.
d’approuver la mise en place en 2004
des niveaux de services améliorés des voies pour piétons et des pistes
cyclables, tels que décrits dans le rapport, sous réserve de l’approbation
d’une somme supplémentaire de 180 000 $ dans le budget de 2004.
3.
d’approuver
l’ajout de 8 ETP supplémentaires requis conformément à la nouvelle politique
provinciale sur les Normes d’entretien minimales des voies publiques
municipales. Étant donné que l’on n’avait pas décelé ce besoin au moment de la
fusion et que les réductions d’ETP liées à la fusion ne sont pas encore
terminées, il est possible de répondre à ce besoin en révisant à la baisse les
objectifs de réduction d’ETP restants des TSTP de 2004 ainsi que les économies
liées à cette réduction de 640 000$.
BACKGROUND
On
08 August 2001, Council approved a Service Level Harmonization Strategy for the
maintenance of roads, sidewalks, parks and trees that included the following
components:
1. Community
and stakeholder consultation to ensure that the needs of residents and key
stakeholders were identified and addressed.
Further details on the consultation plan were provided to Council in a
memo dated 26 October 2001.
2. The
collection of background information including: an inventory of service levels
and their related costs to gain an understanding of systems in place prior to
amalgamation; a peer comparison with other comparable municipalities; and, a
review of legislated standards.
3. The
development of new maintenance classification systems for roads, sidewalks,
parks and trees that would group similar amenities into classes to ensure
consistent service delivery across the City.
4. The
development of service level options and related costs for key service
standards.
5. A report to appropriate Standing
Committees and Council.
In October 2002, the Department
provided a summary of activities completed to date on components 1 to 4 and
identified issues that Council would need to consider when the final
recommendations were brought forward to Committee and Council in early 2003.
The purpose of this report is to
provide an overview of the harmonization process, highlight service level and
financial implications and seek approval from Committee and Council on the
proposed maintenance quality standards for roads and sidewalks/pathways. Maintenance standards for parks, sports
fields and trees will be presented to the Health, Recreation and Social
Services Committee under a separate report.
DISCUSSION
Ottawa 20/20
In June 2002, Council adopted
seven principles to guide growth and long term decision making within the
City. These guiding principles are
based on extensive public consultation.
The seven principles and accompanying objectives have been recognized in
the development process for the City’s maintenance quality standards. The relationship between the principles and
the proposed maintenance quality standards is demonstrated as follows:
- A Responsible and Responsive City – by setting
maintenance levels that are safe, dependable and affordable for the
community.
- A Caring and Inclusive City – by inviting the
full community to be involved in the development of the maintenance
standards.
- A Creative City Rich in Heritage, Unique in
Identity – by recognizing the distinctiveness of being a capital city
and the urban-suburban-rural environment in the development of the maintenance
standards.
- A Green and Environmentally Sensitive City –
by developing maintenance standards that are responsive to walking,
cycling and public transit, that recognize the value of the City’s trees,
parks and natural areas, and that protect the natural environment by
maintaining turf without the use of chemical pesticides and roads by
reducing the use of road salts.
- A City of Distinct, Liveable Communities – by
developing maintenance standards that recognize rural-suburban-urban
distinctions and the value of Ottawa’s many communities and the need to
keep them clean, green and accessible.
- An Innovative City Where Prosperity is Shared
Among All – by recognizing the distinct maintenance requirements of
tourism and commercial areas, the importance of maintenance to the
movement of people and goods, and the positive image a clean and green
City projects as a livable city.
- A Healthy and Active City – by developing
maintenance standards that promote the use of the City’s parks and sports
fields, pathways and cycling facilities.
Description of the Proposed Maintenance Quality
Standards
The maintenance
quality standards (details in Annex B and summarized in Annex A) have been
developed with input from the community, through peer comparison of other
municipalities and through the review of provincial guidelines. Through this process the following
objectives for the standards were defined:
·
To provide safe, dependable and
affordable service levels;
·
To preserve the infrastructure assets;
·
To protect the natural environment;
·
To enhance the appearance and health
of the community;
·
To provide a reference framework to
measure performance;
·
To provide a basis of “Peer Review”
with other comparable cities; and
·
To provide Council and citizens with a
reference of expectations.
The maintenance quality standards have been
written with the perspective of the user in mind. As much as possible, they anticipate the end result of
maintenance services – the benefits to users.
The standards outline the time and extent of a particular
maintenance activity. They also link
directly to larger, measurable objectives – clean city, safe roads, passable
sidewalks, etc.
The standards do not prescribe how to deliver
services. How services are delivered
forms part of an operations manual (to be developed after standards have been
approved) as delivery may evolve over time with changes in equipment,
materials, innovation and technology.
This is a change from many of the standards of the former municipalities
which focused on how to deliver services rather than defining the timing and
extent of these services. Having
measurable outcomes is also consistent with the Ottawa 20/20 vision.
While the maintenance quality standards will be
implemented after being approved by Council, it will take a few years
for the service levels to be fully implemented, monitored and evaluated. Monitoring and tracking systems will need to
be developed to support the new standards.
Community Input
In order to understand the views and expectations of
residents, the City undertook extensive community consultation (refer to Annex
C for details).
The consultation process included a public opinion
survey. Based on the results of the
random telephone survey conducted in late 2001, almost 9 in 10 were generally,
if not very, satisfied with the overall level of service provided by the City’s
maintenance operations. Input also
indicated that residents placed the greatest priority on snowplowing of major
roads and sidewalks, snow removal in residential areas, road surface repairs
and streetlight maintenance. Also
considered important but less critical are services that involve the care and
management of green spaces and aesthetic clean up.
In addition, the following are some of the more significant issues that
were raised during the consultation process (refer to Annex C for other
consultation process details):
·
While the
majority of residents support the City’s initiative to discontinue the use of
chemical pesticides, many residents expressed concerns that the quality of
parks and boulevards has deteriorated.
·
Many residents
would like to see a reduction in the use of road salt.
·
Some residents
expressed concerns with the hours of operation for certain functions: snow
removal and street sweeping operations carried out at night in or near
residential areas.
·
The Mobility Issues Advisory Committee expressed
concerns with the accessibility of sidewalks/pathways in the winter, mainly in
the downtown core.
·
The Cycling
Advisory Committee tabled a report entitled “Response to City Review of Road
Maintenance Standards” whereby they raised a number of concerns, such as
potholes, pavement cracks, debris, catch basin grates, drainage, winter control
and so on.
·
The Agriculture
and Rural Affairs Advisory Committee expressed concerns with the timing of
grass cutting along rural ditches. They
are concerned that by the time much of the cutting occurs weeds have gone up in
seed and proliferate on abutting properties/agricultural lands.
·
Some rural
residents expressed concern with the level of maintenance of gravel roads and
that this could further deteriorate being part of a bigger City.
Community expectations and the
issues they identified during the consultation process have been reflected in
the development of the quality maintenance standards.
Practices of Former
Municipalities
The development of
the proposed maintenance quality standards included a review of the practices
of the former municipalities. All of
the former municipalities were responsible for similar maintenance activities. However, as noted earlier, the means by which
they defined their standards and by which they delivered the services did
vary. In some instances some of the
former municipalities did not have defined standards and services were
delivered based on past practices that were consistent with community
expectations. Annex A provides an
overview of the proposed maintenance standards compared to the practices of the
former municipalities.
Peer Comparison with Other
Municipalities
The development of
the proposed maintenance quality standards also included a review of the
standards of other comparable municipalities.
A summary of findings is presented in Annex D.
Challenges with the
peer comparison included the number of standards involved and the difficulty in
finding municipalities that shared all of Ottawa’s distinctive
characteristics. For example, very few
municipalities have developed “outcome” based standards that could be compared
directly, some have no documented standards, few have a similar urban-suburban-rural
component, and few are subject to the same weather conditions and profile as
Ottawa. As a result, the review focused
on specific areas where Ottawa compared with the other municipalities.
Contacts were made with a number of
municipalities. Information was
received from those listed below.
·
Capital Cities: Toronto, Quebec City, Washington
DC, Oslo, Helsinki
·
Canadian Cities: Haldiman/Norfolk, Hamilton,
Niagara, Peel, York, Calgary, Gatineau, Montreal
·
Other Agencies: National Capital Commission;
Ontario Ministry of Transportation; Norwegian Public Roads Administration;
Swedish National Road Administration
Overall, the level
of service proposed for the City of Ottawa is comparable to other similar
municipalities. Of the capital cities
consulted, it was observed that a higher level of service is provided in
tourism areas. This applies mainly to
litter pickup, sweeping and snow removal.
However, the level of service provided to other areas of the city is
generally not much different than with other typical cities. As with other capital cities, a higher level
of service is proposed for the core and tourism areas of the City of Ottawa.
New Provincial Minimum Road
Maintenance Standards
Since 01 November 2002, Ontario
municipalities are required to comply with the “Minimum Maintenance Standards
for Municipal Highways” as per Regulation 239 of the Municipal Act. These minimum standards only apply to road
maintenance services that have an impact on public safety (i.e. snow plowing,
potholes, cracks, regulatory signs, streetlights, etc.). They do not address issues pertaining to
infrastructure preservation and quality of life nor do they apply to sidewalks,
parks or trees. As a result, simply
adopting the provincial minimum standards would result in an incomplete set of
standards.
The proposed maintenance quality
standards for the City comply with the requirements of the provincial minimum
maintenance standards and address the larger issues identified above. Where provincial minimum standards apply,
the proposed maintenance standards for the City include a desirable or target
level of service that meets and often exceeds the provincial minimum. Where the proposed standards exceed the
provincial minimums, the standards recognize the level of service provided by
the former municipalities and the community feedback from the consultation
process.
The provincial minimum standards
require municipalities to undertake and document year-round routine patrols on
all municipal roads. They define the frequency
of patrols based on the road class and the conditions/hazards that need to be
monitored and documented. While most of
the former municipalities carried out some form of road patrol function, most
carried these out in an informal basis, reporting was more in relation to
identified hazards and emphasis was typically on winter operations.
The provincial minimum standards will result in a formal process where
every road in the City of Ottawa will be patrolled on a regular frequency based
on road class and each patrol will be documented. The City has an inventory of approximately 5,200 km of roads that
will be patrolled by driving all roads at an average speed ranging between 20
and 35 km/hr in order to visually observe and report potential hazards. For example, arterial roads will be
patrolled 2 times per week while residential roads will be patrolled once per
month. The patrolling activities will
be carried continuously 5 days per week.
Additional details on the road patrol standard are included in Section
102.01 of Annex B.
It is estimated that
approximately 14 FTEs are required to comply with the provincial minimum
standard. It is also estimated that the
City has already 6 FTEs based on patrols performed by the former
municipalities. As such, 8 additional
FTEs are required to comply with the provincial minimum standard.
At the 05 February
2003 Transportation and Transit Committee meeting, a recommendation by the
Cycling Advisory Committee on the establishment of a citizen-based road hazards
reporting program was referred to staff.
The road hazards reporting program being proposed by the Cycling
Advisory Committee could supplement the City's routine road patrolling
efforts. After Council has approved the
proposed maintenance quality standards, staff would continue to work with the
Cycling Advisory Committee to clarify expectations, how this program would be
implemented and how the communications would occur between members of this
program and the City.
Maintenance Classification
Maintenance
classifications are used to categorize roads, sidewalks/pathways and trees of
similar characteristics and function into similar classes. These classes are used to prioritize the
delivery of maintenance activities. A
summary of the maintenance classes was presented in the October 2002 committee
report and details are included in Section 101.01 of Annex B.
