{"id":34371,"date":"2024-03-21T15:40:45","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T19:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=34371"},"modified":"2024-03-22T18:49:31","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T22:49:31","slug":"enhanced-pedestrian-crossing-approved-for-aurora-heights-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/enhanced-pedestrian-crossing-approved-for-aurora-heights-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Enhanced pedestrian crossing approved for Aurora Heights Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A signalled pedestrian crosswalk is coming to Aurora Heights Drive near the end of Machell Park and Fleury Park Trails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council approved a Level 2 Type B pedestrian crossing at its most recent meeting. This type of pedestrian crossing will include rapid flashing \u201cbeacons\u201d, new pavement markings, and signage both overhead and at street level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new crossing retrofits will cost approximately $110,000, including design, construction and contingency, covered by development charges (DCs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Implementation could take up to six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going into the last Council meeting, staff recommended a simpler configuration of pedestrian crossing but Ward 2 Councillor Rachel Gilliland said further enhancements were needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI prefer a Level 2 Type B,\u201d she said, noting the lighting and signage options, \u201cjust to make it a little more safe because we are going in and around the corner. I believe what staff recommended was the most minimal approach and I feel it needs a little bit more indication to make it a little bit more safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Ramunno, Director of Planning for the Town of Aurora, cautioned the higher-level features would result in a higher price tag, but Council opted on a 6 \u2013 0 vote to press ahead, funding it from Aurora\u2019s Roads and Related Development Charges. Ward 6 Councillor Harold Kim was absent from the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same session, Council received information on a simpler pedestrian crossing on Hollandview Trail, at Bridgenorth Drive, one that will come with a physical barrier to direct pedestrians to the new crossing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStaff reviewed the feasibility of implementing a physical barrier and signage at the end of the walkway to direct pedestrians to cross at the Hollandview Trail\/Bridgenorth Drive intersection where a school crossing guard can assist with crossing onto the other side of Hollandview Trail,\u201d said Michael Ha, Transportation and Traffic Analyst for the Town of Aurora, in a report to Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe role of school crossing guards is to direct and supervise the movement of pedestrians across a road by creating necessary gaps in vehicular traffic to provide safe passage at a designated school crossing location. Sometimes, it is beneficial to guide pedestrians to nearby intersections that have a school crossing guard so that they may cross under supervision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of similar configurations cited in the report were on Murray Drive near Regency Acres Public School and St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApproximately 50m of sidewalk would be required on the south side of Hollandview Trail in order to connect the existing walkway to Bridgenorth Drive. The design and construction\u2026would cost approximately $58,500. The area where the sidewalk would be placed includes five mature trees and utilities that may potentially need to be removed to accommodate the addition of a sidewalk in this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConsideration could be given to adding an additional school crossing guard at the identified location at an annually recurring operating cost. A pedestrian crossing pavement marking would be of benefit at a cost of $1,500 should this option be considered. The existing school crossing guard at the Hollandview Trail\/Bridgenorth Drive intersection costs approximately $17,000 per year based on the current contract with the school crossing guard contractor, which expires at the end of 2024. The cost to employ a new crossing guard may increase when a new contract is put in place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A signalled pedestrian crosswalk is coming to Aurora Heights Drive near the end of Machell Park and Fleury Park Trails. Council approved a Level 2 Type B pedestrian crossing at its most recent meeting. This type of pedestrian crossing will include rapid flashing \u201cbeacons\u201d, new pavement markings, and signage both overhead and at street level. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8Wn","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-18 06:43:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34371\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}