Council gave its final approval to have speed cushions installed in school zones in September.
The purchase will be done by a public bid process on what staff are calling an “aggressive timeline” that may see the traffic calming measures installed by the start of school.
They will, however, have to be removed in October for snow removal.
“I think we’ll have to really watch the weather,” explained the town’s manager of engineering services, John Velick during the June 28 council meeting. “We will try and keep them on the roads as long as possible, but we can’t predict the weather.”
He said they would be installed again in the spring around May 1, and as late as June.
Councillor Deb Doherty noted the measures might only be in place for two months of the school year and encouraged staff to prioritize the installation of the cushions and bollards in the spring. Council voted in favour of spending up to $110,000 on speed cushions and flexible bollards in the town’s school zones to encourage drivers to travel slower in those areas.
By installing two or three speed humps (aka speed cushions) on the road, most cars will have to drive over the humps with one side of the vehicle. However, wide vehicles like fire trucks or buses would be able to straddle the cushion.
The town staff report notes the manufacturer claims the average vehicle speed over the speed humps is 32 km/h.
The flexible bollards would be installed at the sides and middle of the road leading to the speed cushions. Staff note they are there to provide “additional messaging” and also restrict the width of the road to force vehicles to slow down.
The report contemplates speed cushions, bollards, and signs at seven locations including near Admiral Collingwood Elementary School; Cameron Street Public School and Collingwood Collegiate Institute; Findlay Drive; Mountain View Elementary School; Our Lady of the Bay Catholic High School; Connaught Public School; and on Peel Street.
During a previous meeting, council did ask staff to look into options to speed up the purchase and installation of the measures as early estimates suggested it might be impossible to get the product in time to install it this fall.
Part of the delay was a public bid process that could take three weeks before the town could select a winning bidder.
However, staff said they were still within the rules of the Free Trade Agreement and the town’s procurement bylaws if they posted an early notice to let prospective bidders know about the upcoming request for proposals. Then they could post a request for proposals for two weeks instead of three.
Staff posted the early notice prior to the council meeting. They anticipate closing bids on July 13 and ordering the product by July 16. Allowing four weeks for delivery and 2.5 weeks for installation, the traffic calming measures should be in place by Sept. 2.
However, that timeline represents a best-case scenario and doesn’t account for COVID delays, vendors requesting more time to prepare quotes, vacation-related delays, delivery delays and weather delays during installation.
