Motion at Transportation committee – LRT Construction

With full support from my East End colleagues, I moved a motion demanding accountability for the endless road closures, gridlock, and safety risks we face.
This motion prioritizes your safety and demands clear communication and planning from the city and contractors. The ongoing Light Rail construction has disrupted our lives without notice or support, leaving us all stuck in traffic, unsafe, and unheard.

October 25, 2024 by admin

East End Residents,

With full support from my East End colleagues, I moved a motion demanding accountability for the endless road closures, gridlock, and safety risks we face.

This motion prioritizes your safety and demands clear communication and planning from the city and contractors. The ongoing Light Rail construction has disrupted our lives without notice or support, leaving us all stuck in traffic, unsafe, and unheard.

Thanks to amendments from Councillors Dudas, Luloff, and Kitts, we’re demanding immediate improvements and a review of these closures. We’re fighting for transparency and the respect our community deserves. See the video from today’s committee meeting, where the motion was passed unanimously, and stay tuned for updates.

MOTION I MOVED AT TRANSPORTATION WITH AMMENDMENTS

Transportation Committee / Commission du transport en commun Motion
Meeting date / Date de la réunion : 24 October 2024 / 24 octobre 2024
Agenda No. / Ordre du jour no : 15
Item No. on Agenda / Point no de l’ordre du jour : 5.1 – Fee Review – Municipal Consent, Utility Circulation, Road Cut Permit and Temporary Road Closure
Re / Objet : Road Closures
Moved by / Motion de : Councillor T. Tierney

Whereas Stage 2 Light Rail east construction has direct impacts on traffic in the east end; and
WHEREAS City Council has delegated authority to the Rail Office to manage certain traffic and transportation matters, including road closures, as part of the Stage 2 light rail construction project to expedite construction,

WHEREAS standard road closures for construction through public Works have strict criteria to ensure appropriate traffic information and digital signage are in place, and communications provided to affected Ward Councillors in advance,

WHEREAS the project has gone far longer than anticipated and closures have taken place that are not scheduled well in advance,

Whereas there are limited alternative routes in the area and closures are not fully accounting for current back to work traffic volumes,

Whereas intersections continually are blocked and creating hours of additional traffic and polluting the environment as well as safety concerns,

Whereas there is no police directing traffic, which may be required if it was through a standard road closure process,

Whereas, the impacts of the Stage 2 construction on the entire east end has been tremendous, it is imperative that the City proactively undertake a post-mortem assessment of the past two years’ work, allowing both the City and OC Transpo to identify deficiencies, successes, and failures in how they have communicated on, and handled, closures;

Therefore, be resolved that staff in Public Works, in consultation with the Rail Office, undertake a review of the number of closures that have taken place over the last two years for Line 1 East extension to be conducted immediately, and the results reported back via a Memo to Council, and
Be it further resolved that the Rail Office provide the number of claims submitted by the public as a result of Line 1 East extension construction over the last two years.