Dispute over traffic signal highlights safety riddle facing suburbs

UPDATE: Planning committee voted April24 in favour of a plan that will see the developer help pay for a median, bus stop and pedestrian crossover.

Which came first, the traffic lightor the bus stop? At oneintersectionin Ottawa's BlossomPark neighbourhood, the answer isneither, and that's why people living therewon't be crossing the road any time soon.

It's a chicken-and-egg conundrum that highlights the difficulties facing growing suburban communities when it comes to traffic safety, and neither residents nor their city councillors seem to have a solutionto the riddle.

Coun. Diane Deans wants a developer to install traffic lights at Lester Road and Meandering Brook Drive, whereValecraftHomes is building a156-unit subdivision.

"Every community deserves to have safety, and every community deserves to be properly served by public transit," Deans said Tuesday.

Nearby residents have warnedthe intersection is unsafe, and OC Transpoappears to agree, refusing to put a bus stop on the south side of Lester because there's no safe way to cross the 80 km/h road.

The nearest bus stop on the south side of Lester is more than 600 metres away at Albion Road.

Frustrating conundrum

JerryMansourlives near the new development. He said the intersection needs a safe crossing to control traffic.

"They're going to need a traffic light,"Mansoursaid. "Sometimes it's hard to get onto Lester."

The city is asking that we provide that as a gift, and we feel that's unfair.- Danny Page, ValecraftHomes

Valecraft Homes promised to developthe intersection as part of the new subdivision back in 2010, but a more recent traffic studyindicated it's not yet warranted.

But Deans saidthestudy doesn't reflect the number of pedestrians who would cross the road to get to a bus stop on the other side if there was one there.

The city can't legally compel the builder to install the lights without proof that there's a significant need for it. The developer estimates a controlled intersection would cost about $1 million.

"So the city is asking that we provide that as a gift, and we feel that's unfair," said Danny Page, the planning manager for Valecraft Homes.

Valecraft has already added a second entrance to the developmentto ease traffic concerns, Page said.

He said the eight years it has taken the builder to get to this point has already eaten into anyprofits associated with the development.

Back to the drawing board

Councillorson the city's planning committee agreed to delay the vote on the development until April 24 to give city staff and the builder time to reach a compromise, but staff aren't optimistic.

"Even with a two-week delay we would likely be no further ahead," said Colin Simpson, a program manager withthe city's transportation planning branch.

Other city councillors said they've seen similar issues in their wards when it comes to balancing residents' safety concerns,developers' obligations and the city's traffic policies.

The guidelines the city uses come from the Ministry of Transportation, and apply across Ontario.

But CumberlandCoun. Stephen Blais said those guidelines don't always fit.

"It's impossible to design broad criteria that meet every possible circumstance," Blais said."I think sometimes our staff are a little too by-the-book."

Stittsville Coun. Shad Qadri said he deals with similar issues in his ward, and would like to see the city consider traffic calming before new subdivisions are improved, not after.