good neighbour policy for transit project planning & construction · to help protect your...

Good Neighbour Policy for Transit Project Planning & Construction

David Nagler – Head of Community & Stakeholder RelationsCEO’s OfficeToronto Transit Commission

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PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

The Challenge: How to win acceptance from communities for vital transit projects?

• TTC’s Good Neighbour Policy

• Policy in Action: Case Study – TTC’s Subway Second Exit Program

• Conclusions

Community Relations - 2019

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COMMUNITY OPPOSITION TO TRANSIT

• Transit project planning and construction is not for the faint hearted

Salt Lake City protestors fear LRT will kill their children


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WHY A GOOD NEIGHBOUR POLICY?

• Transit project construction can impact communities significantly • Private property impacts to residents and businesses

• Road closures, transit and traffic impacts, noise, dust

• Need meaningful involvement


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ELEVATOR CONSTRUCTION – MAKING A STATION ACCESSIBLE

• Caisson installation

• Excavation directly beside homes

• Vibration monitoring Community Relations - 2019

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WOODBINE STATION ELEVATOR AND SECOND EXIT PROJECT


• Temporary porches during construction

• Access maintained

• Property agreements with homeowners

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WOODBINE ELEVATOR AND SECOND EXIT


• Properties restored on project completion

• Restoration completed in consultation with property owners

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TTC’S VISION“A transit system that makes Toronto Proud”


HOW?

• By Building, Improving & Expanding transit infrastructure to provide excellent service

• Good Neighbour Policy

• Successful construction projects are: high quality, on time, on budget, with public support

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GOOD NEIGHBOUR POLICY – PRINCIPLES

• Engage public in the vision, goals, benefits of improved transit

• Consult elected officials, impacted communities and TTC riders

• Community Relations staff advocate for communities in planning, design and construction phases

• Timely, accurate public information and two-way communication

• Balance interests of transit riders, local community, residents across the city


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GOOD NEIGHBOUR POLICY - CORE VALUES

Pro-active

Inclusive

Accessible

Transparent


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PRO-ACTIVE

• Presentations to City Councillors, community and business orgs, early communication

• Personal visits to neighbours, businesses, schools

• Alert project team early to key issues/risks and provide solutions


“They picked the right individual, he can relieve frustrations of business owners and residents by

providing answers in real time from people with power

to make decisions.” - Business Improvement Area Chair

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INCLUSIVE

• Multi-lingual communication

• In person, online, print

• Sensitivity to local communities


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ACCESSIBLE & TRANSPARENT

• Community offices for major capital projects

• Meetings outside of business hours

• Input to planning & construction teams on local sensitivities and potential solutions

• Explain how public input helped improve project & why some input cannot be implemented


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COMMUNITY LIAISON OFFICER (CLO)

• Public Face of major projects

• Bridges TTC’s professional engineering team and communities

Project Team CLO Public

• Stakeholder analysis

• Construction impact mitigation

• Transit, pedestrian access & traffic management reviews

• Communications


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COMMUNITY LIAISON OFFICER (CLO)

• Liaise with engineering & construction teams, outside agencies

• Coordinate Site Safety Walks, facilitate working groups for major projects

• Correspondence Tracking & Issues Management


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PRO-ACTIVE COMMUNICATION

Assessed on individual project basis• Face-to-Face - relationship building

• Web, social media

• Newsletters

• Media Releases, Politician briefings

• Ads: newspapers, online, vehicles

• Station Signage


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REPORTING

• Issues Reports for major projects

• Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) to track issues & trends


Case Study Second Subway Exit Planning and Consultation Chester Station

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LINE 2 – BLOOR DANFORTH HISTORY

• Streetcars replaced by subway in 1966

• Line 2 Stations (Keele to Woodbine) were built with one entrance/exit

• Subway tunnel runs under residential streets, parallel to Danforth Ave

• Daily Line 2 ridership: 527 640Community Relations - 2019

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ABOUT CHESTER STATION• Opened in 1966 as one of the original stations on Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth Subway)• Residential neighbourhood - bordered to the south by busy Greektown Danforth

businesses


Saganaki, OPA!