Recommended Maintenance Quality Standards
The proposed
maintenance quality standards have been developed with the intention of
providing a consistent and appropriate level of service to all citizens of the
City of Ottawa. They have been crafted
based on an extensive community consultation process, the review of the
standards of the former municipalities and of other comparable external
municipalities. The proposed standards also meet or exceed the provincial
requirements, where minimum standards are defined. In addition, they respond to the principles outlined in the
Ottawa 20/20 growth plans, especially as they concern safety and mobility.
Given the diversity
and extent of information covered under the proposed maintenance quality
standards (Annex B), the following highlights services that either had
significant service level variations between former municipalities or that were
subject of greatest public interest. A
more detailed overview of these proposed maintenance quality standards compared
to the practices of the former municipalities is provided in Annex A.
Recommendations on
enhancements to service levels and the cost associated with making these
enhancements are discussed later in the report. Areas where enhancements are recommended respond directly to
comments received from the public during the consultation process. The intent is that after being implemented
these enhancements would be monitored and a regular status provided to report
on their effectiveness.
Winter
Maintenance
Snow plowing and
de-icing
Based
on the public consultation process, residents place a high degree of importance
on snow and ice control for city roads, but have also expressed a desire to see
reductions in the application of road salts.
With
respect to salt usage, Council approved a revised maintenance standard as part
of the 2003 budget process. This new
standard was implemented this past winter and is reflected in the proposed
maintenance standards. Residents should
not notice any changes in service level for snow and ice control on
sidewalks/pathways and on arterial and collector roads. On residential roads, former municipalities
that had a centre bare pavement standards (Cumberland, Gloucester, Nepean,
Osgoode, Vanier) will see a change to snow packed roads. This is consistent with the community’s and
Environment Canada’s desire to see reductions in the amount of road salts being
applied, in a manner that does not compromise public safety.
With
respect to snow plowing, former municipalities applied a similar standard for
most arterial and collector roadways.
This was largely because most of these roadways were managed by the
former Region or were the highest priority roads of the former local
municipalities. With respect to
residential roads, the standard varied from centre bare pavement to snow packed
roads, although the application of the standard were largely intended to
achieve a similar result – to ensure that residential roads were cleared within
10 hours from the end of a significant snow accumulation.
The
proposed standard on residential roads maintains the objective of achieving an
initial cleanup within 10 hours from the end of a significant snow accumulation,
but the trigger for deploying resources has been modified. Residential roads will be plowed after an
accumulation of 7 cm. Residential roads
may get plowed for storms less than 7 cm if the cumulative effect of previous
accumulations exceeds 7 cm or as a result of other operational concerns with
the type of storm (i.e. freezing rain).
While not drastic, this change
will be most noticeable in former municipalities that plowed residential roads
when the accumulation was less than 7 cm – all with the exception of
Gloucester, Osgoode, Ottawa , Rideau and West Carleton.
Snow removal
Based
on the public consultation process, residents also place a high degree of
importance on snow removal in terms of maintaining safe roads. Residents should not see a reduction in snow
removal but they may see a change in how snow is being removed. The proposed standard reflects that hauling
of snow to a snow disposal facility will be undertaken only if casting onto
boulevards and adjacent properties or pulling of snow into the road cannot be
carried out. This service standard was
approved by Council as part of the 2003 budget process.
Summer
Maintenance
Street cleaning
The
level of service for street cleaning varied significantly across the former
municipalities. Under the proposed
standard, all streets in the City (i.e. paved with curbs) will be cleaned in
April and May as part of the spring cleanup.
Following the initial cleanup, under the proposed maintenance standard
arterial roads would be cleaned every 1-2 weeks and bus/cycling routes would be
cleaned on a 3-8 week basis. This would
result in an increase in the frequency of cleaning in the suburban
municipalities, while reducing the cleaning frequency of some streets in former
Ottawa and Vanier (refer to Annex A for additional details). However, residents of former Ottawa and
Vanier should not experience a noticeable impact as a result of this change in
frequency. It should also be noted that
the downtown core, BIAs and market area will continue to receive the same high
level of service currently provided.
Boulevard grass
cutting
Prior
to amalgamation, grass cutting along most boulevards was undertaken on a
monthly basis. With Council approval of
the Integrated Turf Management (ITM) program to eliminate the use of pesticides
on City owned properties, the maintenance standard for City boulevards was
revisited. The recommended standard
reflects the maintenance approach set out in the ITM program approved in 2003
budget. For boulevards, this will
provide for a 2-week grass cutting frequency during the spring growing season
and more cultural practices such as topdressing and overseeding. During the balance of the season, boulevards
will continue to be cut on a monthly basis.
Nighttime
Operations in Residential Areas
Street sweeping
as part of spring cleanup
Many
residents (urban and suburban) have expressed concerns with the noise generated
by street sweeping operations in residential areas at night, mainly during the
spring cleanup. The proposed maintenance
standards continue the practice of nighttime street cleaning operations where
this was a common practice in the past.
Other than former Cumberland and Gloucester, this was a common practice
across the former urban-suburban municipalities. While the practice of nighttime street cleaning allows the
cleanup to be completed as quickly as possible in order to reduce dust/debris
and allow other maintenance activities to be undertaken (i.e. pavement
markings), given the extent of the public concerns, the intent is to revisit
this practice in more detail. A report
will be presented to committee at a later date that will consider service level
options and related financial implications to discontinue nighttime street cleaning
operations on class 4 (minor collector roads) and/or class 5 (residential)
roads.
Snow removal
Many
residents have expressed a similar concern with nighttime snow removal
operations in residential areas. As
with street cleaning, nighttime operations allow operations to be undertaken
efficiently with minimal traffic interference and disruption. The proposed maintenance standards continue
the practice of nighttime snow removal operations where this was a common
practice in the past. Other than former
Cumberland, Gloucester and Nepean, this was a common practice across the former
urban-suburban municipalities. As with
nighttime street cleaning, a report will be presented to committee at a later
date that will consider service level options and related financial
implications to discontinue nighttime snow removal operations on class 4 (minor
collectors) and/or class 5 (residential) roads.
Recommended Enhanced Service Levels
The following enhancements to the
existing service levels are being recommended based on input received through
the community consultation process.
Snow and ice control of
sidewalks and pathways
Concerns have
been expressed, notably by people with accessibility needs in the downtown
core, with delays in clearing snow at intersections, crosswalks and transit
links. This concern is anticipated to
increase with the changing demographics and the City’s vision of making walking
more accessible as a means of transportation.
The former
municipalities provided a relatively consistent level of service for the winter
maintenance of sidewalks and pathways.
Generally the time to clear windrows across sidewalks at intersections
in the central core was greater than in the suburbs - 24 hours in former Ottawa
compared to 16 hours in the suburban municipalities. In former Ottawa, windrows were cleared as part of a separate
pass after the sidewalks have been cleared, whereas in the former suburban
municipalities the windrows are cleared as part of the sidewalk clearing
operations.
In general, the
City provides a level of service comparable to Toronto, Montreal, Stockholm and
Helsinki, but provides a higher level of service than many other Ontario and
Canadian cities. For example, some
municipalities do not clear as many sidewalks and/or have a by-law requiring
the homeowners whose homes face the sidewalks to do the clearing.
In order to
provide additional support to improve windrow clearing in areas of
accessibility needs, notably in the downtown core, it is recommended to
increase resources by approximately 10% of current resources in former
Ottawa. These additional resources
would assist in improving plowing cycle times and snow clearing of windrows at
intersections, crosswalks, transit links and other areas with accessibility
concerns. Specific locations would be
determined with the input of the Accessibility Advisory and the Transportation
Advisory Committees. Overall, this will
allow windrows across sidewalks in former Ottawa to be cleared within 16 hours
as it the case with the suburban municipalities.
In order to
address site specific locations, another enhancement is to expand the existing
“yellow sand box” program by 20 locations; from 20 to 40 locations. This would make the sand box program
accessible to more locations. The
locations would be determined with the input of the Accessibility Advisory and
the Transportation Advisory Committees.
Sidewalk and pathway repairs
Concerns were
expressed during consultation process that some sidewalks and pathways are in
need of repair to make them more accessible for users. While most of the former municipalities had
maintenance programs for the repairs of sidewalks and pathways, for the most
part the former standards did not define response times. Repairs were generally dependent on the severity
of the conditions, with safety hazards receiving priority attention, subject to
available funds.
In response to
the community input and the Cycling Advisory Committee concerns, it is
recommended that specific standards apply to recognize hazards that would
provide safer conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and other users. These standards are specified in Section
105.01 of Annex B. As a result, more
potholes and cracks will be filled and more trip hazards will be eliminated.
Surface defects of Paved Roads
(i.e. potholes, pavement cracks, etc)
General road
surface conditions was a primary concern expressed by residents in the public
opinion survey and by the Cycling Advisory Committee who indicated that
potholes, longitudinal cracks and other surface defects have greater impacts on
cyclists than on motorists (i.e. narrower tires) and should be given
appropriate attention. The new
provincial minimum maintenance standards define dimensions and response times
for specific road surface defects (i.e. potholes, cracks, etc), however, these
are primarily focused on addressing safety issues for vehicular traffic and do
not directly address cycling related issues.
Details of the provincial minimum maintenance standards are covered in
Section 104.01 of Annex B.
All former
municipalities had maintenance programs for repairs to paved roads. These programs generally focused on spring
conditions, an annual crack sealing program and responding to service
requests. The annual crack sealing
program focused on newly paved roads or roads with moderate cracks (i.e. extend
the life of the infrastructure).
Standards in the former municipalities for the most part did not define
dimensions and response times, and this was generally dependent on the severity
of the conditions with immediate safety hazards receiving priority
attention. The extent of the need for
maintenance repairs to paved roads is directly related to the frequency of
resurfacing carried out through the capital program. The more roads are left to deteriorate the more remedial type
maintenance will be required.
In response to
the community input and the Cycling Advisory Committee concerns, it is
recommended that specific standards apply to cycling hazards that would provide
safer conditions for cyclists and other users.
Details of these standards are specified in Section 104.01 of Annex
B. As a result, more potholes and
cracks located along designated city cycling routes will be filled providing
safer riding conditions.
Next Steps
Having harmonized maintenance
quality standards is a key component of an integrated approach to achieving
desired efficiencies. With Council
approval of the maintenance standards for the City of Ottawa, the Department
will proceed with:
-
analyzing the implications of eliminating nighttime snow
removal and street cleaning operations for residential areas
-
optimizing winter snow and ice control routes
-
rationalizing maintenance vehicles, equipment and facilities
(i.e. vehicle depots and material storage facilities)
-
developing work procedures and monitoring processes
-
developing a salt management plan
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
In 2001 Environment Canada
identified road salts as having an impact on the natural environment. While there is no intention to ban the use
of road salt, municipalities are being requested to have management measures in
place to make most efficient use of road salts. The department is working on a salt management plan to be
presented later this year that will outline strategies to improve its
efficiency in the use of this resource.
The Department will also continue
to work on the development of alternative strategies to the use of chemical
pesticides and alternative ground covers.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
A unique characteristic of the
new City of Ottawa is its distinctive rural-suburban-urban setting. This was identified through the extensive
public consultation process and has been reflected in the proposed maintenance
quality standards. The objective of the
service level harmonization strategy was to bring consistency both to the most
densely populated urban areas and to the smallest rural villages.
CONSULTATION
As noted earlier, details of the
consultation process were provided in the October 2002 status report. Complete details are included in Annex
C. The proposed service level enhancements
are directly a result of the community feedback provided through this
consultation process.
