Town of Portugal Cove – St. Philips Traffic Calming Policy
Location: Portugal Cove, NL, Canada
Client: Portugal Cove – St. Philips
Duration: 2016
Key Staff: Michael MacDonald, Robin King, Courtney McCarthy, Florence Allaire
Project Description
In 2016, Harbourside was brought on as transportation engineers to address traffic and pedestrian safety issues within the Town of Portugal, Newfoundland. To address these issues in a consistent manner, Harbourside developed a Traffic Calming Policy that could empower town staff to make informed decisions.
Many communities employ warrant systems for traffic signals and for the installation of pedestrian crossings. This is to ensure controls are only put in place when required to improve safety and/or traffic operations. Managing speeding and traffic issues in neighbourhoods is no different. Many jurisdictions throughout Canada are developing “Traffic Calming” policies to address neighbourhood traffic and speeding concerns in a consistent/appropriate manner.
Harbourside’s Role
The goal of The Traffic Calming Policy was to assist the Town of Portugal Staff in managing traffic calming requests. Harbourside used the following framework to develop the policy.
An initiation process where residents would submit to the Town a written request to investigate the need for traffic calming within their neighbourhood.
For those streets meeting the minimum criteria, a petition with a threshold level of support should be submitted to the Town.
For requests meeting the initial screening criteria, the Town would collect speed and volume data for further analysis and evaluate the street with a point assessment system.
Streets that pass the minimum threshold for volumes and speeds are prioritized and moved to a public consultation process. Minimum criteria were developed from data collection of volumes and speeds on select roadways in the Town.
The importance of considering emergency/transit and maintenance services in the overall traffic calming process.
A list of common traffic calming measures and their applicability based on street classification within the policy for use in developing the individualized plans throughout the Town.
Unique Challenges
As with any new policy, buy in from the public is essential. Having the town understand the new process and actively engage with it required thorough communication. Town staff also had to be consistent with messaging and processes for the policy to be well implemented.
Social Impact
The primary goal of the Traffic Calming Policy is to address vehicular and pedestrian safety in a consistent manner. Harbourside designs such policies with a clear idea in mind: “everyone gets home safely”. The proper application of the Traffic Calming Policy by town staff ensures that transportation throughout Portugal Cove is safer, and more reliable.