Good News 'Hospital Story" Update Today! (Durham Region) – May 14, 2024 – Lakeridge Health is pleased to announce Stantec has been selected to lead the Planning, Design, and Conformance (PDC) aspects of Lakeridge Health’s much-anticipated Bowmanville Hospital redevelopment, one of Lakeridge Health’s largest redevelopment projects to date...the redeveloped hospital will usher in a new era of health-care delivery in Durham Region...by adding more beds, expanding critical care services, and introducing state-of-the-art facilities like an Ambulatory Care and Haemodialysis Centre... will also include:

• expansion, nearly double in size, to meet the health-care needs of the rapidly growing Durham Region.
  
• Modern patient-centred design, including private rooms and bariatric rooms.
  
• A new parking garage, supporting more convenient access for patients, visitors, staff, and volunteers.
  
• Additional green space enhancing the overall well-being of patients, visitors, and the community alike.

​https://www.rmhc-swo.ca/events/mchappy-day-2024

Visit a local McDonalds Wed. May 8, 2024 and know a portion of your meal payment will help fund McDonald charities.
Oshawa Council members were invited to help over lunchtime. Councillor Lee and I will be at the Taunton Rd E (between Harmony & Grandview)  McDonalds.
Looking forward to seeing a great turnout!!
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Below is my one-page summary of the 9:30 a.m. Oshawa Corporate and Finance Committee Meeting Agenda Monday May 6, 2024; and 1:30 p.m. Economic Development Committee Meeting Agenda+ Public Planning Act Public meeting. For details see the City website pages here for Corporate & Finance Agenda:
pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=3a9ff284-a0fe-4bf7-a22a-8e8f587b6c6c&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English
and here for the Economic & Development Agenda: 
pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=48a88bdf-55b1-4bcb-a5c6-546786b6c688&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English

Of items on the 2 meeting agendas there is ONE I AM HUGELY CONCERNED ABOUT! ED-24-57 which has staff sending the Conlin Rd/Grandview road reconstruction back, letting Treasure Hill out of their failed agreement and sending the whole matter back to be included in the 2025 Mayor's budget??? It should have been under construction NOW!

NOTE  the 'must read' with the backstory in Report DS-22-07 https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=7441 "In 2018, Request for Proposal C2018-074, Conlin Road Roundabout Design was awarded to CIMA+ Canada Inc. in the amount of $121,032 exclusive of H.S.T. in accordance with Report CNCL-18-51 and the Purchasing By-law.

Back then City staff wrote "the construction of the Conlin Road East and Grandview Street North intersection to its ultimate form will permit development along the north side of Conlin Road East to occur as quickly as possible without requiring the need to potentially freeze/hold parcels of the land. It was originally contemplated that these concerns would be resolved through Project 73-0485, the detailed design for the reconstruction of Conlin Road East from Ritson Road North to Townline Road North. Project 73-0485 was approved in the 2020 Capital Budget and is expected to be tendered by the end of the first Quarter of 2022."

THEN at the start of 2022 "in report DS-22-07 the project was rescoped and expanded with an additional $60K approved to extend the design for the project a further 250 metres (820 ft.) to the east for the following key reasons:
a) Expanding the scope will improve vehicular and pedestrian safety in both the short term and long term by reducing the grades for vehicular traffic and introducing a multi-use path for pedestrians;
b) Expanding the scope will provide a multi-use path connection from Grandview St N to Kurelo Dr. and provide safe access to Mackie Park from either street;
c) Expanding the scope will allow safe pedestrian access to transit and transit stops through the addition of the multi-use path and sidewalk;
d) Expanding the scope will result in savings to the City as CIMA+ has familiarity with the project;
e) Expanding the scope may limit the disruption to the surrounding community to one construction season; and,
f) Expanding the scope will facilitate development in the Kedron Part II Plan.

