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More than a year ago I wrote about the public backlash over City plans to install a roundabout at Mt. Edward Rd and Allen St. I expressed some concerns, but was generally confident all would work out well in the end. Public angst is common in other jurisdictions where roundabouts are a new concept but generally they are well accepted, even loved, once they are installed. That seems to be the experience here too. Now that we’ve got two roundabouts officially open — and soon two more — I’ve heard nothing but good things from residents about the roundabouts; about their ease of use, traffic flow, and their aesthetic beauty. I’ve even heard through the grapevine that those business owners who were so vehemently opposed in the beginning have become the roundabouts’ biggest fans.

We have a problem with crosstown traffic in Charlottetown, particularly in the busy commercial north end of the city. If I’m traveling out North River Road, once I pass Belvedere Avenue my eastbound options are limited. Since you can’t access the bypass from Lower Malpeque, it is a full 3.5 km from Belevedere to the next east-west corridor (Sherwood Rd.) that will take you all the way to Mt. Edward Rd. The only other option is to crawl through the parking lots of Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire on Buchanan Drive, through the Charlottetown Mall, and out the private road on the east side of the mall.  The owners of this private road  actually exert their rights to the property by closing the road one day a year to ensure it does not get taken into the public domain. Public access to this road could disappear at any time and then where would we be?

The City spent a considerable amount of money upgrading the Peter Pan intersection a few years ago but it is still essentially a 3-way intersection, with Spencer Drive being under-used, mainly as a secondary entrance to to the mall or the Superstore. And again, you still need to weave your way through the busy mall/cinema parking lot to get to Mt. Edward from Spencer.

With the anticipation of development on the adjacent land north of Spencer  Drive, I believe it is time for the City to start making plans to extend this road to the east, directly out to Mt. Edward Rd. It would vastly improve the flow of crosstown traffic, service future development, and improve the safety in the parking lots that are currently misused as a means of getting from one side of town to the other. I think it’s good long term infrastructure planning and also solves a number of immediate issues.

I’ve discussed this with residents from every corner of the city, with several other councillors, and city planning staff. I was surprised by the level of agreement on the issue.  A number of people have also written letters to the editor recently about this issue. See here, here, and here (there was another by Bruce Garrity, but I can’t seem to find it).

There have been two serious vehicle-student collisions at the intersection of Queen St. and Pond St. in the three years I’ve been on council; one in early 2007, and one last week involving two boys. Early in my term I worked with the principal of Queen Charlotte Intermediate School to make improvements to the crosswalk in front of the school on North River Road. That crosswalk, unlike some others, has a crossing guard during the lunch hour to ensure safety of students crossing to the west side of North River (students going home for lunch). I believe it’s only fair that the large number of students going east for lunch, either at home or at one of the restaurants on University Ave., should be given the same safety consideration when crossing Queen Street. So, I will be seeking the agreement of the police committee at our next meeting to post a crossing guard during the school lunch hour at the Queen and Pond intersection. This has the support of principals and Home & School Associations of schools in the area, and they are committed to directing students to cross Queen St. only at the guarded intersection.

Some have suggested this intersection should be signalized or turned into a four-way stop. Public Works and the police have analyzed the traffic volumes at this intersection more than once and have determined that it does not meet the requirements under the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Canada. There may be problems with sight lines due to a house on one corner, but that is an issue that should be dealt with separately to any consideration of traffic control measures. In fact, I often hear from people that want us to remove stop signs in locations where they are felt to be unnecessary. And have to agree — we do seem to have quite a lot of them.

There is no moratorium. I was asked to consider the idea, and I agreed to take it to my committee, but that is a routine courtesy that I extend to any councillor, not a commitment to impose a moratorium. I personally don’t think it’s necessary.

We will certainly be careful to scrutinize any future requests so we have some confidence that a drive-thru can accommodate the expected volume of traffic, but I would also remind the public not to line up in a public right-of-way. I will ask the Chief of Police to enforce this if necessary.

