What rules, guidelines and policies are in place to prioritize direct, accessible, and safe passage by vulnerable road users (of all ages), protected from vehicular traffic when these activities take place, and how are those enforced?
Construction activity within the City’s right-of-way stems from either work done by or on behalf of the City or private work authorized through a road cut or temporary construction encroachment permit.
In the context of work done under a Road Cut or Temporary Construction Encroachment Permit, the Provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act and applicable regulations thereunder require persons working within the City’s right of way to have a Traffic Control Plan with them on site.
The Traffic Control Plan (TCP) is the responsibility of the Contractor to design, implement and maintain for the full duration of any construction project. It must take into account the Occupational Health and Safety requirements for the workplace, Ontario Traffic Manual Book 7 for traffic control implementation, the City’s Accessibility Design Standards (ADS), the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), and other provincial guidelines. These guidelines utilize best practices to provide a safe area for both the public and workers. Traffic Services reviews each location for permit application and provides conditions related to site-specific hours of work and transportation facilities to be maintained. These conditions are set to minimize the impact to the commuting public while allowing work to be completed safely. On occasion, closures of pedestrian, cycling facilities, and vehicle lanes are required to facilitate safe construction as outlined in provincial legislation. In these circumstances, careful consideration and review is undertaken by Traffic Services to ensure that a suitable detour is available and that the construction activities are expedited to reduce impact to the public.
Traffic Services actively monitors ongoing construction and road activity, enforcing the conditions outlined in road cut permits, encroachments, and the Road Activity Bylaw 2003-445 (Road Activity Bylaw) for allowable working hours. These conditions include working hour restrictions and account for the movement of all users of the roadway network. Enforcement measures are undertaken by appropriate deputized City staff and such measures are enforced through the Road Activity Bylaw. Contractors not abiding by the conditions set out in the permit are subject to Provincial Offence Notices under the Road Activity Bylaw. In terms of traffic control plan enforcement challenges, enforcement depends on the scope of the project and the conditions set out in the permit. All enforcement measures must correspond to worker safety and traffic control set ups which are Provincially legislated.
Beginning in 2022, and as recently presented to Transportation Committee on November 1, 2021, staff will be integrating consideration of traffic, cycling and pedestrian impacts during construction as part of the review of Site Plan and Subdivision applications. Applicants seeking site plan and subdivision approval will be required to provide preliminary information as part of the application submission relating to how the right-of-way will be impacted throughout construction. This will provide early consideration and discussion around the impacts to vulnerable road users and how they can be accommodated.
In some instances, Contractors undertake work without securing the proper permits. In these situations, the City is not aware of the work taking place until it is either brought to staff’s attention, or it is identified during the traffic management inspector’s daily zone patrols. In instances where Contractors are working without permits, there is a risk of illegal blockages of the sidewalk, cycling facilities or roadway. Once staff are aware of the blockages, corrective measures to re-establish the facility are taken and contractors can be fined for various contraventions of the Road Activity By-Law.
The City’s Accessibility Design Standards (ADS) ensures that all City-owned and operated spaces and facilities are inclusive and accessible to everyone. The ADS (Section 2.11) outlines requirements to be met for accessibility during construction of new or redevelopment of existing City-owned or leased buildings, infrastructure, and other elements. This includes construction within the right-of-way as well as City of Ottawa buildings, parks, pathways, and other public spaces. The City’s Standards Unit also conducts accessibility assessments across construction sites with the intent to educate, to gather information on innovation, and to share best practices with industry.
Other tools include:
The General Conditions of Contract on Capital Projects detail the requirement to comply with all laws applicable with the performance of the work to ensure equal treatment to people with disabilities with respect to the use and benefit of City services, programs, and goods in a manner that respects their dignity and that is equitable in relation to the broader public.
Contract Specification D-005 Control of Vehicular and Pedestrian Traffic notes that vehicular and pedestrian traffic control, accommodation of cyclists and ensuring accessibility of temporary stop locations within the work zone, as well as approaches to and from the work zone are the responsibilities of the Contractor.
Contract Specification F-1010 Traffic Control Plan requires the Contractor to submit and follow a traffic control plan. This includes supplying, placing and maintaining all necessary temporary Traffic Control Devices which serve to warn, guide or inform a vehicle operator, cyclist, and pedestrian of a site condition or hazard.
Contract Specification F-1013 Construction Site Pedestrian Control Plan, for construction within the right-of-way, the Contractor is required to prepare this plan to ensure the provision of a safe and accessible path of travel for all users through and/or around the construction site. The plan ensures that pedestrians with disabilities, as well as those with increased mobility needs (parents with strollers and/or young children, elderly pedestrians using canes, walkers, or wheelchairs, etc.), will be accommodated. The Contractor is required to meet specific criteria to ensure safe passage of pedestrians such as path width, change in level, signage, boundary protection, and appropriate materials.
What challenges to the enforcement of traffic control plans does the City experience?
Where the issues are related to a City capital project, local residents are always supplied with a notice with contract and contact information. Additionally, 3-1-1 client services representatives have contract information for the project. Non-compliance situations are more easily resolved for these projects given that inspection staff can be dispatched to the area of concern more expeditiously. Where the situation involves outside parties, the process of identifying the non-conforming operation may take additional time to resolve.
Another challenge is identifying the cause of non-compliance when service requests are received so that staff can be more effectively dispatched – whether it is a Right of Way Inspector (for Road Cut Permit issues) or a Traffic Inspector (for Road Activity issues, such as a utility truck parked on a sidewalk to service overhead wires).
Non-compliant situations typically arise when the Contractor makes modifications on site to accommodate their operations for a specific activity. This risk can be mitigated if such operations are captured in the Contractor’s TCP to begin with and the Contractor adheres to that plan.
It is important to note that the City does not direct the Contractor on how to do their work, however the Contractor must comply with the traffic and pedestrian control conditions.