The meeting sequence has, after O Canada and the Land Acknowledgement, Council members may make  ANNOUNCEMENTS, then the order of the Agenda is:
1. Community volunteer and 2. City employee RECOGNITION AWARDS, then
PRESENTATIONS:
3. Ontario Hydro re Darlington; and
4. Watson consultant re Oshawa's potential new DC Charge rates; followed by 
DELEGATIONS: 2 registered + 4 requests (which require Council 2/3rd votes to be heard), then
1. Board of the OSCC choice naming Oshawa' Senior of Year; and
PUBLIC CONSENT AGENDA Items, which I've numbered 2. to 45.

• Councillors may pull for discussion, questions, direction, timing or recorded vote, any of the Items on the PUBLIC CONSENT AGRENDA which are listed with my numbering as 2-45.
• Of these, you will see that 8 are for REFERRAL, which means they can only be pulled for timing or direction, three are referred to the Mayor's 2025 Budget), 4 are simply being referred to the Report they relate to and 1 is a referral back to staff for further review.
• I wrote a recent post "SOMETIMES THERE ISN"T JUST ONE RIGHT ANSWER" referring to items discussed at Committee this month that I have serious concerns with and which will be among the ones I plan to pull.
• All listed items relate either to CNCL ( Council) or fall under the purview of the City's 4 different departments: 1) CO - Community & Operations; 2) CF - Corporate and Finance; 3) ED - Economic & Development; 4) SF- Safety & Facilities

Next are items pulled from the 
INFORMATION PACKAGE: the one on the Agenda being Picton County's request for a Provincial Accessibility Fund -which I pulled for Oshawa Council hopefully to endorse.
When the Public Consent Agenda is fully passed and the required by-laws enacting approved changes, Council moves on to the 

CLOSED AGENDA
There are 3 CLOSED items which any member of Council may PULL.

At the end of the meeting are the
 Notices of Motion,
The April 29, 2024 agenda includes four:
1. CNCL-24-40 e-scooter by-law amendments proposed by C. Nicholson CNCL-24-40;
2. CNCL-24-51 poet laureate program proposed by C. McConkey;
3. CNCL-24-52 speed limit reduction on Burk St. proposed by C Giberson;
4. CNCL-24-53 review of City policy for property tax relief to seniors and those with disabilities proposed by C Nicholson.

When complex and controversial matters come before Oshawa Council - such as the 4 political and community issues listed below, which will be on the Monday April 29th 2024 City Council Agenda, Oshawa Council must be open to reconsideration. Problem solving can benefit by a delving into alternate answers.

So I ask why would the City not provide more consideration of its plans to:

1. ending the publishing of the City's Corporate payments list (Report CF-24-29)
https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx...
To understand better what the City wants to discontinue publishing see the link here for the last published Corporate Payment Report for the 4th Quarter 2023 (Report CF-24-13) https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx... Note how it is a transparent tracking practice, one which imo the City of Oshawa should be proud of and not plan to discontinue -(to see an example of the regular report contents pictured below is page 104 from the 110 page last Report showing 2023 Q4 ) There can be no accountability without transparency.

2. advance a 78 unit development with only one street access/egress from an already challenging entrance off Harmony Rd., Pinecrest Rd., which has only right-in right out access. (Report ED-24-42) ED-24-42 https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx... (copy of page showing site location plan is pictured below with my red circle highlighting the only access (the right-in, right-out only turn to the development off Pinecrest Rd.)

3. advance the Harmony Creek trail extension which is known to present major difficulties complying with 1) accessibility requirements due to major slope variations, 2) sustainability due to major flooding issues; 3) commitment to environmental stewardship due to cutting trees that were planned a decade ago for slope stability and 4) questionable connectivity and road crossing safety plans related to future trail extensions north across Conlin Rd. E. SF-24-18 https://calendar.oshawa.ca/.../863a6fae-d01a-483a-bc16...