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CHESTER STATION NEIGHBOURHOOD


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WHAT ARE SECOND EXITSThree key functions:

• As a primary exit if the main exit is blocked in an emergency

• As an additional exit in an emergency• As a daily convenience to customers as a dual exit/entrance


1997 rail pads fire at Donlands Station Two thousand customers evacuated

May 2016, evacuation at Keele Station

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WHAT MAKES A SECOND EXIT• Must provide a continuous route from platform level to street level

• Completely separate route from existing concourse and entrance


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SECOND EXIT PROGRAM

• Most subway stations have more than one exit; all new TTC stations are built with at least two exits

• Fire & Life Safety Assessment Study identified 14 priority stations needing a second exit.

Six are complete, eight to be built: Chester, College, Donlands, Dundas, Dundas West, Greenwood, Museum and Summerhill


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SECOND EXITS - CONSIDERATIONS

Effective second exits must provide:

• A fast way out of the station

• Convenience to encourage day-to-day use and familiarity in an emergency

• Integration into the neighbourhood


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SECOND EXIT PLANNING AND CONSULTATION PROCESSPhased approach to planning:

Phase 1:Develop Evaluation Framework

Phase 2:Location planning at stations

Phase 3:Design of second exits


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PHASE 1 - DEVELOPING THE FRAMEWORK

• TTC convened panel of voluntary 3rd independent experts:

o architects, planners, academics, construction experts & neighbours

to develop an Evaluation Framework

• The Evaluation Framework is a tool to assist Volunteer Working Groups in

evaluating potential second exit locations


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LOCAL WORKING GROUPS (LWG)

• One Local Working Group per station

• Public call for applications

• Members selected by the 3rd party Expert Panel

• 10 to 15 members including:o Local residents, TTC Riders, Business owners/workers, Business Association reps

o Community Groups, Agencies, Institution reps


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PHASE 2: LOCATION PLANNING

1. Set up Local Working Group

2. Working group develops Second Exit options – identifies potential locations

3. Evaluate all options based on framework

4. Working Group Recommendation for Station Second Exit location

5. Expert Panel reviews recommendation

Report to TTC Board on site recommendations


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FRAMEWORK - CATEGORIES

Equally weighted categories:

• Safety• Permanent community impact – Second Exit Building • Temporary community impact – Construction Period • Customer experience• Cost

• Scoring is done through comparative ranking of options in each category


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OPTION A – CHESTER AVENUE WEST SIDE OF GREEN P PARKING LOT


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OPTION B – ARUNDEL GREEN P PARKING LOT


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OPTION C – CARROT COMMON PARKING LOT


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OPTION D – 15 ARUNDEL (LOGAN AVENUE PARKETTE)


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OPTION E – 410-412 DANFORTH


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OPTION F – 22 CHESTER AVENUE PARKING LOT


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OPTION G – 3 CHESTER AVENUE


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HOW DID THE LOCAL WORKING GROUP ARRIVE AT A FINAL RECOMMENDATION?

• Each volunteer completed and submitted an individual ranking confidentially

• The local working group then discussed and ranked the options as a group

• Though not required, the Local Working Group reached a consensus


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OVERALL SCORES and CONSENSUS RANKINGOVERALL SCORE

Option A Chester Ave West side ofGreen P Parking Lot

Option BArundel Green P Parking Lot

Option C CarrotCommon Parking Lot

Option D15 Arundel(Logan Avenue Parkette)

Option E410-412 Danforth

Option F22 Chester Ave Parking Lot (behind Station)

Option G(3 ChesterAvenue CommericalProperty)

