A resident’s concerns.
I am writing to you regarding the new proposed development at 44-56-76 Arkell Road. Residing on Malvern Crescent I am concerned with the following issues related to this new development:
1) Accessibility to the road given the proposed entry/exit directly across from our road as well as another entry/exit to the west across from the future location for the Arkell Road Bible Chapel driveway.
2) Insufficient Visitors parking for the new proposed development at 44-56-76 Arkell Road.Currently it is becoming more and more difficult to exit off Malvern Crescent onto Arkell Road due to the traffic volume. The sight distance for making a left turn is not good and as confirmed in the report submitted by Paradigm Transportation Solutions where they note that the sight distance requirements are not met. They have recommended a sign stating hidden intersection ahead and a flashing light be installed as well as reducing the speed limit to 40km/h. Currently, there is a sign on Arkell Road noting the hidden intersection. I can assure you it does not seem to in any way slow traffic down that is travelling to the East on Arkell Road from Gordon Street. By making another entry/exit directly across from our road will only add to the difficulty of getting out of our road. The pictures provided in the report from Paradigm Transportation Solutions don’t give you the full perspective of the sightlines when attempting to turn off Malvern onto Arkell Road as the view to the West is quite restricted and their photos are not taken from the top of Malvern Crescent where a vehicle would exit. They appear to be taken on the roadway. By the time you see the car coming at you from Malvern Crescent you must already be fully in process of turning out of the road or you may be hit. (85m view not the 170 recommended distance noted in their report). This view is significantly reduced in poor weather conditions such as snow. You could barely see over the snowbanks this winter (as with other years) to see cars coming during the day. They were quite close when you did see them and with there being so much snow and ice on the road you often were in a bad spot trying to get on to Arkell Road without getting hit due to spinning tires and sliding on the snowy roads. Please re-look at the recommendations on this entry/exit point and the recommended measures to deal with traffic slowing as I personally don’t think they will be effective.
My second concern is that given the number of units being built in this new development there does not appear to be a great deal of visitors parking. This in addition to the new development of townhouses going in beside the Arkell Road Bible Chapel adds up to one thing: Malvern Crescent and Ridgeway Avenue will be getting all the overflow traffic for parking from these two new developments. This is sure to cause problems for residents on these streets similar to when the Brock Road School was in use as a primary school. During that time there were often so many cars on the street during pick up and drop off times you couldn’t back out of your driveway. Couple this with a narrow street, School Busses and the City of Guelph Mobility Transportation vehicles on our street several times a day equals problems with traffic congestion. This past winter I complained on more than one occasion to the City of Guelph regarding the plowing and street access. It was so poor that frequently if the School Bus and the City Mobility Transportation vehicles were on the street at the same time one often had to back into a residential driveway or climb their vehicle onto a snowbank to pass the other. If you entered the street at the same time as a garbage truck or delivery vehicle you had to pull into a driveway to let it pass. There were several weeks where two cars could not pass on the road. It is not acceptable or desirable for our street to become a congested parking lot with overflow parking from these new developments due to a lack of visitor parking being incorporated into their initial building plans. This will pose a danger to residents on the street including the kids walking to the bus stops on Malvern and Ridgeway as we do not have sidewalks. It will also prove challenging for emergency services if required, to back out of your driveway or to navigate the street if people choose to park on both sides as happened when the school was open. Until now, this has not been a problem as the traffic volume has been limited to mostly residents but I fear if this changes it will become a huge problem. Please readdress the additional parking needs required for this new development so the building site accommodates a more reasonable number of spaces.My overall concerns with respect to this new development come down to one thing the safety for residents in the Malvern Crescent and Ridgeway Avenue area. I fear it is going to be compromised by the above two points.
Enclosures include photo of current sign stating hidden intersection, photo and video (via one drive) taken last week at exit point from Malvern Cres. facing West.JC
