It was back to the drawing board for Port Moody transportation staff after interim solutions they recommended to unclog Murray Street in front of Rocky Point Park were “lambasted” by city council.
In May, council directed city staff to come up with ways to improve the movement of traffic while making it safer for pedestrians in time for the heavy summer season. The long-term plan calls for a traffic light at the foot of the Moody roundabout and a pedestrian light at the crosswalk that connects the park to Brewers Row and other businesses on the south side of Murray, but council wanted something done this summer to alleviate the congestion.
Mark Halpin, the city’s master transportation plan project manager, presented three options to council at its June 26 meeting:
• continue providing traffic management personnel to help pedestrians cross near the Moody overpass during heavy use times at a cost of $27,000;
• along with traffic control at the overpass, build a temporary pedestrian traffic signal and a series of other traffic flow changes at a cost of $130,000 to $190,000 (one of the suggested changes was to install continuous fencing on Murray to discourage jaywalking);
• or a combination of the traffic control and fencing for $37,000.
Mayor Mike Clay made the original request in May and made several suggestions for improving traffic flow.
“There’s nothing about this that addresses the concerns I brought forward,” Clay said at the meeting, calling the report a waste of money.
Coun. Rob Vagramov said he couldn’t support a temporary solution, especially one that includes fencing.
“Putting up fencing is going to make the area look like a construction site full-time,” said Vagramov, adding jaywalkers will still find a way around it.
He said the city also needs to look at the design of the park’s parking lot in the long term.
Coun. Diana Dilworth said she doubted the status quo option would address the concern, and she didn’t like the fencing either.
“I don’t know what the solution is right now but I do think we have to do something short-term to address our residents’ concerns,” she said.
Clay told The Tri-City News last week that staff, after getting “lambasted,” promised to present other options to council. The subject, however, was not on the agenda for Tuesday’s council meeting.
“There’s lots of stuff that can be done there,” said Clay. “There’s ways to get it done, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of will to get it done.”
Clay said he’d also like to see the long-term solutions fast tracked. Halpin’s report said work on the Murray-Moody interchange light is expected to begin in January. It has a budget of $525,000. Installation of the pedestrian traffic signal, at a projected cost of $225,000, should begin by next spring.
The report said work on extending the Murray Street off-street pathway from Electronic Avenue to the east end of the Rocky Point Park parking lot, at a cost of $775,000, is planned for this summer. Water main replacement work along the south side of Murray is set for 2019.