SAFETY 6 4 7 5 3 2 1

Community Impact - Long Term

7 6 4 3 5 2 1

Community Impact CONSTRUCTION

7 6 3 4 1 5 2

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 3 7 5 6 5 1 2

COST 7 5 6 2 3 4 1

OVERALL SCORE 30 28 25 20 17 14 7


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PHASE 3: SECOND EXIT DESIGN CONSULTATION

• Community invited to submit ideas for design

• Desire for building to reflect character of neighbouring homes & bicycle parking

• Stone and brick pedestals, natural wood finish reflect character of community, clear sightlines and improved pedestrian walkway

• Design well supported and construction is well underway


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DONLANDS STATION SECOND EXIT


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SUMMARY

• Good Neighbour Policy is vital for meaningful engagement in Planning, Design, and Construction phases of projects for most impacted communities

• Incorporate reasonable community input to win public understanding and support

• Must have senior management support and a Corporate Culture that puts customers and neighbours first, to make a Good Neighbour Policy meaningful in practice


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THANK YOU

This powerpoint may or may not have been sponsored by your 2019 NBA Champion Toronto Raptors #WetheNorth


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END


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APPENDIX 1

FRAMEWORK


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FRAMEWORK - SAFETY


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FRAMEWORK – LOCAL COMMUNITY IMPACT –SECOND EXIT


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LOCAL COMMUNITY IMPACT – SECOND EXIT


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FRAMEWORK – LOCAL COMMUNITY IMPACT -CONSTRUCTION


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FRAMEWORK – CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE


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FRAMEWORK - COST


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COMMUNITY ART PARTNERSHIPS• Engaged youth, local artists, residents, and City Councillors to create murals at

major construction sites• Celebrated local history and communicated TTC accessibility initiatives for

multiple subway stations


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Background Info (Community Relations by Project Phase)


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CLO & PROJECT TEAM PARTNERSHIP

Planning Stage – (Transit Project Assessment)


Project Team CLO (Community Liaison Officer)• provides scope, key objectives, planning documents to CLO • invite CLO to participate early in work plan development

• develops consultation plan • identifies stakeholders/influencers• prepares messaging, website content• event logistics and reporting• brief team on key community concerns

• defines what decisions are already made and what public can still influence

• identifies anticipate issues, conflicts, and potential resolutions• oversees pro-active public outreach and correspondence

• provides technical data and key facts to CLO • prepares briefing packages, FAQs, handout materials, web content

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CLO & PROJECT TEAM PARTNERSHIP

Design and Pre-Construction Stage


Project Team CLO• presents station designs • provides rationale for major changes to plan • compared to EA (e.g. station locations,

entrances) • define what aspects of design are flexible • attends public events to answer technical

questions

• coordinates public events for station designs 10%-30% and 60%-90% TBD

• reports community feedback to project team • communicates project team’s rationale to public • develops web content, online consultation

• provides disruption management plan, construction staging plan for review

• identifies specific locations with sensitive impacts• attends BIA and community group meetings to

prepare them for disruption & get feedback • provides community suggestions to project team

to enhance disruption management

• provides drawings and confirms staging details for 3D visuals of construction (e.g. west launch)

• coordinates with team to produce 3D Visuals of construction phasing for web, meetings, briefings

• confirms technical details, key facts • prepares facts sheets, newsletters etc

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CLO & PROJECT TEAM PARTNERSHIPConstruction Stage


Project Team CLO• shares contract scope and key details with CLO • writes community relations plans in parallel with

each contract

• provides rep at Construction Liaison Group meetings to answer technical construction questions (bi-weekly)

• forms, facilitates and manages Construction Liaison Groups (CLG)

• provides a technical expert for Site Walks • (3 times per year)

• hosts Site Walks for media, local politicians and key business reps

• assists CLO in resolving public complaints (orders to contractor, provide technical facts)

• oversees complaints response monitoring and provides weekly reports to project team

• monitors effectiveness of Disruption Management plan

• visits all properties and businesses adjacent to construction regularly to give updates

• oversees Community Office

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