Since the October 2002 status
report, the Cycling Advisory Committee tabled a report at the 05 February 2003
Transportation and Transit Committee meeting on their response to the City’s
review of road maintenance standards. A
supplementary report was also presented at their 14 April 2003 committee
meeting. These reports made a number of
recommendations and these are addressed in Annex E. It is important to note that the proposed maintenance quality
standards make significant provisions that directly pertain to cycling issues
that were not reflected in the standards of the former municipalities. If approved, the enhanced service levels for
surface repairs would be implemented over a 5-year period. In addition, the standards provide
measurable outcomes that will require monitoring and reporting processes to be
developed and implemented. A period of
at least 3-5 years will be required for these processes to be effective and for
the enhanced service levels to be implemented.
The Department is also initiating a review of the City’s cycling
plan. Additional maintenance related
recommendations could be addressed as part of this process.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The following are the financial
implications for the recommended enhanced service levels identified in this
report.
Recommendation No. 2
The cost implication of providing
additional resources to improve clearing of windrows along sidewalks in areas
of accessibility needs, notably in the downtown core, is estimated at $250,000
per year. It is recommended that this
amount be implemented over a 5-year period at a rate of $50,000 per year,
beginning in 2004.
The cost implication of expanding
the existing “yellow sand box” program by 20 locations - from 20 to 40
locations – is estimated at $20,000 to be identified as a budget requirement
for 2004.
The cost implication of providing
additional sidewalk/pathway surface repairs to provide safer conditions for pedestrians,
cyclists and other users is estimated at $200,000 per year. It is recommended that this amount be
implemented over a 5-year period at a rate of $40,000 per year, beginning in
2004.
The cost implication of providing a more specific
standard to address road surface hazards pertaining to cyclists and other users
is estimated at $350,000 per year. It
is recommended that this be implemented over a 5-year period at a rate of
$70,000 per year, beginning in 2004.
The following is a summary of the
financial implications of this recommendation:
|
Service
|
2004 Budget Requirements
|
2005 to 2008 Annual Base Budget Adjustments
|
Total Base Budget Adjustments over 5 years (2008)
|
|
Pedestrian
and Cycling Facilities
|
|
|
|
|
-
Snow and ice control - sidewalks and pathways
|
$50,000
|
$50,000
|
$250,000
|
|
-
Expanded yellow sand box program
|
$20,000
|
|
$20,000
|
|
-
Surface defects on paved roads
|
$70,000
|
$70,000
|
$350,000
|
|
-
Sidewalk and pathway repairs
|
$40,000
|
$40,000
|
$200,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total per Year
|
$180,000
|
$160,000
|
$820,000
|
Recommendation No. 3
The Department has identified an
amalgamation reduction of 21 FTEs in 2004 for the Surface Operations
Branch. Given that the additional 8
FTEs required to comply with the Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal
Highways are the result of new provincial legislation and since this
requirement was not identified during the amalgamation process, it is
recommended that the 21 FTE reduction requirements identified for 2004 be
reduced by 8 FTEs. The financial
implication for the 8 FTEs is estimated at $640,000 (including salary, benefits
and access to a vehicle).
ATTACHMENTS
Annex A – Overview
of Proposed Maintenance Quality Standards Compared to Practices of Former
Municipalities
Annex B - Recommended Maintenance Quality Standards
for Roads and Sidewalks/Pathways (issued separately)
Annex C - Summary
of Public Consultation Process
Annex D – Summary
of Peer Comparison with External Municipalities
Annex E – Staff
Response to Comments from the Cycling Advisory Committee on the City’s Road
Maintenance Standards
DISPOSITION
Upon approval by Council, the Transportation, Utilities
and Public Works Department will begin to implement the new maintenance quality
standards.
ANNEX A
OVERVIEW OF PROPOSED
MAINTENANCE QUALITY STANDARDS
COMPARED TO PRACTICES
OF FORMER MUNICIPALITIES
INDEX
|
Service
|
Cumberland
Gloucester
Osgoode
|
Kanata
Nepean
Goulbourn
|
Ottawa
Vanier
Rockliffe Park
|
Rideau
West Carleton
Region of Ottawa-Carleton
|
|
Routine road patrol
|
A-2
|
A-7
|
A-12
|
A-17
|
|
Snow and ice control for roads
|
A-2
|
A-7
|
A-12
|
A-17
|
|
Snow and ice control for sidewalks, pathways and
bus pads
|
A-3
|
A-8
|
A-13
|
A-18
|
|
Snow removal
|
A-3
|
A-8
|
A-13
|
A-18
|
|
Surface repairs for paved roads
|
A-4
|
A-9
|
A-14
|
A-19
|
|
Surface repairs for gravel roads
|
A-4
|
A-9
|
A-14
|
A-19
|
|
Surface repairs for sidewalks, pathways and bus pads
|
A-5
|
A-10
|
A-15
|
A-20
|
|
Grass cutting (boulevards and rural ditches)
|
A-5
|
A-10
|
A-15
|
A-20
|
|
Street cleaning
|
A-6
|
A-11
|
A-16
|
A-21
|
|
Signs and pavement markings
|
A-6
|
A-11
|
A-16
|
A-21
|
|
Collection of litter containers
|
A-6
|
A-11
|
A-16
|
A-21
|
A-1
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Cumberland
|
Gloucester
|
Osgoode
|
|
Routine road patrol
(Maintenance Quality Standard 102.01)
|
-
Documented routine road patrols required to
comply with legislated requirement.
-
Frequency of patrols range from 4 times per
week to once per month based on road class.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process.
This standard will result
in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process.
This standard will result
in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process.
This standard will result
in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
|
Snow and ice control for roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.01)
|
Class 1 – Highway 174 and Transitway
Class 2 - Arterial roads
-
maintained to bare pavement
-
resources deployed as soon as snow
accumulation begins
-
snow to be cleared within 2 hours for Class
1 and 3 hours for class 2 after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Service delivered by the former Region.
|
Service delivered by the former Region.
|
Service delivered by the former Region.
|
|
Class 3 - Major collector roads
-
maintained to bare pavement
-
resources deployed as soon as snow
accumulation begins
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Class 4 - Minor collector roads
-
maintained to bare pavement on bus routes,
centre-bare on other paved road and snow packed on gravel roads
-
plows deployed after a minimum of 5 cm of
snow accumulation
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to
complete were comparable to proposed standard.
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to
complete were comparable to proposed standard.
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to
complete were comparable to proposed standard.
|
|
Class 5 - Residential roads and lanes
-
maintained to a snow packed surface
-
plows deployed after a minimum of 7 cm (10
cm for lanes) of snow accumulation
- snow
to be cleared within 10 hours (16 hours for lanes) after the end of snow
accumulation
|
Paved roads were maintained to centre-bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Plows were deployed after 5 cm of snow
accumulation.
Time to complete was comparable to proposed
standard.
|
Paved roads were maintained to centre-bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Plows were deployed after 8 cm of snow
accumulation.
Time to complete was comparable to proposed
standard.
|
Roads were maintained to a snow packed
surface.
Plows were deployed after 8 cm of snow
accumulation.
Time to complete was comparable to proposed
standard.
|
A-2
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Cumberland
|
Gloucester
|
Osgoode
|
|
Snow and ice control for sidewalks, pathways
and bus pads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.02)
|
Class 1 - Downtown core (business and
tourist areas)
-
maintained to a bare surface
- sidewalk plows deployed after 2.5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 4
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable.
|
|
Class 2 – Major pedestrian links
-
maintained to a bare surface when along an
arterial road and to a snow packed surface for all other locations
- sidewalk plows deployed after 5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 12
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
|
Class 3 – Minor pedestrian links
-
maintained to a snow packed surface for all
other locations
- sidewalk plows deployed after 5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 16
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
|
Snow removal
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.03)
|
Methods
-
Casting onto adjacent boulevard or property
when on-site storage is available
-
Pulling into roadway when road and weather
conditions permit
-
Removal to a disposal site when no other
options are available
|
Snow currently casted or
hauled to snow disposal sites.
Proposed standard would see more pulling of snow into the road where
conditions permit to reduce snow to be hauled to disposal sites.
|
Snow currently hauled to
snow disposal sites. Proposed
standard would see more casting and pulling of snow into the road where
conditions permit to reduce snow to be hauled to disposal sites.
|
Snow removal volumes
relatively low. No change in service level.
|
|
Triggers
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Hours of operation
Can be carried out 24 hours a day 7 days a
week. This only applies where this
practice was carried out prior to amalgamation.
|
Snow removal operations in residential not
carried out at night after 11 pm. No change in service level.
|
Snow removal operations in residential not
carried out at night after 11 pm. No change in service level.
|
Snow removal operations in residential not
carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
A-3
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Cumberland
|
Gloucester
|
Osgoode
|
|
Surface repairs for paved roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 104.01)
|
General road users
-
surface distortions that pose an immediate
hazard (i.e. sink holes, missing or cracked ironworks, misaligned catch basin
grates) are to be clearly identified as a hazard within 4 hours and repaired
as soon as practicable
-
other surface distortions that do not pose
an immediate hazard (i.e. potholes, ponding, surface discontinuities) are to
be prioritized based on class of road and extent of defects (for example 2-4
days on arterials, 7-30 days on collectors and 7-60 days on residentials.
Recommended Enhancement
If approved as part of the 2004 budget, the
enhancements would result in a defined standard for cycling related hazards
and in additional surface repairs that would provide safer riding conditions
(i.e. filling in more potholes, sealing more longitudinal cracks, adjusting
more catch basin covers, etc).
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
|
Surface repairs for gravel roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 104.02)
|
-
surface distortions that pose an immediate
hazard (i.e. sink holes) are to be clearly identified as a hazard within 4
hours and repaired as soon as practicable
-
other surface conditions that do not pose an
immediate hazard are to be prioritized based on class of road and extent of
defects (for example 7-14 days on collectors and 14-30 days on residentials).
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Grading
All roads to be graded at least 3 times in
the spring up to the application of dust control. After the application of dust control, spot grading to be
carried out as required.
Dust control
All roads to received dust control each year
in the spring.
|
Grading is comparable to proposed standard.
Increase in service level for dust control
since not all roads received dust control over their entire length.
|
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
A-4
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Cumberland
|
Gloucester
|
Osgoode
|
|
Surface repairs for sidewalks, pathways and
bus pads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 105.01)
|
-
conditions that present a safety hazard
(i.e. trip hazards of 3 cm and greater) are to be identified as a hazard
within 8 hours and repaired within 7 days
-
conditions that impair the function but are
not hazards are to be scheduled into planned maintenance and addressed as
practicable
-
all sidewalks, pathways and bus pads are to
be inspected annually in the spring
Recommended Enhancements
If approved as part of the 2004 budget, the
enhancements would result in a defined standard for cycling related hazards
and in additional surface repairs that would provide safer walking and riding
conditions (i.e. filling in more potholes, sealing more longitudinal cracks,
adjusting more catch basin covers, eliminating more trip hazards etc).
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions.
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
|
Grass Cutting (Boulevards and Ditches)
(Maintenance Quality Standard 105.04)
|
Urban boulevards
-
grass cutting every 2 weeks in the spring
and every month for the balance of the year
- topdressing and overseeding
only carried out as spot applications where required
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003 operating
budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak spring growing
season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
|
Rural ditches
Grass cut 1-2 times per year depending on
road class.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
A-5
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Cumberland
|
Gloucester
|
Osgoode
|
|
Street cleaning
(Maintenance Quality Standards 106.01 and
106.02)
|
Frequency
-
debris that pose an immediate hazard are to
be removed as soon as practicable but within 4 hours
-
spring cleaning of all streets is to be
completed by May 31st
-
frequency of street cleaning after the
completion of the spring cleanup (June-October) will vary depending on road
class and location: every 1-2 weeks on arterial roads with curbs and every
3-8 weeks on collector roads with curbs that serve as bus or designated
cycling routes
|
|
|
|
|
Hours of operation
Can be carried out 24 hours a day 7 days a
week. This only applies where this
practice was carried out prior to amalgamation.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are not carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are carried out at night until 1:30 am during the spring cleanup. No change
in service level.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are not carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
|
Signs and pavement markings
(Maintenance Quality Standards 107.01 and
107.02)
|
Signs
-
regulatory and warning signs that are
illegible, improperly oriented or missing are to be addressed within 3 hours
for safety related signs (i.e. stop, yield, do not enter, etc) to 30 days for
other signs depending on road class and sign type
- guidance, street name and 911 civic number signs that are illegible,
improperly oriented or missing are to be addressed within 30 days
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Pavement markings
Generally line markings will be applied to
most roads yearly. Higher priority
roads will be done twice per year.
