Whereas Stage 2 Light Rail east construction has direct impacts on traffic in the east end; and
WHEREAS City Council has delegated authority to the Rail Office to manage certain traffic and transportation matters, including road closures, as part of the Stage 2 light rail construction project to expedite construction,
WHEREAS standard road closures for construction through public Works have strict criteria to ensure appropriate traffic information and digital signage are in place, and communications provided to affected Ward Councillors in advance,
WHEREAS the project has gone far longer than anticipated and closures have taken place that are not scheduled well in advance,
Whereas there are limited alternative routes in the area and closures are not fully accounting for current back to work traffic volumes,
Whereas intersections continually are blocked and creating hours of additional traffic and polluting the environment as well as safety concerns,
Whereas there is no police directing traffic, which may be required if it was through a standard road closure process,
Whereas, the impacts of the Stage 2 construction on the entire east end has been tremendous, it is imperative that the City proactively undertake a post-mortem assessment of the past two years’ work, allowing both the City and OC Transpo to identify deficiencies, successes, and failures in how they have communicated on, and handled, closures;
Therefore, be it resolved that staff in Public Works, in consultation with the Rail Office, undertake a review of the number of closures that have taken place over the last two years for Line 1 East extension to be conducted immediately, and the results reported back via a Memo to Council, and
Be it further resolved that the Rail Office provide the number of claims submitted by the public as a result of Line 1 East extension construction over the last two years.