One of the most common discussions I have with residents in Ward 4 concerns road safety. People drive too quickly, people drive erratically or people don’t stop at stop signs. Traffic calming is one way of mitigating these issues.
In November 2020 the Township of King released a Traffic Calming Strategy, developed to improve public safety for all road users by altering driver behaviour on municipal roads. Most importantly, it allows residents to petition for traffic calming in urban and rural areas.
King residents have been empowered to identify problem areas by requesting traffic calming in your neighbourhood. All you need to do is download a petition, get signatures from 20% of the households in the affected neighbourhood, and submit the petition to the Township. Township staff will take it from there.
I encourage you to use this process to address traffic issues in your neighbourhood understanding that the process may take up to a year or more.
how to initiate the process
A detailed explanation for how to initiate the process can be found online. The process is summarized as follows:
Step 1: A request is made through a petition; staff screen the request to confirm that the characteristics of the roadway meet specific criteria.
Step 2: Staff evaluate the traffic issue, and if warranted, will select a traffic calming treatment and design.
Step 3: A letter is sent to residents, and construction and installation proceeds on a priority basis.
Step 4: The effectiveness of the selected calming is monitored.
criteria for Traffic Calming
Township staff screen by looking at road classification, posted speed, street length, street grade and any previous evaluation. If a request meets the criteria then data is collected and need/priority for traffic calming is evaluated on a point system which examines:
Percentile of speed above posted speed
Traffic volume
Collision history
Pedestrian use
Pedestrian facilities
Bicycle facilities
Associated land use
A first response to implementation of calming measures maybe things like line paving, flexible bollards and/or signage. Permanent approaches include speed humps, mid-block chokers, raised crossings, all way stops, and raised intersections.
Want to learn more? For more information on Traffic Calming in King, visit the Township Website: www.king.ca/trafficcalming.
Prefer to do a deep dive on the topic? Feel free to explore King Township's Transportation Master Plan.