Some lower priority roads or markings may only be done every second
year.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Collection of litter containers
(Maintenance
Quality Standard 106.03)
|
Litter containers to be emptied 1-7 times
per week depending on location.
Reduced frequency and number of locations during the winter season.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Inventory of litter containers maintained by
the City is relatively low. No change
in service level.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A-6
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Kanata
|
Nepean
|
Goulbourn
|
|
Routine road patrol
(Maintenance Quality Standard 102.01)
|
-
Documented routine road patrols required to
comply with legislated requirement.
-
Frequency of patrols range from 4 times per
week to once per month based on road class.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process. This standard
will result in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process. This standard
will result in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process. This standard
will result in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
|
Snow and ice control for roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.01)
|
Class 1 – Highway 174 and Transitway
Class 2 - Arterial roads
-
maintained to bare pavement
-
resources deployed as soon as snow
accumulation begins
-
snow to be cleared within 2 hours for Class
1 and 3 hours for class 2 after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Service delivered by the former Region.
|
Service delivered by the former Region.
|
Service delivered by the former Region.
|
|
Class 3 - Major collector roads
-
maintained to bare pavement
-
resources deployed as soon as snow
accumulation begins
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Class 4 - Minor collector roads
-
maintained to bare pavement on bus routes,
centre-bare on other paved road and snow packed on gravel roads
-
plows deployed after a minimum of 5 cm of
snow accumulation
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to complete
were comparable to proposed standard.
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to
complete were comparable to proposed standard.
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to
complete were comparable to proposed standard.
|
|
Class 5 - Residential roads and lanes
-
maintained to a snow packed surface
-
plows deployed after a minimum of 7 cm (10 cm for lanes) of snow accumulation
- snow
to be cleared within 10 hours (16 hours for lanes) after the end of snow
accumulation
|
Roads were maintained to a snow packed
surface.
Plows were deployed after 5 cm of snow
accumulation.
Time to complete was comparable to proposed
standard.
|
Paved roads were maintained to centre-bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Plows were deployed after 5 cm of snow
accumulation.
Time to complete was comparable to proposed
standard.
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Plows were deployed after 5 cm of snow
accumulation.
Time to complete was comparable to proposed
standard.
|
A-7
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Kanata
|
Nepean
|
Goulbourn
|
|
Snow and ice control for sidewalks, pathways
and bus pads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.02)
|
Class 1 - Downtown core (business and
tourist areas)
-
maintained to a bare surface
- sidewalk plows deployed after 2.5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 4
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable.
|
|
Class 2 – Major pedestrian links
-
maintained to a bare surface when along an
arterial road and to a snow packed surface for all other locations
- sidewalk plows deployed after 5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 12
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Class 3 – Minor pedestrian links
-
maintained to a snow packed surface for all
other locations
- sidewalk plows deployed after 5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 16
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Snow removal
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.03)
|
Methods
-
Casting onto adjacent boulevard or property
when on-site storage is available
-
Pulling into roadway when road and weather
conditions permit
-
Removal to a disposal site when no other
options are available
|
Snow currently hauled to
snow disposal sites. Proposed
standard would see more casting and pulling of snow into the road where
conditions permit to reduce snow to be hauled to disposal sites.
|
Snow currently hauled to
snow disposal sites. Proposed
standard would see more casting and pulling of snow into the road where
conditions permit to reduce snow to be hauled to disposal sites.
|
Snow currently hauled to
snow disposal sites. Proposed
standard would see more casting and pulling of snow into the road where
conditions permit to reduce snow to be hauled to disposal sites.
|
|
Triggers
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Hours of operation
Can be carried out
24 hours a day 7 days a week. In
residential areas, this only applies where this practice was carried out
prior to amalgamation.
|
Snow removal operations in residential not
carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Snow removal operations in residential not
carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Snow removal operations in residential not
carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
A-8
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Kanata
|
Nepean
|
Goulbourn
|
|
Surface repairs for paved roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 104.01)
|
General road users
-
surface distortions that pose an immediate
hazard (i.e. sink holes, missing or cracked ironworks, misaligned catch basin
grates) are to be clearly identified as a hazard within 4 hours and repaired
as soon as practicable
-
other surface distortions that do not pose
an immediate hazard (i.e. potholes, ponding, surface discontinuities) are to
be prioritized based on class of road and extent of defects (for example 2-4
days on arterials, 7-30 days on collectors and 7-60 days on residentials.
Recommended Enhancement
If approved as part of the 2004 budget, the
enhancements would result in a defined standard for cycling related hazards
and in additional surface repairs that would provide safer riding conditions
(i.e. filling in more potholes, sealing more longitudinal cracks, adjusting
more catch basin covers, etc).
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
|
Surface repairs for gravel roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 104.02)
|
-
surface distortions that pose an immediate
hazard (i.e. sink holes) are to be clearly identified as a hazard within 4
hours and repaired as soon as practicable
-
other surface conditions that do not pose an
immediate hazard are to be prioritized based on class of road and extent of
defects (for example 7-14 days on collectors and 14-30 days on residentials).
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Grading
All roads to be graded at least 3 times in
the spring up to the application of dust control. After the application of dust control, spot grading to be
carried out as required.
Dust control
All roads to received dust control each year
in the spring.
|
|
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
A-9
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Kanata
|
Nepean
|
Goulbourn
|
|
Surface repairs for sidewalks, pathways and
bus pads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 105.01)
|
-
conditions that present a safety hazard
(i.e. trip hazards of 3 cm and greater) are to be identified as a hazard
within 8 hours and repaired within 7 days
-
conditions that impair the function but are
not hazards are to be scheduled into planned maintenance and addressed as
practicable
-
all sidewalks, pathways and bus pads are to
be inspected annually in the spring
Recommended Enhancements
If approved as part of the 2004 budget, the
enhancements would result in a defined standard for cycling related hazards
and in additional surface repairs that would provide safer walking and riding
conditions (i.e. filling in more potholes, sealing more longitudinal cracks,
adjusting more catch basin covers, eliminating more trip hazards etc).
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions.
|
|
Grass Cutting (Boulevards and Ditches)
(Maintenance Quality Standard 105.04)
|
Urban boulevards
-
grass cutting every 2 weeks in the spring
and every month for the balance of the year
- topdressing and overseeding
only carried out as spot applications where required
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
|
Rural ditches
Grass cut 1-2 times per year depending on
road class.
|
|
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
A-10
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Kanata
|
Nepean
|
Goulbourn
|
|
Street cleaning
(Maintenance Quality Standards 106.01 and
106.02)
|
Frequency
-
debris that pose an immediate hazard are to
be removed as soon as practicable but within 4 hours
-
spring cleaning of all streets is to be
completed by May 31st
-
frequency of street cleaning after the
completion of the spring cleanup (June-October) will vary depending on road
class and location: every 1-2 weeks on arterial roads with curbs and every 3-8
weeks on collector roads with curbs that serve as bus or designated cycling
routes
|
|
|
|
|
Hours of operation
Can be carried out 24 hours a day 7 days a
week. This only applies where this
practice was carried out prior to amalgamation.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are not carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are not carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
|
Signs and pavement markings
(Maintenance Quality Standards 107.01 and
107.02)
|
Signs
-
regulatory and warning signs that are
illegible, improperly oriented or missing are to be addressed within 3 hours
for safety related signs (i.e. stop, yield, do not enter, etc) to 30 days for
other signs depending on road class and sign type
- guidance, street name and 911 civic number signs that are illegible,
improperly oriented or missing are to be addressed within 30 days
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Pavement markings
Generally line markings will be applied to
most roads yearly. Higher priority
roads will be done twice per year.
Some lower priority roads or markings may only be done every second
year.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Collection of litter containers
(Maintenance
Quality Standard 106.03)
|
Litter containers to be emptied 1-7 times
per week depending on location.
Reduced frequency and number of locations during the winter season.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
A-11
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Ottawa
|
Vanier
|
Rockliffe Park
|
|
Routine road patrol
(Maintenance Quality Standard 102.01)
|
-
Documented routine road patrols required to
comply with legislated requirement.
-
Frequency of patrols range from 4 times per
week to once per month based on road class.
|
Current road patrol limited to arterial roads. This
standard will result in a formalized and documented road patrolling process
for all City roads.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process. This standard
will result in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process. This standard
will result in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
|
Snow and ice control for roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.01)
|
Class 1 – Highway 174 and Transitway
Class 2 - Arterial roads
-
maintained to bare pavement
-
resources deployed as soon as snow
accumulation begins
-
snow to be cleared within 2 hours for Class
1 and 3 hours for class 2 after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Class 1 delivered by the former Region.
Class 2 is comparable to proposed
standard. No change in service level.
|
Service delivered by the former Region.
|
Not applicable.
|
|
Class 3 - Major collector roads
-
maintained to bare pavement
-
resources deployed as soon as snow
accumulation begins
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Class 4 - Minor collector roads
-
maintained to bare pavement on bus routes,
centre-bare on other paved road and snow packed on gravel roads
-
plows deployed after a minimum of 5 cm of
snow accumulation
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to
complete were comparable to proposed standard.
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to
complete were comparable to proposed standard.
|
Paved roads were maintained to a snow packed
surface and this will remain as is to limit salt use.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to
complete were comparable to proposed standard.
|
|
Class 5 - Residential roads and lanes
-
maintained to a snow packed surface
-
plows deployed after a minimum of 7 cm (10
cm for lanes) of snow accumulation
- snow
to be cleared within 10 hours (16 hours for lanes) after the end of snow
accumulation
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Paved roads were maintained to centre-bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Plows were deployed after 5 cm of snow
accumulation.
Time to complete was comparable to proposed
standard.
|
Roads were maintained to a snow packed
surface.
Plows were deployed after 5 cm of snow
accumulation.
Time to complete was well within proposed
standard due to the low inventory to maintain.
|
A-12
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Ottawa
|
Vanier
|
Rockliffe Park
|
|
Snow and ice control for sidewalks, pathways
and bus pads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.02)
|
Class 1 - Downtown core (business and
tourist areas)
-
maintained to a bare surface
- sidewalk plows deployed after 2.5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 4
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
Option identified as a budget pressure to
increase service level to improve accessibility.
