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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2013-10-09, Page 7Wednesday, October 9, 2013 • Lakeshore Advance % Bus unloading zone to proceed Lynda Hillman -Replay Lakeshore Advance Thanks to the efforts of council member Dave Maguire work can pro- ceed to construct a school bus unload- ing zone at the (;ill Road parking lot in Grand Bend. Lambton Shores Director of Com- munity Services Brent Kittnler reported to council that residents rep- resenting 12 properties in the Gill Road subdivision have brought for- ward a concern with the practice of school busses using the roads in the subdivision for a turn -around. Their concerns include the increased traffic noise in their subdivision because of the bus traffic, and a concern regarding safety of pedestrians in the subdivision who use the local roads as a walkway should they be walking at the salve time buses are present. "Councilor Maguire has taken the lead 011 this concern and has con- tacted the bussing company to dis- cuss these concerns. The bussing com- pany has indicated that the current drop-off zone on Gill Road immediately in front to the school is not their ideal solution as library users are regularly parked in the loading zone, and school staff often deal with unruly people using this area at bus pick-up time," explained Kintner. An August report discusses this situ- ation, proposing to establish a school bus unloading zone in the Gill Road Parking lot to resolve the issues. "'This solution would eliminate public park- ing spaces in the lot, but the parking that is eliminated would be offset by allowing public parking in the current school bus unloading zone in front of the school. This represents a gain of 10 parking spaces, for a net gain of 1 space if the proposal is implemented. Parking in the bus unloading zone in the Gill Road parking lot would be pro- hibited from September 1 lune 30 ('.1ClI year, and allowed (luring the July/August summer months," said Kittlner. This proposed solution was presented to Council on August 1 st and the recommend cost sharing model for the proposal was that the Crosswalks at beer store and LCBO Lynda Hillman-Raploy Lakeshore Advance For many years, or at least since Tim 1 lortons, No Frills and Village Crossing came into existence, locals and summer tourists have asked council to look into crosswalks. The Ministry of'I'ransporta- tion has Okayed crosswalks at No Frills - I.( TO area and the Beer Store area. Pedestrian safety on highway 21 in Grand Bend has been an issue for many years and has been at the forefront with the residents frustrated something has not leen done. In August 2011 the (;rand Bend Cham- ber of Commerce drafted a report for council stating safety measures ne'e (ted to be addressed in the No Frills and Tim I lortons area. In their report to council, the Chamber suggested three pedestrian crosswalks over Highway 21 at Merry - wood, the LCBO and Tim I Lorton. Last year Lambton Shores council made a 1110(1on to address the issue by asking that staff be directed to prepare a report requesting the Ministry ofTrans- portation to implement two pedestrian crosswalks on highway 21 (Ontario Street) Grand Bend; the first location being near No Frills / LCBOand the sec- ond location being near Oak and Ontario Streets. Last year, in a call to the M'I'O, l.iane Fisher explained to the Lakeshore Advance that, "If the municipality cluloses to proceed with a new traffic signal, the ministry reviews and approves the design before it installed. This past summer the Ministry (11(1 a roads study, camping out on I lighway 21 during the busy weekends and in the end decided there were safety issues at the intersection Just 1101111 of'Ilnl I lortons and the lest place for the cross- walk was near the Beer Store entrlutce. the Municipality of Lambton has two sections of 1 tighwuy #21 that run through two of its communities, one in Forest and the other i11 Grand Bend. These sections of highway are referred to as "Connecting Links" and in the past were governed by Connecting (ink Agreements that more or less outlined the responsibilities of the municipality and the M'l'O regarding these sections of road. More recently the responsibility for these sections of road were simply transferred to the munici- pally directly 00 the understanding that if the municipality wished to stake change's to these sections or road, like adding turn- ing lanes, traffic signals, crosswalks etc, we would require Ministry approval. 'the requirement for M'1'O approval assures them that these changes won negatively impact traffic flow or safety. "School Board Funds all Capital Costs: The school board fund 1 00% of the capital costs, and the municipality's contribution would be the provision of the space on municipal property rent fee, installing the signage, and painting the limes for the unloading zone in the lot. " Council supported this option. The School Board has accepted this proposal, and has drafted a letter of intent to outline the relation- ship between the Municipality and the Board. Staff recommended that council authorize the Director of Community Services to sign the letter of intent with the Lambton Kent District School Board and recommended that council authorize work to proceed to construct a school bus unloading zone in the Gill Road parking lot. OnCV the work has been completed an amendment to the Municipality's parking by-law will be required for the proposed "No Parking" area in the bus unloading area to be enforced. This by-law will be brought to a future Council meeting once the work has been completed. There is 00 capital cost impact to Lambton Shores as all capital Posts are recoverable from the School Board. 'There is no forecasted increase in operating expenses for the park- ing Jot as the regular operating duties (i.e. snow clearing, sweeping, and line painting) are already completed by Community Services Staff and funded in the annual operating budget. Council agreed. Our Weekly Deadlines are as follows: ADVERTISING & EDITORIAL Friday @ 2:00 pm SIMON DESJARDINE ('FP, (111, RHD, EM' ('erry/lyd Financial Planner. Chartmd 1/1i I fnddr %rurr 519-238-6399 55 ()Mario St. N. (:rand Bend OFFICE IIOJJRS: Mon. & Fri. 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