This hurdle (correction: hurdle) cost Ottawa taxpayers $16,000

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Like all Ottawa city councillors, River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington has $75,000 a year to spend on traffic calming measures.

That money doesn’t go far when a permanent speed bump (yes, that’s the technical term for a raised area designed to slow traffic on a public road, “speed bump”) took $16,000 out of your budget.

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At $16,000 each, Brockington’s budget could buy four speed bumps, and maybe a couple of speed boards and some flex stakes, those thin, flexible stakes used to slow vehicles by narrowing the path of traffic. .

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Brockington has to be cautious and strategic when it comes to spending money. “I get almost endless requests,” he said.

Is $16,000 too much for a hurdle? Brockington was baffled by the cost of building a speed bump on Trent Street, just off Fisher Avenue in Carlington, especially after a representative from a major development company (he declines to name it) told him they built speed bumps in new subdivisions for about $4,500 each. .

“The costs have been increasing over time, but they were around $11,000 and now they have skyrocketed to $16,000,” Brockington said. “It’s too expensive considering the budget we received.”

Brian Beard, president of the Carlington Community Association, said the $16,000 figure also surprised him. “Overall, I wonder if there are better ways we could spend the money on traffic calming measures.”

Brockington asked city staff to explain the cost difference last November. The report arrived this month.

It’s challenging to compare costs between the city and a developer, according to the Department of Water Services and Infrastructure report.

Construction costs for speed bumps integrated into full reconstruction projects would typically be $8,000 to $12,000, according to the report. Other costs include inspection, consultation and traffic management.

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The city “bundles” projects to save money. Infrastructure services has also created a “light projects” group that focuses on executing smaller projects more efficiently and with more internal resources, according to the report.

The Trent Street speed bump was added to a road resurfacing contract. The calming measures project included speed bumps, signage and pavement markings, which were grouped together as part of a highway repaving project.

But this $16,000 hump was built in the eye of a perfect storm for minor construction projects. There was a construction workers strike in the summer of 2022, which caused labor shortages and supply chain problems. Brockington also believes there isn’t much competition to take on small construction jobs when larger contracts are available.

Meanwhile, the report warned that it was difficult to compare the costs of building speed bumps in new developments with those built on existing streets. A developer may not include all costs, such as design, inspection, traffic management operations, coordination and consultation. When new developments are built, a traffic calming feature may be included as part of the overall project. Including speed bumps at the time of construction can reduce the overall cost because materials and personnel are already on site.

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Speed ​​bumps and speed bumps slow down traffic, but there are differences. Speed ​​bumps have steeper edges and are often found on commercial properties such as shopping centers and parking lots. Humpbacks are often found on public roads, with raised areas that are more gradual and less aggressive.

Meanwhile, people driving fast on residential roads is a growing problem, said Alex Cullen, co-chair of the Ottawa Federation of Citizens’ Associations transportation committee. “Communities are always looking for road changes to calm traffic. “They do more than signage.”

Cullen says he’s not in a position to judge the cost of an obstacle, but it’s important to make sure it’s an apples-to-apples comparison.

“Traffic calming measures are a growing phenomenon. It makes sense to ask how much each one costs. At $16,000 a crack, you use up your budget pretty quickly.”

There are cheaper solutions to slow down traffic, although they may not be as effective.

Pavement signage or signage typically costs less than $500, said Heidi Cousineau, the city’s traffic, safety and mobility manager. Thermoplastic symbols and planters cost less than $1,500. Flexible multi-stake setups typically cost between $2,000 and $4,000.

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Depending on the type, speed display panels cost between $3,000 and $4,500. The costs of larger engineering measures to calm traffic, such as speed bumps and medians, can range in the tens of thousands of dollars depending on the site and the extent of work required, Cousineau said.

Meanwhile, developers’ voluntary contributions to traffic calming were the subject of a bitter debate on the city council in January, after Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard negotiated a $300,000 memorandum of understanding with Katasa Group to be used for traffic calming and affordable housing in the Capital Ward, where Katasa is building a high-rise tower.

East Orleans-Cumberland County. Matthew Luloff was upset because the city had previously rejected a bid from a developer to install speed panels on a busy stretch of road on the east end. The council voted to share the money, with $200,000 going to Social and Community Services for affordable housing and $100,000 for traffic calming throughout the city. But, in a turn of events, no one got what they wanted.

In the end, Katasa withdrew the entire donation, saying the debate around it “seems more political than communal.”

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Budgets for traffic calming in the districts are increasing. Brockington remembers receiving $40,000 a year when he was first elected in 2014. A few years ago, the budget was increased to include permanent modifications, such as speed bumps.

He doesn’t always get obstacles where he wants. He applied for one in the Hunt Club area but was turned down because the street was an emergency route.

But speed bumps are particularly appropriate in some cases, including the Trent Street example, said John Verbaas, co-chair of the Ottawa Federation of Citizens’ Associations transportation committee.

Trent Street is a residential side street with an intersection on a main road with a traffic light at one end. “Very often in these cases, aggressive drivers on the quiet residential street look ahead and see that the light is about to turn red and step on the gas to try to beat the light,” Verbaas said.

“That type of harsh acceleration creates a very uncomfortable noise level on a quiet residential street. Not to mention the fact that this kind of acceleration is dangerous.”

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Several streets have speed bumps for this reason, but many do not, and it is unfair that those locations without them have to suffer from this problem, Verbaas said.

“It would be good if the city officially recognized these situations as a neighborhood problem and thought about whether it is possible to optimize the process of building a speed bump to reduce the level of implementation cost when used to solve this particular problem.”

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