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable.
|
|
Class 2 – Major pedestrian links
-
maintained to a bare surface when along an
arterial road and to a snow packed surface for all other locations
- sidewalk plows deployed after 5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 12
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
Option identified as a budget pressure to
increase service level to improve accessibility.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
|
Class 3 – Minor pedestrian links
-
maintained to a snow packed surface for all
other locations
- sidewalk plows deployed after 5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 16
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
|
Snow removal
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.03)
|
Methods
-
Casting onto adjacent boulevard or property
when on-site storage is available
-
Pulling into roadway when road and weather
conditions permit
-
Removal to a disposal site when no other
options are available
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Snow currently hauled to
snow disposal sites. Proposed
standard would see more casting and pulling of snow into the road where conditions
permit to reduce snow to be hauled to disposal sites.
|
Snow removal volumes
relatively low. No change in service level.
|
|
Triggers
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Snow removal volumes
relatively low. No change in service level.
|
|
Hours of operation
Can be carried out
24 hours a day 7 days a week. In
residential areas, this only applies where this practice was carried out
prior to amalgamation.
|
Snow removal operations in residential are
carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Snow removal operations in residential are
carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Snow removal operations in residential are
carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
A-13
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Ottawa
|
Vanier
|
Rockliffe Park
|
|
Surface repairs for paved roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 104.01)
|
General road users
-
surface distortions that pose an immediate
hazard (i.e. sink holes, missing or cracked ironworks, misaligned catch basin
grates) are to be clearly identified as a hazard within 4 hours and repaired
as soon as practicable
-
other surface distortions that do not pose
an immediate hazard (i.e. potholes, ponding, surface discontinuities) are to
be prioritized based on class of road and extent of defects (for example 2-4
days on arterials, 7-30 days on collectors and 7-60 days on residentials.
Recommended Enhancement
If approved as part of the 2004 budget, the
enhancements would result in a defined standard for cycling related hazards
and in additional surface repairs that would provide safer riding conditions
(i.e. filling in more potholes, sealing more longitudinal cracks, adjusting
more catch basin covers, etc).
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
|
Surface repairs for gravel roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 104.02)
|
-
surface distortions that pose an immediate
hazard (i.e. sink holes) are to be clearly identified as a hazard within 4
hours and repaired as soon as practicable
-
other surface conditions that do not pose an
immediate hazard are to be prioritized based on class of road and extent of
defects (for example 7-14 days on collectors and 14-30 days on residentials).
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable.
|
|
Grading
All roads to be graded at least 3 times in
the spring up to the application of dust control. After the application of dust control, spot grading to be
carried out as required.
Dust control
All roads to received dust control each year
in the spring.
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable.
|
A-14
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Ottawa
|
Vanier
|
Rockliffe Park
|
|
Surface repairs for sidewalks, pathways and
bus pads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 105.01)
|
-
conditions that present a safety hazard
(i.e. trip hazards of 3 cm and greater) are to be identified as a hazard
within 8 hours and repaired within 7 days
-
conditions that impair the function but are
not hazards are to be scheduled into planned maintenance and addressed as
practicable
-
all sidewalks, pathways and bus pads are to
be inspected annually in the spring
Recommended Enhancements
If approved as part of the 2004 budget, the
enhancements would result in a defined standard for cycling related hazards
and in additional surface repairs that would provide safer walking and riding
conditions (i.e. filling in more potholes, sealing more longitudinal cracks,
adjusting more catch basin covers, eliminating more trip hazards etc).
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions.
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is relatively
low. No change in service level.
|
|
Grass Cutting (Boulevards and Ditches)
(Maintenance Quality Standard 105.04)
|
Urban boulevards
-
grass cutting every 2 weeks in the spring
and every month for the balance of the year
- topdressing and overseeding
only carried out as spot applications where required
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
|
Rural ditches
Grass cut 1-2 times per year depending on
road class.
|
|
|
|
A-16
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Ottawa
|
Vanier
|
Rockliffe Park
|
|
Street cleaning
(Maintenance Quality Standards 106.01 and
106.02)
|
Frequency
-
debris that pose an immediate hazard are to
be removed as soon as practicable but within 4 hours
-
spring cleaning of all streets is to be
completed by May 31st
-
frequency of street cleaning after the
completion of the spring cleanup (June-October) will vary depending on road
class and location: every 1-2 weeks on arterial roads with curbs and every
3-8 weeks on collector roads with curbs that serve as bus or designated
cycling routes
|
|
|
|
|
Hours of operation
Can be carried out 24 hours a day 7 days a
week. This only applies where this
practice was carried out prior to amalgamation.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
|
Signs and pavement markings
(Maintenance Quality Standards 107.01 and
107.02)
|
Signs
-
regulatory and warning signs that are
illegible, improperly oriented or missing are to be addressed within 3 hours
for safety related signs (i.e. stop, yield, do not enter, etc) to 30 days for
other signs depending on road class and sign type
- guidance, street name and 911 civic number signs that are illegible,
improperly oriented or missing are to be addressed within 30 days
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Pavement markings
Generally line markings will be applied to
most roads yearly. Higher priority
roads will be done twice per year.
Some lower priority roads or markings may only be done every second
year.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Inventory of roads with line markings is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
|
Collection of litter containers
(Maintenance
Quality Standard 106.03)
|
Litter containers to be emptied 1-7 times
per week depending on location.
Reduced frequency and number of locations during the winter season.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Inventory of litter containers maintained by
the City is relatively low. No change
in service level.
|
A-16
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Rideau
|
West Carleton
|
Region of Ottawa-Carleton
|
|
Routine road patrol
(Maintenance Quality Standard 102.01)
|
-
Documented routine road patrols required to
comply with legislated requirement.
-
Frequency of patrols range from 4 times per
week to once per month based on road class.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process. This standard will
result in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process. This standard
will result in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
No formal or documented
road patrol process. This standard will
result in a formalized and documented road patrolling process.
|
|
Snow and ice control for roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.01)
|
Class 1 – Highway 174 and Transitway
Class 2 - Arterial roads
-
maintained to bare pavement
-
resources deployed as soon as snow
accumulation begins
-
snow to be cleared within 2 hours for Class
1 and 3 hours for class 2 after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Service delivered by the former Region.
|
Service delivered by the former Region.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Class 3 - Major collector roads
-
maintained to bare pavement
-
resources deployed as soon as snow
accumulation begins
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Class 4 - Minor collector roads
-
maintained to bare pavement on bus routes,
centre-bare on other paved road and snow packed on gravel roads
-
plows deployed after a minimum of 5 cm of
snow accumulation
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to
complete were comparable to proposed standard.
|
Paved roads were maintained to bare
pavement. Change is a result of
reducing the application of road salt.
Otherwise deployment depth and time to
complete were comparable to proposed standard.
|
Not applicable. Service delivered by former
local municipalities.
|
|
Class 5 - Residential roads and lanes
-
maintained to a snow packed surface
-
plows deployed after a minimum of 7 cm (10
cm for lanes) of snow accumulation
- snow
to be cleared within 10 hours (16 hours for lanes) after the end of snow
accumulation
|
Roads were maintained to a snow packed
surface.
Plows were deployed after 8 cm of snow
accumulation.
Time to complete was comparable to proposed
standard.
|
Roads were maintained to a snow packed
surface.
Plows were deployed after 8 cm of snow
accumulation.
Time to complete was comparable to proposed
standard.
|
Not applicable. Service delivered by former
local municipalities.
|
A-17
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Rideau
|
West Carleton
|
Region of Ottawa-Carleton
|
|
Snow and ice control for sidewalks, pathways
and bus pads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.02)
|
Class 1 - Downtown core (business and
tourist areas)
-
maintained to a bare surface
- sidewalk plows deployed after 2.5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 4
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable.
|
Not applicable. Service delivered by former
local municipalities.
|
|
Class 2 – Major pedestrian links
-
maintained to a bare surface when along an
arterial road and to a snow packed surface for all other locations
- sidewalk plows deployed after 5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 12
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
Not applicable. Service delivered by former
local municipalities.
|
|
Class 3 – Minor pedestrian links
-
maintained to a snow packed surface for all
other locations
- sidewalk plows deployed after 5 cm of snow accumulation
- snow to be cleared within 16
hours after the end of the snow accumulation
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
Not applicable. Service delivered by former
local municipalities.
|
|
Snow removal
(Maintenance Quality Standard 103.03)
|
Methods
-
Casting onto adjacent boulevard or property
when on-site storage is available
-
Pulling into roadway when road and weather
conditions permit
-
Removal to a disposal site when no other
options are available
|
Snow removal volumes
relatively low. No change in service level.
|
Snow removal volumes
relatively low. No change in service level.
|
Snow currently hauled to
snow disposal sites. Proposed
standard would see more casting and pulling of snow into the road where
conditions permit to reduce snow to be hauled to disposal sites.
|
|
Triggers
|
Snow removal volumes
relatively low. No change in service level.
|
Snow removal volumes
relatively low. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Hours of operation
Can be carried out
24 hours a day 7 days a week. In
residential areas, this only applies where this practice was carried out
prior to amalgamation.
|
Snow removal operations in residential areas
are not carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Snow removal operations in residential areas
are not carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
A-18
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Rideau
|
West Carleton
|
Region of Ottawa-Carleton
|
|
Surface repairs for paved roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 104.01)
|
General road users
-
surface distortions that pose an immediate
hazard (i.e. sink holes, missing or cracked ironworks, misaligned catch basin
grates) are to be clearly identified as a hazard within 4 hours and repaired
as soon as practicable
-
other surface distortions that do not pose
an immediate hazard (i.e. potholes, ponding, surface discontinuities) are to
be prioritized based on class of road and extent of defects (for example 2-4
days on arterials, 7-30 days on collectors and 7-60 days on residentials.
Recommended Enhancement
If approved as part of the 2004 budget, the
enhancements would result in a defined standard for cycling related hazards
and in additional surface repairs that would provide safer riding conditions
(i.e. filling in more potholes, sealing more longitudinal cracks, adjusting
more catch basin covers, etc).
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
Comparable to proposed standard.
Enhancement would result in closer attention
to surface distortions along designated
city cycling routes.
|
|
Surface repairs for gravel roads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 104.02)
|
-
surface distortions that pose an immediate
hazard (i.e. sink holes) are to be clearly identified as a hazard within 4
hours and repaired as soon as practicable
-
other surface conditions that do not pose an
immediate hazard are to be prioritized based on class of road and extent of
defects (for example 7-14 days on collectors and 14-30 days on residentials).
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Not applicable.
|
|
Grading
All roads to be graded at least 3 times in
the spring up to the application of dust control. After the application of dust control, spot grading to be
carried out as required.
Dust control
All roads to received dust control each year
in the spring.
|
|
|
Not applicable.
|
A-19
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Rideau
|
West Carleton
|
Region of Ottawa-Carleton
|
|
Surface repairs for sidewalks, pathways and
bus pads
(Maintenance Quality Standard 105.01)
|
-
conditions that present a safety hazard
(i.e. trip hazards of 3 cm and greater) are to be identified as a hazard
within 8 hours and repaired within 7 days
-
conditions that impair the function but are
not hazards are to be scheduled into planned maintenance and addressed as
practicable
-
all sidewalks, pathways and bus pads are to
be inspected annually in the spring
Recommended Enhancements
If approved as part of the 2004 budget, the
enhancements would result in a defined standard for cycling related hazards
and in additional surface repairs that would provide safer walking and riding
conditions (i.e. filling in more potholes, sealing more longitudinal cracks,
adjusting more catch basin covers, eliminating more trip hazards etc).
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
Inventory of sidewalks and pathways is
relatively low. No change in service
level.
|
Not applicable. Service delivered by former
local municipalities.
|
|
Grass Cutting (Boulevards and Ditches)
(Maintenance Quality Standard 105.04)
|
Urban boulevards
-
grass cutting every 2 weeks in the spring
and every month for the balance of the year
- topdressing and overseeding
only carried out as spot applications where required
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
As a result of the
discontinued use of chemical pesticides, Council approved in the 2003
operating budget an increase in the grass cutting frequency during peak
spring growing season.
