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Deemed unwarranted, but Delta agrees to street traffic calming

The concerns were reviewed by the engineering department and Delta’s Transportation Technical Committee
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To increase pedestrian safety and visibility, the existing marked pedestrian crosswalk will be upgraded to a raised pedestrian crosswalk, the engineering department suggested as part of its recommendations. 77069992/40 images Pixabay

The City of Delta will undertake a series of further traffic calming measures on a Tsawwassen roadway following resident complaints.

Council recently approved a staff recommendation to proceed with upgrades on 10A Avenue between 53A and 50B streets.

A resident petition to the city calling for traffic calming measures claims the roadway is “increasingly used by motorists as a ‘shortcut’ to bypass 12th Avenue. Cars race down the quiet street of 10A at top speeds, putting children, pedestrians, and their furry companions at risk. The extra noise generated from the ever increasing, non-essential traffic is also a nuisance to residents.”

However, a report to council notes that, according to Delta’s Traffic Calming Policy, implementing traffic calming measures on 10A Avenue is currently unwarranted based on historical traffic and crash data. Staff has met with the petition writer on-site and has since deployed a speed reader board on the avenue on a rotating basis for driver education.

Last December, the petition writer also met with the mayor, city manager and staff and presented a proposal for the installation of bollards for road closures.

The report notes that given the limitations of the road network, existing roadways are required to service residents and support emergency access, so the request was not supported by staff.

“Staff acknowledge the traffic concerns recently raised by area residents and have identified opportunities for several traffic safety enhancements along 10A Avenue. The 2017 neighbourhood road improvement project on 10A Avenue had included curb extensions at four intersections which are intended to reduce vehicle speeds, reduce pedestrian crossing distance and increase pedestrian visibility. To further reduce the vehicle speeds at the approaches to these intersections, the installation of median mounted delineator posts can be considered,” the report adds.

Other measures were also recommended including raising a pedestrian crosswalk and speed reader boards.