​4. advance a scoped down design of the new Ward 2 community centre, which project, estimated at 150 Million$ has no funding strategy and which the City has not provided for any public discussion at any Council or Committee meeting prior to the construction tender, and regarding which the Oshawa Aquatic Club has raised major concerns about the pool now being reduced to 4 lanes from the planned 8 lanes (Report CNCL-24-24 ) https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx... and INFO-24-89 being a 5 page letter from Julie Reid, President of the Oshawa Aquatic Club https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx...
Btw, the process to speak up and make your concerns known to Oshawa Council in writing and/or make a delegation is to write [email protected] as soon as possible (you will see that 4 pm Tuesday and Friday are deadlines for Monday meetings (and Friday before Friday noon for virtual delegation requests) Follow the process described here: https://www.oshawa.ca/.../correspondence-and-delegations...
or call and inquire with the Clerks department at 905-436-3311

Starting Sunday, April 28, 2024, GO train weekend service will increase from every 30 minutes to every 15 minutes in the afternoon and evening on the Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East lines between Oakville GO Station, Union Station and Durham College Oshawa GO Station.
​
As announced yesterday the Province of Ontario is expanding GO Train Service Across the GTA, adding more than 300 new weekly trips to support two-way, all-day GO.

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1004441/ontario-expanding-go-train-service-across-the-greater-toronto-area 
​news.ontario.ca/en/release/1004441/ontario-expanding-go-train-service-across-the-greater-toronto-area

Last week the City of Oshawa's downtown outdoor planters were once again filled with SPRING FLOWERS! Wonderfully uplifting to see these bright displays of nature's colours! A big thank you to Oshawa staff for this work. I know many Oshawans appreciate the continued successes of City greenhouse staff in producing some of the most pleasing municipal flower displays in the GTA!! Sidenote: each year when I first see the spring flowers blooming in the planters along the sidewalks in Oshawa's downtown I whisper THANK YOU BARRIE, because when visiting the City of Barrie in the spring of 2021, on seeing how attractive Barrie's downtown planters looked with tulips and pansies, I spoke with their horticulturalist and then followed-up with a motion to Oshawa Council to initiate its own spring flower downtown planter program, which was approved ​

​

Two special Council meetings today. First one this morning with open discussion and input for the City's new 5 year Strategic Plan just finished.

At 1:30 p.m. Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. are to provide a presentation concerning the purpose of the Development Charges Study, with an overview of the methodology required to undertake a new Oshawa Development Charges By-law and discuss policies due to recent legislative changes for Council direction on proposed policy changes.
46 page report for review is here: CNCL-24-34 Status and Policy Review for the 2024 City of Oshawa Development Charge By-law Update (escribemeetings.com)

The City's long time DC policy exemption for industrial and downtown building should be changing, considering the following highlighted statement  in the report:

Over the past 10-year period (2014 – 2023), the financial impact of the current non-statutory industrial exemption is $15.5 million. An additional $20.8 million in future foregone revenue is estimated, if there is no change to the current policy.

Over the past 10-year period (2014 – 2023), the financial impact of the non-statutory downtown exemption is $6.6 million. An additional $57.9 million in future foregone revenue is estimated, if there is no change to the current policy.

​The impact of the transition policies outlined in Section 5.5 of this report will depend on which option Council chooses.    

Below is a timeline chart to see the new DC By-law endorsed by Council, and below that is the 27 slide PowerPoint Watson & Associates consulted presented.

​Some important Oshawa Library News:
Starting Monday April 8 the Northview John Aker Branch on Beatrice/Ritson will be closed for 4 weeks; and
Starting Thursday April 11 the main McLaughlin Branch at 65 Bagot Street has its 3 day Spring Book Sale

Today, April 6, 10am-3 pm Be smart and check out the opportunity to take a free simple blood test for Prostate Cancer, at the Community Outreach Clinic at Durham Community Health Centre 115 Grassmere Ave., Oshawa. Early detection saves lives!  This free PSA Check & Protect event is hosted by the Walnut Foundation partnering with Princess Margaret Hospital, Taibu Community Health Centre and Durham Community Health Centre Get checked!!!  
 
​Note: even though preregistration is closed you ARE STILL WELCOME TO SHOW UP IN PERSON Bring your insurance & family doctor information
​

The Monday April 8th Standing Committee meeting Agenda has a Report on the infill subdivision plan for the Maxwell Village area on the east side of Harmony Rd., south of Swiss Height and north of Pinecrest Rd. It is Report: ED-24-42 linked here: https://pub-oshawa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx...  and comprises the plan for  78 units (being 33 detached dwellings, 24semis & 21 townhouses) to be built.