No change in service level
for the balance of the year.
|
|
Rural ditches
Grass cut 1-2 times per year depending on
road class.
|
|
|
|
A-20
|
Service
|
Proposed Maintenance Standards
|
Rideau
|
West Carleton
|
Region of Ottawa-Carleton
|
|
Street cleaning
(Maintenance Quality Standards 106.01 and
106.02)
|
Frequency
-
debris that pose an immediate hazard are to
be removed as soon as practicable but within 4 hours
-
spring cleaning of all streets is to be
completed by May 31st
-
frequency of street cleaning after the
completion of the spring cleanup (June-October) will vary depending on road
class and location: every 1-2 weeks on arterial roads with curbs and every
3-8 weeks on collector roads with curbs that serve as bus or designated
cycling routes
|
|
|
|
|
Hours of operation
Can be carried out 24 hours a day 7 days a
week. This only applies where this
practice was carried out prior to amalgamation.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are not carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
Street cleaning operations in residential
areas are not carried out at night. No change in service level.
|
|
|
Signs and pavement markings
(Maintenance Quality Standards 107.01 and
107.02)
|
Signs
-
regulatory and warning signs that are
illegible, improperly oriented or missing are to be addressed within 3 hours
for safety related signs (i.e. stop, yield, do not enter, etc) to 30 days for
other signs depending on road class and sign type
- guidance, street name and 911 civic number signs that are illegible,
improperly oriented or missing are to be addressed within 30 days
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Pavement markings
Generally line markings will be applied to
most roads yearly. Higher priority
roads will be done twice per year.
Some lower priority roads or markings may only be done every second
year.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
Comparable to proposed standard. No change in service level.
|
|
Collection of litter containers
(Maintenance Quality Standard 106.03)
|
Litter containers to be emptied 1-7 times
per week depending on location.
Reduced frequency and number of locations during the winter season.
|
Inventory of litter containers maintained by
the City is relatively low. No change
in service level.
|
Inventory of litter containers maintained by
the City is relatively low. No change
in service level.
|
Not applicable. Service delivered by former
local municipalities.
|
A-21
ANNEX C
SUMMARY OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION PROCESS
Background
The City of Ottawa’s Department
of Transportation, Utilities and Public Works (TUPW) has proceeded with a major
study to examine consolidating, rationalizing and harmonizing road, sidewalk,
park an tree maintenance standards. The
objective is to develop service standards that will be applied in a consistent
manner across the new City. These will
need to reflect the City’s urban-suburban-rural distinctions, vibrant downtown
core, climactic conditions and tourism areas while still being affordable.
Standards needed to be developed
with the active participation of all stakeholders (i.e. residents, community
groups, NCC, other City departments, etc.) to establish the appropriate service
levels for the City of Ottawa. Once
service standards are established, they will set the framework for allowing the
department to consider service delivery options that will produce the most
efficient and cost effective operations.
As part of this process, the
department asked citizens to help establish maintenance priorities and to
indicate the degree of satisfaction with current levels of services. In order
to better understand the views and expectations of residents, the City has
undertaken an extensive public consultation program to solicit citizen input
into what these new municipal standards should be for roads, sidewalks, parks
and trees.
The public consultation process
that was approved by Council had a number of distinct components:
·
Two sets of open houses, each with seven meetings;
·
Three focus groups;
·
A telephone survey;
·
Two sets of information sessions with sports field
users; and,
·
Additional City staff meetings with key stakeholders
Consultation Activities
1.
Open Houses
Between November 19 and December 4, 2001 the first set of open houses
were held in or near client service centres across the City to provide
residents with the opportunity to comment on the City of Ottawa’s
harmonization of road, sidewalk, park and tree maintenance. In addition to the
first set of open houses, residents were also encouraged through advertisements
to send e-mails to the City concerning the harmonization of service standards.
Over the seven open houses, 159
residents attended. A total of 46 comment sheets were completed and two groups,
the Rockcliffe Residents Association and the Kanata Lakes Community Association
submitted briefs.
As well as comment sheets,
residents were asked to fill in two questionnaires, one on parks and trees, the
other on roads and sidewalks. 143
completed questionnaires were received. To complete the consultation process,
39 e-mails were received from across the City detailing questions and comments
about service harmonization. Of the 39 e-mails, 32 responses were from
individuals, 6 were from special interest groups and one was from a local
company.
In terms of issues raised in
comment sheets, e-mails and the questionnaires, a number of key considerations
emerged:
·
The use of pesticides and herbicides is an issue for
many residents who wish to see it banned. At the same time however, many users
of sports fields feel that it is a necessary part of field maintenance. As
such, there is not universal support for an outright ban.
·
When asked about key factors influencing road and
sidewalk maintenance, a majority felt that emergency and safety issues were the
most important factor in deciding maintenance levels.
·
When asked about parks and trees, public safety was
again a high factor in deciding maintenance levels.
·
In rural areas, there is considerable concern around
road maintenance and the need for improvement especially when it comes to
surfacing and potholes. Also apparent in the rural areas is the desire to
continue the volunteerism surrounding the maintenance of sports fields and
parks through community associations.
Between June 3 and June 13, 2002 the second set of open houses were held
in or near client service centres across the City. At each open house,
information panels outlined the feedback from the first phase of the
public consultation process and some of the best practices found in other
cities as they relate to the summer and winter road, sidewalk, park and tree
maintenance. At the Kinburn Open House and the Ottawa City Hall Open House,
staff outlined the consultation process and service level options.
During the second series of open
houses, 61 residents attended at the seven different locations. A total of 16
comment sheets were completed.
In terms of issues raised during
the second series of open houses, a number of common views did emerge. However,
given the low number of completed comment sheets, these views should not be
seen as indicative of the community at large but rather a small sampling of
those who attended the open houses.
·
Some residents support limited use of pesticides and
herbicides (spot treatment). The alternative such as turf replacement is seen
as too expensive.
·
Some residents feel that pesticides and herbicides
protect trees and help hay fever sufferers.
·
Some residents feel graffiti needs to be cleaned up
quicker using Louis Martin’s Clean Start.
·
Some residents feel the City should reduce the amount
of salt on roads, especially on residential streets.
·
Potholes are still a concern for many residents.
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2.
Sports
Field Users Meetings
In addition to the open houses,
two separate meetings were organized with sports field users to obtain direct
feedback on service standards from these key stakeholders. These meetings were
not advertised to the public and groups were invited by direct mail from the
City. In many cases, e-mails were also sent to ensure that sports field users
attended at least one meeting of the series.
Between February
25 and March 4, 2002 a series of four meetings with sports field users were
organized to review draft findings and recommendations.
32 individuals attended the
meetings representing a variety of local sports associations. Given the small
number of attendees at each meeting, a more informal approach was used allowing
for a freer exchange of ideas and comments.
Although the sessions were
organized to discuss maintenance standards, many of the comments received
related to allocation of fields. In summary, the following issues and comments
were common to most meetings:
·
If we pay user fees, fields should be maintained even
after the end of the school year
·
Volunteers willing to fix, but unsure of City stand
·
If we need topsoil/gravel, City accommodates
·
Conscious of
“down time” required before special events - Tournaments
·
Excellent partnership with City Staff – ongoing
dialogue
·
Cutting grass once/week is not enough at times –
baseball grass must be a certain length
·
Trimming once/month – it is not enough
·
Trim cuttings must be cleared more often
·
Maintenance level is horrendous
·
Maintenance is School Board responsibility – some use
contractors - some hire the city to cut the grass, but not maintain as such
·
Some school fields in Nepean were redone for school use
only
·
Need to protect school fields and parks
·
Soccer: Big
user cost – little grass. When there’s
no grass, lines need to be repainted; looking for injuries to happen as cleats
don’t have anything to hold on to, therefore, slips and falls
·
Aerate 5 times/year would not help, especially during
heat. Late Spring & early Fall
sufficient
·
Turf is a crop – needs water and seeding
·
2.5 hours/night during the week is reasonable
·
6 times/week – 1 night no usage
The second set of meetings
with sports field users took place between February 1 and February 5, 2003 and was
organized at four different locations across the City. These meetings were organized and
the invitations sent out by People Services at the City of Ottawa. To avoid the
need for additional meetings, the People Services Department provided time at
the end of each open house for a presentation on park classifications.
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Questions and answers followed a brief presentation
at each session. An “As it was Said” report was prepared after each meeting.
In general, sports field users expressed views as
follows:
·
Line
marking must be done every week
·
“Infield gilling” should be done once/day to keep the
field in shape
·
Schools should not be allowed to use City facilities
for practices in order to keep their own fields in good shape
·
Volunteerism should continue in maintaining sports
fields
·
Changes in user fees should be announced early enough
to allow associations to adjust fees to sports groups during their budget
planning exercise
·
Must enforce rest periods for fields
·
City should still consider work share proposals for
such things as bleachers
·
Irrigation is important but consultation is necessary
prior to deciding on what method to use across the City
·
User fees should be directly related to the
classification of fields
3.
Telephone Survey
The telephone survey consisted of
telephone interviews conducted in either English or French with a
representative sample of 1,011 City of Ottawa residents (18 years and older),
between December 11 and 30, 2001 (excluding holidays). The purpose of the
survey was to gauge citizens’ opinions about the level of service provided in
the areas of surface maintenance operations (e.g. snow clearing, park
maintenance), in terms of their current level of satisfaction and their
expectations for what should be provided under the new City.
Importance
of Maintenance Services
Surface
operation maintenance services, such as snow plowing, green space management
and road maintenance are not of particular interest to City residents, except
when something goes wrong or there is a problem affecting them directly. Yet the survey results show that citizens
place a considerable degree of priority on these types of services,
particularly when they have a potential impact on mobility and/or safety. In rating 16 distinct types of services,
residents place the greatest priority on snowplowing of major roads and
streets, the removal of snow in residential areas, the repair of potholes and
maintaining street lighting.
Also considered
important but less critical in relative terms are services that involve the care
and management of green spaces (parks, trees, natural areas, roadway strips)
and aesthetic clean-up (litter collection, street sweeping and graffiti
removal).
The results show clearly that the City (and former
municipalities) have been largely successful in meeting the expectations of
most residents in providing the types of maintenance services covered in this
survey. Overall, almost nine in ten are
generally, if
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not very, satisfied with the overall level of service provided, and similarly
strong ratings are given to most specific types of service as well. The City receives the strongest marks for the
job being done in snowplowing major roads, as well as for the care and
management of green spaces, street sweeping, litter collection and the
maintenance of sidewalks.
Satisfaction
levels are somewhat lower in the areas of snowplowing and snow removal in
residential areas, and the removal of graffiti on City property. These services (excepting the last) are of
particular importance to most residents, and therefore are among those likely
to be sources of dissatisfaction and complaint.
The area of
service in which there is the largest gap between expectations and performance
is in the repair of potholes in roads and streets. Little more than half of City
residents are satisfied with the quality of road surfaces in this respect, and
it appears to be a particular source of concern in the outlying western areas
of the City. Notably, the repair of
potholes is the area of service improvement most likely to be identified by
residents throughout the municipality (mentioned by one in four).
Decima Research Inc.
Amalgamation and Future Service Delivery
While residents
are hopeful about the benefits of amalgamation in terms of improved
efficiencies, lower taxes and possibly better services, there is also a
generalized concern about negative consequences as well. About half of those surveyed expect
amalgamation will in some way affect maintenance service levels, and this group
is twice as likely to anticipate that the change will be for the worse than for
the better.
C-5
Change in service levels has not yet become a noticeable public concern,
but could well become one depending on the types of changes identified or
proposed by the City. While residents
are largely satisfied with what they are now receiving, they are looking for
improvements rather than reductions in service levels, and will likely resist
whatever might be seen as cutbacks in areas that really matter to them. At the same time, the public also shows a
willingness to take greater direct responsibility in helping to maintain their
neighbourhoods. Three in four support
the type of City-funded programs that get residents actively involved in
helping to look after such areas as litter clean-up, graffiti removal and
maintaining flowerbeds.