This isn’t a new problem, and to my knowledge there’s never been a serious incident as a result. However, I do recognize the concerns, and I want to deal with them. There is no question the line ups are creating a traffic impediment, but we can’t collectively punish every business that has, or wants, a drive-thru because of the popularity of a handful of Tim Horton’s.

I will be meeting with the Police & Bylaw Enforcement Committee later this month for the first time since becoming chair. We will decide on a course of action then. I still think a cooperative approach will result in the best overall solution.

I was just advised that over 800 UPEI students voted yesterday and two thirds were in favor of a Charlottetown Transit U-Pass being included in their tuition. Students rightly should be concerned about any increase in the tuition they pay, and certainly not all of them will use the service they are paying for, but the passes are being sold at a massive discount ($7.50 per month, as opposed to the regular $50 monthly rate for students).

This will help make the transit service more economically sustainable, and students without cars will also have a much wider range of apartment options, which is nice if you don’t want to live in residence or the rowdy student ghetto at Brown’s Court.

A couple of things I noticed while biking around downtown Charlottetown with my boys this evening. First, the Pownal Parkade is undergoing a small but important facelift. This parking garage is notoriously dark and dingy, and that is reflected in its generally poor occupancy. But CADC is  using lots of white paint and brighter lights to create a more inviting atmosphere. I think the results are good.

A brighter, cleaner Pownal Parkade

Secondly, I was sad to see that Burke’s Gas Bar, operating from the old Irving station at Queen and Euston, has apparently closed shop. This has been for years my usual place to fill up. The pumps are gone and a sign directs customers to other Irving stations around town. I’ve heard this old building variously described around City Hall as a “disgrace”, and as an important heritage building. In fact, I believe it is a designated heritage resource.

Gas pumps gone.

It was years of headlines like this, that resulted in a headline like this.

The recently released Downtown Charlottetown Parking Strategy makes several mentions of supporting alternate modes of transportation to help manage the demand for parking in the core. Today the city announced a special offer to all city staff — permanent, seasonal, and casual — to rebate 50% of the cost of a monthly transit pass. This is a pilot project running until September 30th. The intent is to provide leadership to other organizations, and we are hopeful that more employers will follow the City’s lead.

A couple of weeks ago a consultant from Hatch Mott MacDonald presented the final report of the parking strategy that was commissioned by the City last year. The report was stamped CONFIDENTIAL at the time. At a Committee of the Whole Council meeting last night I asked that the report be made public. It was agreed that the Mayor will officially receive the report at next Monday’s monthly public meeting of Council, and the document will become public. It should be available by download from the City’s website next week.

UPDATE: The report is now available for download.

After some prodding from local residents — including gentle reminders of the recommendations in the City’s own comprehensive Parks Master Plan that was completed last year with extensive public input — Council has decided to close the inner lane of the Victoria Park road for the use of cyclists and other forms of “active transport”. This is a pilot project. The closure is temporary, beginning in July and ending in September. It will be used to measure interest and determine what effect, if any, it may have on other users of the park, particularly seniors, who rely on cars for their enjoyment of the park.

At the meeting, the Manager of Parks and Recreation presented a number of excellent recommendations from the Active Transportation Committee, which should be rolled out in the future as logistics are worked out. The Victoria Park initiative is the only one that is confirmed at the moment, but I’m confident others will fall into place as the necessary planning takes place. Judging by the comments and the poll results on the Guardian’s website, residents have strong feelings about the Victoria Park road closure. This is not a surprise as the idea has caused an uproar in the past. I encourage everyone to make their opinion known.

The temporary lane will be just that, temporary, and as such the design and implementation will not be perfect; however Parks staff are determined to make it a success for all park users. In her presentation last night, the Manager made reference to a video I sent her earlier in the week entitled “The Stupidest Bike Lane”. She has committed to doing everything in her power to create Smart Bike Lanes.