Date:

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Place:

Anderson Room

Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Linda Barnes, Chair

Councillor Sue Halsey-Brandt, Vice-Chair

Councillor Derek Dang

Councillor Harold Steves

Absent:

Councillor Ken Johnston

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Public Works & Transportation Committee held on Wednesday, October 19, 2011, be adopted as circulated.

CARRIED

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING DATE

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 (tentative date) at 4:00 p.m. in the Anderson Room

ENGINEERING AND PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

1.

IRRIGATION WATER SALINITY UPDATE

(File Ref. No. 10-6060-04-01) (REDMS No. 3369892)

In reply to queries from Committee, Lloyd Bie, Manager, Engineering Planning, provided the following information:

§          

staff have found that the No. 6 Road South Pump Station is likely impacted by the salt wedge, therefore, water from the pump station is typically utilized for irrigation purposes;

§          

the No. 6 Road South Pump Station is equipped with a salinity sensor controlled valve that closes when it detects water that contains too much salt; and

§          

to date, the No. 6 Road South Pump Station is meeting the irrigation needs of the farmers it serves.

Discussion ensued and it was noted that low river flows allow increase salt wedge penetration and are likely responsible for increased salinity levels, however staff have not researched predicting river flows.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report dated November 7, 2011 from the Director, Engineering on the impacts of Fraser River salinity on agricultural irrigation water be received for information.

CARRIED

2.

UPDATE ON 2011/2012 SNOW AND ICE RESPONSE PREPARATIONS

(File Ref. No. 10-6360-13) (REDMS No. 3403476)

Ben Dias, Manager, Roads and Construction Services, provided background information.  In reply to queries from Committee, he advised that the City’s salt supplies have been secured – 960 metric tonnes and an additional 500 metric tonnes on reserve.  He noted that these amounts are the same as what was secured in 2010 and more than met the City’s needs.  In addition, Mr. Dias stated that the City has a meteorologist on contract to provide the most accurate weather information.

The Chair applauded staff for their expanded public outreach via social media and noted that it would be helpful to know how often the Facebook page is utilized for updated information regarding road conditions.

It was moved and seconded

That the staff report entitled “Update on 2011/2012 Snow and Ice Response Preparations”, dated November 4, 2011, from the Director, Public Works Operations, be received for information.

CARRIED

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

3.

ICBC/CITY OF RICHMOND ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM – ADDITIONAL PROPOSED PROJECTS FOR 2011

(File Ref. No. 01-0150-20-ICBC1-01) (REDMS No. 3367530)

In response to queries from Committee, Victor Wei, Director, Transportation, advised the following:

§          

the proposed median railing on No. 3 Road between Browngate Road and Cambie Road is opposite the Aberdeen Canada Line station;  also, staff are examining the installation of a similar railing at the Brighouse Canada Line station, south of Saba Road;

§          

staff anticipate that the call for public art for the proposed median railing on No. 3 Road between Browngate Road and Cambie Road be synchronized with that of the potential railing at the Brighouse Canada Line station, south of Saba Road;

§          

the 1.1 meter height of the median railing was strategically chosen as a higher railing may conflict with the height of mirrors on larger vehicles; moreover, the 1.1 meter height is high enough to deter jumping over the railing; and

§          

there must be enough evidence of jaywalking for the City to examine installing similar deterrents elsewhere.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the installation of a decorative median railing on No. 3 Road between Browngate Road and Cambie Road, as described in Option 1 of the report, be endorsed;

(2)

That the proposed road safety improvement projects, as described in the report, be endorsed for submission to the ICBC 2011 Road Improvement Program for consideration of cost sharing funding; and

(3)

That should the above applications be successful, the Chief Administrative Officer and General Manager, Planning and Development be authorized to negotiate and execute the cost-share agreements.

CARRIED

4.

TRANSLINK 2012 CAPITAL PROGRAM COST-SHARING SUBMISSIONS – MAJOR ROAD NETWORK, BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSIT-RELATED ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMS

(File Ref. No. 01-0154-04/2011) (REDMS No. 3256805)

With the aid a street map, Mr. Wei reviewed the various bike routes throughout the City.  He noted that over the next ten years, staff anticipate implementing several more bike routes to connect neighbourhoods to each other in an effort to prevent cyclists from having to travel on arterial roads.  Mr. Wei commented that staff anticipate an arterial bike route along the Lansdowne Road extension and an off-street parkway along the Railway Avenue corridor.