Pesticide-Free Management of Parks and Sports Fields
The survey reveals strong public support for the City’s policy of
managing sports fields and green spaces without the use of chemical pesticides
and herbicides. This endorsement is
evident across the population, and includes users as well as non-users of these
types of outdoor public spaces.
4. Focus
Groups
Three focus groups tests were
held in Ottawa on December 5th and 6th, 2001. The
December 5th meeting was conducted in French while the two other
focus groups on December 6th were carried out in English. In the
three focus groups, 21 residents took part. The overall objective of the focus
groups was to allow City staff and researchers to hear from citizens their
expectations about amalgamation and its impact, if any, on surface operations
and maintenance standards.
The focus groups indicated that
in the short term, participants hoped to realize greater efficiencies through
amalgamation resulting in better services or lower taxes, or both. In the long
term, participants hoped that the amalgamation would result in a more strategic
approach to governance resulting in the realization of more infrastructure
projects.
The focus group results indicated
that residents are cautiously optimistic about their City. The key concerns
raised during the focus groups included:
·
The loss of a certain small-town charm and flavour;
·
The loss of some historical connections;
·
A fear that services can become less responsive as
decision-making becomes more remote from the citizenry particularly rural
residents; and,
·
A fear of increased bureaucracy and government.
Overall, the focus groups also
identified key values concerning maintenance operations, these included:
·
Security and safety issues; and,
·
Mobility and access of people (on foot or in cars)
C-6
Additional City Meetings
On two separate occasions, the City
of Ottawa circulated offers to make presentations to the following committees
in order to seek input into the harmonization process:
·
Ottawa Forest Advisory Committee
·
Cycling Advisory Committee
·
Mobility Issues Advisory Committee
·
Agriculture and Rural Affairs Advisory Committee
·
Accessibility Advisory Committee
·
Environmental Advisory Committee
·
Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee
The following is a summary of the committees where
presentations were made by City of Ottawa staff:
November 15, 2001—Mobility
Issues Advisory Committee
·
Made presentation to Committee and
provided all members with copies of the information presented at the first
round of Open Houses.
·
One resident made a presentation on
the need to improve sidewalk maintenance, especially for elderly people; the
resident provided strong support for the City's "yellow sand box program.”
·
Committee was informed on ways of
providing input into the harmonization process.
January 15,
2002—Cycling Advisory Committee (Maintenance Sub-committee)
·
Made presentation to Committee and
provided all members with copies of the information presented at the first
round of Open Houses.
·
Committee was informed on ways of
providing input into the harmonization process.
January 28, 2002—Ottawa
Forest Advisory Committee
·
Made presentation to Committee and
provided all members with copies of the information presented at the first
round of Open Houses.
·
Committee was informed on ways of
providing input into the harmonization process.
C-7
February 26,
2002—Agriculture and Rural Affairs Advisory Committee
·
Made presentation to Committee and
provided all members with copies of the information presented at the first
round of Open Houses.
·
Committee was informed on ways of
providing input into the harmonization process.
August 19,
2002—Cycling Advisory Committee (Maintenance Sub-committee)
·
Made presentation to Committee based
on information presented at the second round of Open Houses.
·
Committee was informed on ways of
providing input into the harmonization process.
·
The Maintenance Sub-Committee provided
a copy of a working document on their input and indicated that they would be
providing comments formally through a report to be submitted to the
Transportation and Transit Committee.
September 16, 2002—Ottawa
Forest Advisory Committee
·
Made presentation to Committee based
on information presented at the second round of Open Houses.
·
Committee was informed on ways of
providing input into the harmonization process.
September 19,
2002—Mobility Issues Advisory Committee
·
Made presentation to Committee based
on information presented at the second round of Open Houses.
·
Committee was informed on ways of
providing input into the harmonization process.
September 24,
2002—Agriculture and Rural Affairs Advisory Committee
·
Made presentation to Committee based
on information presented at the second round of Open Houses.
·
Committee was informed on ways of
providing input into the harmonization process.
March 17, 2003—Cycling
Advisory Committee
·
Made presentation to Committee and provided
all members with copies of draft road maintenance standards and draft response
to the Cycling Advisory Committee report that was presented at the 05 February
2003 Transportation and Transit Committee meeting.
·
The response from the committee on the
information presented was positive.
April 22, 2003—Parks
and Recreation Advisory Committee
·
Made presentation to Committee with a
review of the consultation process, draft classification systems for parks and
sports fields and the proposed maintenance standards.
C-8
·
A draft copy of the consolidated maintenance standards was
provided to some members of the committee prior to the meeting
·
The response from the committee on the
information presented was positive.
·
The committee provided draft comments
on the maintenance standards at the meeting.
Conclusions
In reviewing
the feedback from the open houses, sports field sessions, the qualitative and
quantitative research carried out in the focus groups and telephone survey, a
number of key factors concerning service harmonization are apparent.
Firstly, all
four elements of the consultation program point to a largely satisfied
population when asked about road, sidewalk, park and tree maintenance. There
are some exceptions that were apparent in all four components of the process
and these included surface operations, specifically the repair of potholes.
Secondly, in
all four elements of the consultation process, safety and security concerns
rated as very high factors when reviewing road, sidewalk, park and tree maintenance.
Thirdly,
while the telephone survey showed strong support for the banning of pesticides,
the feedback from open houses indicated that while a majority of residents
supported this ban, some sports field users did not and others supported it only
as long as it had no public health impacts.
Finally, in
terms of classification of sports fields, many users demanded that enforcement
be used to ensure that sports fields are not allowed to degrade as a result of
improper use. This is especially true of fields that are located close to
schools.
C-9
ANNEX D
Summary of
Peer Comparison with External Municipalities
Roads, Sidewalks and Pathways
Information was received from the
following municipalities: Gatineau, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, Quebec City,
Montreal, Region of Niagara, Region of Peel, Region of York, Hamilton,
Waterloo, Haldimand-Norfolk, Washington DC, Helsinki, Gothenburg, Oslo, Norway,
Denmark, San Diego and Portland. These
were selected based on similarities with Ottawa. Some represented cities which housed a seat of Government, other
because of their reputation for high standards of service delivery and other
because they share a northern climate like Ottawa.
Not all Road authorities have
Quality Standards. Many just operate on
loosely defined operating instructions.
It was found that it is typical for a road classification to be carried
out so that different types of roads can have different levels of service. It is most common for roads to be
classified only by speed and volume (Ottawa has used speed, volume and
function).
It was observed that the majority
of the standards were developed in a prescriptive style: they describe how to
do the work. However, the
municipalities consulted recognized that ‘outcome-based’ standards were a
better method of developing standards, especially from the viewpoint of the
users. This is also consistent with the
newly adopted provincial Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways.
Cycling
Ottawa’s sensitivity to cycling
issues is somewhat unique for a northern city and is more reflective of those
in the American Sun Belt like San Diego or San Francisco. Few Canadian municipalities have established
standards with bicycle commuting in mind.
Hamilton is actively pursuing a network of bicycle paths/lanes but none
of the cyclist issues have made it into Hamilton’s maintenance standards.
Sidewalk Snow Clearing
Winter Maintenance on sidewalks
is uncommon as well. Western Canadian
cities provide some sidewalk/pathway maintenance but only in high pedestrian
areas such as the downtown core, bus stops and seniors areas. The European road authorities provide a
higher level of service. Ottawa’s
standards are more in line with Stockholm and Helsinki (both capital
cities). Gothenburg has higher standard
than Ottawa with no minimum accumulation before deploying resources. Oslo has a higher standard for most of the
city, but in the downtown core the homeowners clear the walks because of their
non-standard dimensions and restricted widths.
Ottawa’s proposed
standard is based on snow accumulation for each sidewalk class, and maximum
duration time allowed clearing the snow.
The Standard is reasonable consistent with Montreal and Toronto. Toronto has recently harmonized its service
delivery to include all sidewalks and pathways. Hamilton does only a fraction of the sidewalk inventory and have
D-1
a by-law requiring homeowners who
front the sidewalks to do the clearing within 48 hours of a snow fall. Although not surveyed, there are other
Ontario and Canadian cities that have adopted similar by-laws.
Snow Removal
Those municipalities with older
Downtown residential areas like Hamilton and Toronto had similar snow removal
standards because of the on street parking and narrow right-of-ways. Much of their work has to be carried out at
night to avoid traffic conflicts even though the operations are noisy and
generate complaints.
The standard proposed for Ottawa
is based on the hazard of snow accumulation on the traveled portion of the road
and is defined by road classification, lateral encroachment, height of windrow
and maximum duration. Most other North
American cities have standards based only on height of windrow and road class. Montreal, Toronto, Niagara Region, Calgary,
Washington DC, and St John’s have a snow removal program.
Of the European Road authorities
only Norway has a removal standard.
Helsinki does it only where needed.
This is reflected in the fact that their average winter temperature is
much warmer than Ottawa’s and the snow banks are less of a problem because they
remain soft.
Snow Clearing Low Volume
Residential
The residential or low volume
roads in many other jurisdictions are given lower service levels. For example
Edmonton and Calgary only plow residential streets when sections become
impassable. Winnipeg does residential
streets 36 hours after the end of a storm.
Toronto is in the 24-36 hour range depending on the nature of the storm. Helsinki will do them up to 3 days after the
storm.
Potholes
The proposed standard for
potholes in the City is consistent with Haldiman/Norfolk, Region of Waterloo,
and Region of Hamilton-Wentworth.
Little information was provided for the European cities as many do not
have defined standards.
Street Sweeping
In the Region of Niagara the
central business district areas are done 3 times per week. All other roads are done once a month. Calgary has no stated standard other than to
operate at night. Montreal has no
stated standards. Washington DC does
the residential streets in the core area once per week. Tucson does the arterials and collectors
once a month or as needed and local residential streets are done 4 times per
year. The Europeans did not provide
any data for sweeping.
D-2
Parks, Sports Fields,
Boulevards and Trees
The cities consulted were
Halifax, London, Thunder Bay, Waterloo, Winnipeg, Quebec City, National Capital
Commission and Washington D.C. They
were chosen because they best reflected certain aspects of Ottawa; either they
were similar in size, climate or national significance. The survey took place in the fall of 2001.
While the survey was designed to
expose maintenance practices and regimes, it revealed the fact that most of the
cities surveyed had not yet developed written guidelines or service
levels. Halifax was the exception and
has developed a combination of performance standards and service levels for
grass cutting and landscape maintenance.
Furthermore, Halifax has developed service levels and maintenance activities
for the upkeep of its baseball diamonds and sports fields, where maintenance
regimes are based on levels of play.
The City of Kitchener was in the process of producing such a document,
while in other instances service levels existed, but were simply not formalized
in a written document. Landscape maintenance standards for rights-of-way have
been developed for four of the six Canadian cities surveyed.
Park and Sports Field Maintenance
All cities surveyed fertilized
and aerated turf grass, however, rates and programming varied. Winnipeg aerated
on a site-specific basis and Thunder Bay aerated once per season. Quebec City and London limited aeration to
sports fields only. Kitchener aerated
sports fields and high use parks twice per year and lower use parks once per
year. Some cities limited fertilization
to only sports fields (Quebec City and London) while others fertilized both. In
London, fertilizer application varied and was site-specific, depending on the
manager’s determination of need. Regional
parks received fertilization once per season in Kitchener, and primary sports
fields are fertilized fours times per season and secondary fields twice per
year. In Halifax, sports fields and
baseball diamonds were classified into categories. Each category then receives service levels specific to that
designation. For sports fields, those
in category A are fertilized three times per year based on soil testing, and
those in category D are fertilized once per year.
