PORT HAWKESBURY: Traffic data from the summer will be included in an upcoming study of the Destination Reeves Street project.
In response to a question from Port Hawkesbury Town Councillor Blaine MacQuarrie, CAO Terry Doyle told the April 5 regular monthly meeting that the traffic study will conclude in September.
The CAO said the cost-sharing agreement for the study with Nova Scotia Public Works has been signed. Under the deal, Doyle said the town would pay 25 per cent of the costs of the survey, approximately $5,000, while the province would pay the remaining 75 per cent.
Doyle said the agreement will fund a telephone survey conducted by Narrative Research. He said the study is being conducted by public works with oversite by a local committee of councillors, emergency response agencies (RCMP, Emergency Health Services, the Port Hawkesbury Volunteer Fire Department), along with town staff, and residents.
“The study is reviewing traffic data including accident statistics, speeds, effectiveness of intersections, business entrances and exits, and public input,” the CAO noted.
Doyle said the town and public works will start the survey this month. He said last month, this includes lane changes, as well as streetscaping and façade improvements on Reeves Street.
MacQuarrie said in March that the survey will inform the final report which will impact future priorities like improved signage on Reeves Street to warn of lane changes at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, and warning of the crossing lights at the intersection of Old Sydney Road and MacSween Street.
Noting that the province owns Reeves Street, Town Councillor Hughie MacDougall said last month that “the facts are not all there,” when it comes to the road diet for the town’s main thoroughfare.
Because the province said the survey is the last stage and “would conclude the project,” Town Councillor Mark MacIver did not support the cost-share agreement last month. He recalled that the town was supposed to receive a report from the province, which was put off due to COVID-19. Because traffic rates in the town were down during the past two years of the pandemic, MacIver expects more traffic this summer.
The CAO responded in March that traffic figures from the past two years were “very similar” from previous years, an assertion that was backed up by MacQuarrie and Deputy Warden Jason Aucoin.
Doyle said last month that he wasn’t sure how public works would react to a delay and this could involve extra costs.
“Narrative Research has been delayed a number of times on this project due to circumstances mostly beyond council’s control. Concern was raised with respect to costs increases and completion of the survey because of the effect of further delays resulting from a potential amendment to what was considered a final version of the cost-sharing agreement,” the CAO noted last week. “The town and province are now awaiting a revised schedule and final estimate of costs from Narrative Research. We fully expect the survey to be conducted within the coming weeks. Information will be provided to town residents prior to the survey roll out.”
After last week’s meeting, the mayor added that the survey will be as extensive as the project.
“It was about making Reeves Street a street for everybody, and not just people that are driving behind a wheel. It’s about the walkers, the bikers, all of the ways that people move. People that have mobility challenges that require an active transportation trail to be able to get from Point A to Point B,” she added. “It’s about safety at the intersections, and really it’s the entire product that is Destination Reeves Street.”