So far there are 2 resident delegations request to speak to Committee plus representatives of Evans Planning and GHD for the developer Icon Harmony Limited . The deadline to request an in-person delegation to Monday's ED Committee is 4:00 p.m. today, Friday April 5, 2024.
 
Since the last weekend's Easter holiday many residents wrote Council members and the emails steadily continue to come in. They are politely written, aware that the development will be coming, but it seems the majority are most concerned about the safety of the road access/egress to the new development and have been seeking more consideration on this issue.

The 31 page report is detailed and explains a lot of the changes that have taken place since the draft plan of subdivision had a public Planning Act meeting last year, Jan 9, 2023.

Also  below is a copy of the revised PowerPoint Oshawa Council members just received today which I understand the consultant for the developer Icon Harmony Limited will be presenting at Monday's meeting.

Since the Jan 9, 2023 meeting number of units have increased from 73 to 78, basically because the mix is a bit different, 6 more townhouses, 2 more semis and 3 less detached, ...and the small parkette is a bit larger, from 5K sq.ft to just over 7K sq.ft. and some changes to the building heights. However, most obvious in the site plan attachments to the Report ED-24-41 are where the site plans (copied below) change the access/egress into the  subdivision, with the direct Harmony Rd. access removed.

The report goes into great detail on the iterations and the combined Region, City and developer's consideration to the road access/egress issue. They can be found on page on page 2 c) and pages 9, 10 and 11. (see copy of some of the statements in the report re the Harmony Rd and Pinecrest traffic considerations and some of the reasons for the revisions. 

From REPORT ED-24-42, Page 2, paragraph (c)    The original site design proposed a driveway access on Pinecrest Rd and an emergency access only on Harmony Rd N. In response to concerns from the existing neighbourhood with respect to traffic impacts, the Applicant subsequently revised the site design in an attempt to make the driveway on Harmony Road North an open full movement driveway access.  Ultimately, it was determined that the road geometry and sight distance conditions along the adjacent segment of Harmony Rd N render most turning movements from this access unsafe.  The development does not require an emergency access or more than one driveway access.  The Applicant is now proposing a single driveway access for the proposed development, which will be located on Pinecrest Rd.

Bottom of page 3 and top of page 4  The Applicant and Department staff, working with the Region of Durham, attempted to find ways to minimize the need for vehicular traffic to and from the proposed development to drive through the existing surrounding neighbourhood.  However, due to the design and characteristics of the adjacent sections of Harmony Rd N and Pinecrest Rd, it was not possible to implement alternative driveway access designs.

From Page 7 and top of page 8   The revised proposal features a full movement driveway access on Pinecrest Road only, with no direct access on Harmony Rd N.

An additional driveway access is only required where the furthest point on a private road or public road is greater than 250 metres (820.21 ft.) from a single access point.  In this case, the furthest point on the private road from the driveway access on Pinecrest Rd is approximately 230 metres (754 ft.).  Consequently, only one driveway is required for emergency service access.  The site design complies with the City’s private road design standards including minimum private road width and radii for fire truck access, minimum building setbacks from the fire route (private road), and Fire Route/No Parking signs posted alongside the entire private road.
The intersection of Harmony Rd N and Pinecrest Rd permits right-in and right-out movements only.  Drivers exiting the proposed development that wish to travel southbound on Harmony Road N would have to drive east along Pinecrest Road through the existing neighbourhood to access intersections that permit left turns onto Harmony Rd N (Swiss Height or Grand Ridge Ave).  Alternatively, they could exit onto Pinecrest Rd, turn right onto northbound Harmony Road North, turn onto Taunton Rd E and then turn south on another arterial road such as Ritson Rd N or Grandview St N. 

Southbound drivers on Harmony Road North intending to access the proposed development would have to turn left onto Swiss Height or Grand Ridge Avenue and then access the site via Pinecrest Road.   

