Prior St Pilot

July 21, 2021

On July 8, 2021, we met with city staff to discuss progress on the Calm Prior Pilot Project and recent work done: crosswalks, art cars, speed reader boards, etc. Below is a follow-up memo we sent them on July 21 about work that still needs to be done.

24/7 Parking Along the Park

We reached out to residents living along Prior about removing the nighttime parking restrictions along Strathcona Park. Everyone who responded agreed it would be a good idea with a few caveats: 

(1) there needs to be something at the west end of the park to keep speeding cars from hitting parked cars (the ART trailers do assist in this for now, but there needs to be a permanent fix.)

(2) there needs to be enforcement of the “no long term occupied RV parking” bylaw. 

Westbound Right Turn Lane onto Campbell

Everyone who responded agreed this is a good idea. Several residents noted that vehicles are using the right lane between the jersey barrier and Campbell to pass.

Additional Calming Measures 

The one strategy that has noticeably helped to slow traffic is restricting it to a single lane between Raymur and Malkin/Jackson, as called for in the original Council motion.  In addition to the improvements noted above, we recommend the following:

  •  Eastbound, traffic coming off the viaduct does not get the merge message until they see cars parked after Malkin. We recommend making it clearer sooner that cars need to merge and restrict the right lane before Malkin to right turn only. 
  •  We recommend moving the speed reader just after the viaduct to Heatley, just before the 30 KPH zone begins. Presently, the 50 kph sign above the reader is covered. Having a speed reader in the 50 kph zone makes no sense. 
  • The painted crosswalks send the message that vehicles are driving through a residential neighbourhood. Can we add Welcome to Strathcona signage to re-enforce this message?

Hospital Truck Traffic 

We’re working with PCL to keep excavation trucks off Prior, but they’ve told us that temporary re-timing of traffic lights at Terminal and Clark would help prevent backups that would force them to use other routes.

Cut Through Traffic on Glen and Campbell during train crossings

This remains a problem that needs to be addressed before somebody gets hit. At minimum, adding a few of the calming barriers that the city put out during the CoVid lockdown would help.

Closing Hawks

We strongly recommend closing Hawks off to truck traffic in either direction. There are well documented safety, noise and pollution problems with having large diesel trucks operating this close to public park. Plus, it obstructs traffic flow on Prior. Trucks need to get into the habit of using Malkin, Raymur or Parker.