Mowing frequencies varied
considerably from city to city. London
and Winnipeg indicated that they mow every two weeks in parks, with London also
using an outcome base criteria of 6 cm.
Kitchener and Thunder Bay stated that they mow on either a weekly or
monthly basis depending on the location and Quebec specified that they mow lawns
in parks weekly. As mentioned, Halifax
has designed performance standards for its parks and open spaces. Turf areas are designated into categories
that receive either low, medium or high maintenance regimes. For example, formal parks are designated as
having a high maintenance regime, which among other things, implies that grass
is cut at a frequency that maintains it at a height between 6-7.5 cm. ‘Medium’ designates that grass is cut at a
frequency that maintains turf to a height between 6-10 cm. This includes informal parks, playgrounds,
cemeteries, boulevard islands and beach parks.
Finally, greenbelts and walkways are designated as having a ‘low’
maintenance standard. Grass in these
areas is trimmed once it reaches a maximum of 13 cm.
All cities surveyed have special
summer maintenance programs in which sports fields received more attention, or
have their own programs (London and Halifax).
Kitchener and Quebec City
D-3
irrigate sports fields, baseball diamonds and high profile parks. London irrigates
sports fields and baseball diamonds.
Winnipeg and Thunder Bay do not irrigate parks or sports fields. Halifax irrigates sports fields based on
their classification and as budgets permit.
Tree, Shrub and Flower Bed Maintenance
Maintenance of annuals occurred
on a weekly basis in Winnipeg and Kitchener and across all cities shrub beds
received treatment once per year.
Kitchener noted that high maintenance shrub beds and perennial beds
received attention monthly, while low-maintenance shrub beds and naturalized
areas were maintained on an annual basis.
All cities had programs in place to implement life-cycle replacements of
trees. Quebec, Winnipeg, Kitchener and
Thunder Bay replaced trees on a yearly basis, while London had a limit of
replacing 650 trees each year (currently back logged). As part of their
grass-cutting contracts, the City of Halifax has developed service levels and
maintenance activities for annual and shrub bed maintenance.
Pruning of plant material was
specific to each city. London, Thunder
Bay and Winnipeg indicated that they prune each year, while Kitchener and
Quebec offered more detailed information as to their pruning practices. Kitchener pruned high-maintenance shrub beds
annually to every three years and street trees, in their active growing stages,
every four years. Similarly Quebec City
pruned trees less than 13 cm in diameter once a year, and larger trees every
seven years.
Graffiti
The cities in the survey had
various ways of dealing with graffiti.
Winnipeg operates city-wide anti-graffiti patrol and Kitchener has a
graffiti reporting hotline and removals programs. Other cities simply power washed or painted over graffiti once it
had been reported.
Play Structures
Inspections of play structures
varied from city to city. London
operates 110 structures that were visited weekly in the summer and monthly in
the winter. Kitchener had monthly
inspections, Thunder Bay inspected every three to four weeks, and Winnipeg
estimated that it inspects play structures every two weeks. Halifax has
recently completed a comprehensive inventory of compliance conditions and
inspects play structures at least every two weeks.
D-4
ANNEX E
Staff Response to the CYCLING ADVISORY
COMMITTEE SUBMISSIONS
on the City’s Road Maintenance Standards
05 February 2003 Report of the
Cycling Advisory Committee
The report of the Cycling
Advisory Committee made six recommendations and these are being addressed as
follows:
1. That OCAC send the attached interim response, including
appendices, to City staff involved in the road/pathway maintenance standards
review.
Staff
Response
Staff
acknowledge receipt of the Cycling Advisory Committee report.
2. That OCAC endorse the attached list of road and path maintenance
hazards as its policy on the effects of these hazards on cyclists and
appropriate city response to them.
Staff
Response
Details below
are in response to the OCAC defined list of hazards. The numbers in brackets refer to the hazard number identified in
the Cycling Advisory Committee report.
The level of service indicated is an overview of the proposed standards
and reference should be made to Annex C for the detailed standards.
-
Potholes (1), cracks (2) and pavement edge cracks (3) that
pose an immediate hazard will be secured (i.e. area clearly marked as a hazard)
within 24 hours and repaired within 30 days.
-
Uneven pavement (4) will be scheduled into planned maintenance
and will be prioritized according to severity.
-
Grates/ironworks (5) that are misaligned in the direction of
travel will be addressed within 4 hours.
Grates that have heaved will be clearly marked within 24 hours if they
pose an immediate hazard, and the repairs scheduled into planned maintenance
and prioritized according to severity.
-
Road debris (6) and construction and agricultural debris (7)
that pose an immediate hazard will be cleared as soon as practicable but within
4 hours after becoming aware of the condition.
During Spring cleanup, the lapse of time between the cleaning of the
sidewalks/boulevards and the cleaning of the road will not exceed 48 hours.
Debris
related to construction sites will be referred to the appropriate individuals
for action.
-
Drainage (8) related repairs will be scheduled into planned
maintenance and will be prioritized according to severity.
-
Snow pulling (9) will be carried out if it can reasonably be
expected that the snow will be melted by 4 p.m. on the same day.
-
Failed pavement on roads (10) will be addressed as part of the
capital program for road resurfacing and reconstruction.
-
Pavement markings and stencils (11) will generally be done
once per year on most roads.
E-1
-
Signage (12) will be addressed according to the sign
type. Critical regulatory and warning
signs (i.e. stops, yields, do not enter, etc) will receive a higher priority (3
hours) than guidance and directional signs (30 days).
-
The quality of crack-filling strips (13) will be considered
through the preparation of the contract specifications.
-
Snow piled in bike lanes (14) will be pushed back as much as
practicable. The need for more frequent
snow removal would result in an increase in cost and more information is
required to quantify this cost.
-
Vegetation (15) where conditions create sightline problems
will be addressed within 24 hours or as soon as practicable depending on the
extent of work required.
-
Winter conditions (16) will be addressed as noted in 4 below.
3. That OCAC endorse the attached list of road construction hazards
as its policy on the effects of these hazards on cyclists and appropriate city
response to them.
Staff
Response
Since
these construction related hazards are beyond the scope of this undertaking,
the concerns have been forwarded to the appropriate individuals (Infrastructure
Services-Construction Services Division and Surface Operations-Contract
Management Division) for consideration.
4. That OCAC endorse the attached list of priority locations for
winter maintenance for cyclists.
Staff
Response
The Department
is in the process of reviewing its policy on the winter maintenance of
pathways. This policy should be
presented later this year. This request
will be addressed once this policy is completed.
5. That OCAC give a mandate to its Maintenance subcommittee to
prepare a response, based upon this report, to the final report of the City
road/path maintenance standards review, and send that response to staff and to
Transportation and Transit Committee with final prior consultation with OCAC
via e-mail or at a monthly meeting as time permits prior to transmittal.
Staff
Response
Staff provided
the Cycling Advisory Committee with a copy of this report prior to the
Transportation and Transit Committee meeting.
6. That OCAC recommend the City establish a citizen-based “Cycling
Crack Catchers” road hazard reporting program.
Staff
Response
This
recommendation was referred to staff at the 05 February 2003 Transportation and
Transit Committee meeting. As noted
previously, the provincial minimum
maintenance standards include a requirement for routine patrolling of municipal
roads. The objective of routine road
patrolling is to monitor and report conditions that could pose a
hazard to the users. The road hazards
reporting program being proposed by the Cycling Advisory Committee could
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supplement the City's routine road patrolling efforts. After the proposed maintenance quality
standards have been approved by Council, staff would continue to work with the
Cycling Advisory Committee to clarify expectations, how this program would be
implemented and how the communications would occur between members of this
program and the City.
31 MARCH 2003 Report of the Cycling
Advisory Committee
This report was provided by the
Cycling Advisory Committee in response to a presentation made by staff on 16
April 2003 on the proposed maintenance quality standards. The Committee made 5 recommendations and
these are being addressed as follows:
1. That an interim report be prepared in two years to measure how
well these standards have worked and have been implemented.
Staff
Response
The proposed
maintenance standards include a fairly significant shift to define measurable
outcomes. As a result, it is
anticipated that it will take at least 3 years to put monitoring and reporting
systems in place to be able to fully analyze the standards. It is therefore suggested that a status
report be provided after a 3-year period in order to provide sufficient time to
implement all the elements required to support the standards. In addition, if approved by Council, the
recommended enhanced service levels are to be implemented over a 5-year
period. As such, the full impact of
these enhancements will not be apparent until the end of the 5-year period.
2. That a monitoring plan, including measurable objectives, be
included in the final report on these standards, in order to properly determine
how well these standards are working and where they might need improvement.
Staff
Response
As identified
in 1. above, the proposed standards are based on defining measurable
outcomes. Based on input received by
the Cycling Advisory Committee, the standards have been revised to define
conditions that related more directly with cycling concerns. Given the significant shift from previous
standards, the cost implications of providing an enhanced level of service for
spot road surface repairs along designated cycling routes has been identified
in Recommendation No. 2 of the staff report.
Details of the enhanced service levels are covered in 5 below.
3. That staff be able to analyze all maintenance-related complaints
from citizens in order to determine trends in complaints, response times (both
for marking and final repair) and budget needs for maintenance for subsequent
years.
Staff
Response
The direct
input by citizens is and will continue to be an indicator of the publics
satisfaction with the level of service.
Staff continue to work closely with the Call-Center on tracking of
requests for service and the input received through this process is used to
assessed the effectiveness of the standards.
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4. That a prioritized list of roads with failed pavement be made
visible to the general public, with designated cycling routes being the
priority.
Staff
Response
On an annual
basis, the department, through a needs assessment carried out by the
Infrastructure Services Branch, produces a priority list of roads to be
upgraded. This list is circulated for
comments prior to being considered as part of the budget process. This recommendation has been forwarded to
this Branch for further consideration.
5. Endorse the additional recommendations contained in this report,
in particular those in the Priority Recommendations section, and direct staff
to consider these changes in their final report to Council.
Staff
Response
Details below
are in response to the OCAC defined list of cycling related hazards. The level of service indicated is an
overview of the proposed standards and reference should be made to Annex B for
the detailed standards.
Subject to
approval of the service level enhancements for road surface repairs, the
following standards would be implemented and monitor throughout the 5-year
phase-in period when located along designated city cycling routes. These will be assessed as to their
effectiveness and further recommendation may be made as part of the development
of the City’s new Cycling Plan.
Priority
Recommendations
-
longitudinal cracks of 2.5 cm and greater will be repaired;
repairs may be temporary until more permanent repairs can be undertaken
-
vertical discontinuities of 2 cm will be repaired
-
potholes larger than 10 cm will be repaired
-
paved shoulders will be maintained to same standard only when
it is part of a designated City cycling route
-
immediate road hazards will be marked within 4 hours and
repairs completed within 7 days with priority given to intersections and hills
– as such these cycling related hazards are independent of road class; repairs
may be temporary until more permanent repairs can be undertaken
Other
Recommendations
-
snow removal encroachments refer to maximum conditions when
snow removal is to be undertaken; where on-site snow storage is available, the
intent is to minimize any encroachment onto the travel portion of the roadway
-
the maintenance of bollards has been added to the
sidewalk/pathway standard
-
in recognition of operational conditions, the lapse of time
between to spring cleanup of sidewalks and boulevards and the road cleaning was
maintained at a maximum of 48 hours; this will continue to be monitored
-
other recommendations, such as the winter maintenance of
contra-flow lanes, condition of bike racks, etc, are to be addressed as part of
the development of the new Cycling Plan as the implications need to be assessed
in more detail
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