The Applicant hired GHD, a professional consulting company with transportation engineering expertise, to prepare a Transportation Impact Study (“T.I.S.”) which was submitted in support of the revised applications. (T.I.S. data included)

Pages 9, 10 & 11  Professional traffic engineering staff at both the City & Region of Durham reviewed the T.I.S. and have no objections to the methodology or the key conclusions noted above with respect to a single driveway access on Pinecrest Rd.
The initial applications received by staff in November 2022 and considered at the January 9, 2023 public meeting (see Attachment 3) proposed a full turning movement driveway access on Pinecrest Rd and an emergency vehicle access only on Harmony Rd N.  The Region would allow an emergency access on Harmony Rd N.  However, the City’s Fire Services does not support new permanent emergency accesses.
In response the neighbourhood’s concerns about the potential impact of traffic generated by the proposed development on local roads, the Applicant’s second submission (received in June 2023)  redesigned the northwest corner of the Subject Site in an attempt to provide a full movement driveway access on Harmony Rd N.

Between June 2023 &January 2024, the City, Region and Applicant worked collaboratively to assess the feasibility of the proposed full movement driveway access on Harmony Rd N.  In support of the revised access the Applicant submitted a sightline assessment prepared by GHD.  Ultimately it was determined by the Region that the road geometry and sight distance conditions, combined with the existing traffic volumes and speeds on the arterial road, lack of appropriate left turn lane width south of Swiss Height, lack of a left turn refuge lane within Harmony Rd N, and proximity of the potential driveway to the Swiss Height intersection render all turning movements directly to or from Harmony Rd N unsafe for drivers except right-out turns. Because future residents will be able to turn right onto Harmony Rd N from Pinecrest Rd, providing an additional right-out only access on Harmony Rd N would not reduce traffic through the neighbourhood.
Between January 2024 and March 2024, at the request of City staff, the Region of Durham assessed the feasibility of providing a signalized intersection at Harmony Road North and Pinecrest Road to reduce potential traffic through the neighbourhood.  Through this assessment it was determined that the necessary sightlines for a signalized intersection are not available for northbound traffic and would result in an increased risk of rear-end and turning movement collisions at the proposed signal.  Constructing a signalized intersection at this location would also require widening Harmony Road North on both approaches to accommodate a left turn lane and a divisional island.  This would be technically challenging and very costly given the steep slopes on both sides of Harmony Road North in the area and the need to relocate utility poles, potentially install a guiderail system and construct new retaining walls.  Furthermore, the spacing of the proposed signalized intersection does not comply with the Region of Durham’s guidelines for signalized intersections on Type “A” Arterial Roads [700m (2,297 ft.)] and would result in traffic delays on Harmony Rd N.  For these reasons, a signalized intersection at Harmony Road N and Pinecrest Rd is not feasible, and not supported by the Region.

Between January 2024 and February 2024, at the request of City staff, the Region of Durham also assessed the feasibility of providing protected signalized advance U-turns on Harmony Road North at each of the signalized intersections at Beatrice Street East and Grand Ridge Avenue to reduce traffic through the neighbourhood by providing an intentional U-turn option for drivers driving to or from the Subject Site.  To accommodate protected U-turns, both signalized intersections would need to be widened to include a third receiving lane to provide sufficient space for the U-turn movement to happen in a single stage.  Otherwise, a three-point turn may be required at the end of the movement for many vehicles, which would block the intersection and create an unsafe condition.  Widening the road would require the relocation of utility poles and the acquisition of property.  Implementing a split phase signal is not feasible due to the excessive traffic delays on Harmony Road North that would occur as a result.  For these reasons, advance protected U-turns cannot be provided at these intersections, and are not supported by the Region.

Lastly, between January 2024 and February 2024, Traffic and Streetlighting Services investigated the feasibility of a directional closure on Pinecrest Rd to prevent traffic exiting the proposed development from traveling east through the neighbourhood.  The Oshawa Neighbourhood Traffic Management Guide defines a directional closure as a curb extension or barrier which extends to the centerline of a road to prohibit traffic in one direction of travel for the purpose of reducing traffic volume.  The proposed directional closure would prevent drivers exiting the proposed development from travelling east through the existing neighbourhood; drivers would only be able to exit the development and travel west directly to Harmony Rd N.  Westbound traffic along Pinecrest Rd would be uninterrupted by the directional closure.

