City of Kingston to engage with public, councillors in reviewing traffic-calming measures

If you were hoping the City of Kingston would take steps to slow traffic in your neighbourhood, you may be waiting for a while.

The city has identified dozens of streets as candidates for speed reduction measures, but it’s putting the brakes on most of them while it launches into another study. Whether it’s a speed hump, a bollard or even a mini-traffic circle, it’s all about safety and trying to protect the public.

And according to Ian Semple, the manager of transportation services, the traffic-calming program is now under review.

“We are looking at the ways we implement traffic calming in the city, the ways we prioritize those streets,” Semple said. “And so we are engaging with a consultant and we’ll be talking with the public and our councillors in the way to approach that.”

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While the review is taking place, assessments of any new streets have been suspended or put on hold.

“Under the current program, annually we assess approximately 15 to 20 streets each year,” Semple said.

“So that’s where we’d go out and take some speed measurements over a week, we look at the pedestrians’ connections and cycling connections that are there and we add those assessed streets to the overall list of roadways that are slated to have traffic calming.”

Semple says that list currently sits at over 60. He says changes will happen at a handful of streets next year including Johnson and Barrie and Unity Road in front of Elginburg Public School.

Elliott Avenue as well as Lancaster Drive are good examples of some of the traffic calming measures that have already taken place.

“We want to make sure that we’re able to address resident concerns and neighbourhood concerns in a timely way,” Semple said. “The program that exists right now is only providing traffic calming on three or four streets on average a year.

“We think there are ways we can better approach that especially at a neighbourhood level and that’s what this review is all about.”

Other streets to be calmed in 2021 include Van Order Drive and Norman Rogers Drive as well as St. Martha Street.

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