Discussion ensued and it was noted that staff should be aware of multi-modal forms of transportation, and as such future routes and pathways should be labelled accordingly.  Also, it was noted that the examination of commuter bike trails would be welcomed.

Discussion further ensued regarding commuter bike trails and Mr. Wei advised that the implementation of commuter bike trails is challenging, as it is difficult to find off-street commuter routes. 

In reply to queries from Committee, Mr. Wei provided the following information:

§          

by design, neighbourhood bike routes aim to connect destinations like schools and community centres;

§          

Phase I of the proposed parkside neighbourhood bike route is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2012 and Phase II by the end of 2013; and

§          

the purpose of video detection cameras on major roads is to primarily detect traffic flow; however, in the future staff anticipate utilizing the cameras to provide real image feed to the City’s website so that commuters can view traffic conditions.

It was moved and seconded

(1)

That the submission of: 

(a)

road and intersection improvement projects for cost-sharing as part of the TransLink 2012 Major Road Network (MRN) Minor Capital Program,

(b)

bicycle facility improvements for cost-sharing as part of the TransLink 2012 Bicycle Infrastructure Capital Cost-Sharing Program, and

(c)

transit facility improvements for cost-sharing as part of the TransLink 2012 Transit-Related Road Infrastructure Program,

as described in the staff report, dated November 8, 2011, from the Director, Transportation, be endorsed;

(2)

That, should the above submissions be successful and the projects receive Council approval via the annual capital budget process, the Chief Administrative Officer and General Manager, Planning and Development be authorized to execute the funding agreements and the 2012 Capital Plan and the 5-Year Financial Plan (2012-2016) be updated accordingly dependant on the timing of the budget process; and

(3)

That the addition to the City’s On-Street Bicycle Network Plan of the roadway sections comprising the Parkside Neighbourhood Bike Route, as described in the report, be endorsed.

CARRIED

5.

MANAGER’S REPORT

(i)

Update on No. 1 Road and Moncton Street Intersection

Mr. Wei advised that the upgrades to the No. 1 Road and Moncton Street intersection are nearly complete.  The work that is remaining is weather dependant; therefore, crews are awaiting dryer conditions.  Mr. Wei noted that staff anticipate holding an opening ceremony and demonstrating how the new interaction functions.

(ii)

Request for Walkways

Robert Gonzalez, General Manager, Engineering and Public Works, provided background information and noted that since the November 7, 2011 General Purposes Committee meeting, staff have received six additional requests for the installation of walkways.  Mr. Gonzalez indicated that these requests would be included in the capital plan for consideration by Council.

(iii)

Garden City Road

Discussion ensued regarding a request in regards to speed along Garden City Road in relation to Garden City Elementary school.  Mr. Wei advised that a lower speed limit along Garden City Road is challenging as it is an arterial road.  Moreover, he noted that staff have consulted with the RCMP in this regard and found that a lower speed limit on Garden City Road is impractical and difficult to enforce. 

In an effort to curb speeding along the school’s frontage along Garden City Road, Mr. Wei noted that a signal light crosswalk has been installed at each end of the school frontage; moreover, highly visible school area signs have been installed and vegetation along the school’s frontage has been cleared in an effort to increase visibility.  He advised that staff have two additional tools to help mitigate speed along this stretch of Garden City Road: (i) add flashing ambers lights to the existing highly visible school area signs and activate the ambers during peak hours; and (ii) raise the two crosswalks that are at each end of the school frontage.  He cautioned the latter option as the raising of the crosswalks may impact emergency response times.  In reply to a query from Committee, Mr. Wei indicated that he would be in touch with the author of the letter.

(iv)

Dredging

Discussion ensued regarding the feasibility of acquiring a dredge for City purposes.  As a result of the discussion, the following referral was introduced:

It was moved and seconded

That staff investigate the feasibility of purchasing and operating a dredge.

CARRIED

(v)

Steveston Harbour

Councillor Steves distributed a rendering of a past renewal concept for the Fishermen’s Wharf in Steveston (attached to and forming part of these Minutes as Schedule 1) and provided background information.  Staff was directed to consider this concept when examining how to build the dike along the Steveston Village waterfront.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (4:55 p.m.).

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Public Works & Transportation Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Wednesday, November 23, 2011.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Councillor Linda Barnes

Chair

Hanieh Floujeh

Committee Clerk