It was determined that the directional closure would create a safety risk as the low volume of traffic on Pinecrest Road will encourage drivers to disobey the closure by driving around it in the opposite lane, which has reduced visibility due to the horizontal and vertical curve of Pinecrest Road at this location.  The directional closure would also inconvenience existing residents residing beyond the closure, who would have to drive further to reach their homes, and would likely shift traffic onto other nearby streets.  It was also noted that the projected peak hour traffic volumes generated by the proposed development are not significant and that Pinecrest Road and Swiss Height will be able to accommodate the increased traffic.  The directional closure would have prevented 16 vehicle trips from the Subject Site during the morning peak hour and 9 trips from the Subject Site during the afternoon peak hour from driving east along Pinecrest Rd, but would have added trips from the existing neighbourhood onto portions of Pinecrest Road and other streets that would not have otherwise used those roads.  For these reasons, a directional closure on Pinecrest Road is not feasible.

As a result of these discussions and assessments, the Applicant has redesigned the proposal again to maintain one driveway access on Pinecrest Rd with no access of any sort directly onto Harmony Rd N.

The circumstances that prevent a full movement driveway on Harmony Road N exist regardless of the number of residential units or the types of units proposed in the development. In the event the revised applications are approved, traffic calming measures in the existing neighbourhood can be explored once the proposed development is complete and speeding issues, if any, can be assessed to determine appropriate mitigation measures.

Last year a number of rural community members very concerned about speeding on Raglan Rd. W (which is a Regional Rd #5 advocated for a speed camera. With support from Durham Region Police, the Ward Councillors and Oshawa traffic technologist staff, the Region added Raglan Rd. W. to its list of Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) camera locations. 

Recently Hamlet of Raglan residents commented on social media how when the camera was up traffic slowed, but now with it gone aggressive speeding is a problem once again.  

I indicated how the Raglan Rd. W. camera is on a rotation with other Regional roads and promised to find out the plan for when it returns, as well as more details about the camera program, with some specific ASE data with respect to Raglan Rd. West. 

The Region has 14 cameras in total (6 mobile and 8 fixed) with 2 additional fixed cameras coming in 2024 (These 2 are carry over locations from the Region's 2023 approved budget – one in Oshawa on Simcoe St. S. by Harbour Rd near the Lake – and another one in Uxbridge/Goodwood).

There are an additional 6 cameras in the Region put into operation by the Town of Ajax and City of Pickering (3 each).

SIDE NOTE: The City of Oshawa recently passed a motion that it will be investigate a plan to install cameras on its local roads, but it does not appear to be too imminent for perhaps 2 reasons --
1/ the set up  and operational cost for a City owned program (especially given that Oshawa Council last month approved advancing plans for an unfunded 150 million$+ new community centre at Thornton Rd. N. and Britannia Rd. W (which will also require 12 million$+ to construct the missing bridge connecting Britannia Rd. W  to Thornton Rd. N.) and
2/ the backlog in processing tickets with the service provider that the Region and City of Toronto have been experiencing. Also, although the Region's arrangement with its lower tier municipalities was to have a 60-40 split of the AES program revenue, the City of Oshawa has received no funds from the Region program to date. In my opinion it's a bit of a mystery how that is.

The Region's 2024 budget, just approved last week, did not include any additional funds for new enforcement cameras this year.

They have 6 mobile cameras covering about 40 sites so the rotation period can be longer than 90 days.

About fixed cameras – with no approved new cameras in the 2024 budget, the earliest they will be doing any additional fixed sites would be 2025.

In the 3 months the speed camera was operational on Raglan Rd. W. officers issued 989 charges from 1716 incidents of speeding...considered a fairly typical charge rate since there are many reasons why a recorded speeding event may not result in a charge (for example: unreadable, missing or obscured licence plates).

The highest recorded speed was 97 km/hr, almost double the road's posted 50km/hr speed limit. According to the Region, there were modest reductions in the average speed of traffic while the camera was in place. They plan to have the camera back in the fall –and I'm told they generally see better results in the 2nd and 3rd deployments of a camera to the same location.

Note: picture below is an example of a ASE camera, but not from the Hamlet of  Raglan, Durham Regional Rd. No. 5.