Live Coverage: Hamilton City Council Public Works Committee

1:49 PM:

The meeting begins with two delegations in opposition to the closure of a public alleyway on Overfield Street.
Delegate Nancy Greenspoon focused her delegation on a privately-acquired arborist report that states there is a Black Walnut tree on the boundary of the land in question which would likely require removal for future development if the City approves the sell of the alleyway.

Delegate Susanna Duft states selling the alleyway would be an act of “colonialism” by replacing open public space with “capitalist” focused private development and furthers the idea of the Doctine of Discovery by the Crown (the municipality) claiming ownership of the land and selling it.

Duft has submitted a petition with over 30 signatures.

2:00 PM:

Delegations are complete. The motion on the floor for today’s meeting is to retain the alleyway pending further staff review. (Which is going to result in keeping the alleyway, because every Ward 13 candidate has committed to doing so.)

Now onto the staff presentation regarding the City’s extension of Vision Zero for another six years.

The new Vision Zero Plan maintains the current policy of allowing HSR public transit managers to veto safety measures. The HSR vetoes right turn on red restrictions at any intersection that buses make right turns.

2:11 PM:

==Councillor questions to staff==

2:19 PM:

First questions will be from Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch: what analysis are staff using to determine where pedestrian safety improvements are implemented. Kroetsch notes the large number of pedestrians in the Downtown area.

Response from Vincent Sferrazza, Director of Transportation Operations & Maintenance, provided a generic answers without any specifics.

Second question is regarding the “tension” between the “movement of vehicles and pedestrians”
How is the City dealing with that and being proactive about pedestrian safety, noting he sees a lot of discussion of actions after fatalities occur in the report.

Response from Vincent Sferrazza,was generate: engagement, public feedback, and statistics.

Asks for Mike Field, Manager of Transportation Operations, to provide more details. Field says that staff review a lot of data, and also the dynamics of an area. For example, the City is proactively implementing leading pedestrian intervals in downtown areas, “not waiting for a collision to happen, not waiting for a fatality to happen.”
He says the City will be implementing no right-turn on red in more areas of the City as part of the new Vision Zero Plan.

Third question from Kroetsch: Is the City going to do randomized spot checks of intersections or other measures to have staff observe areas first-time, and to address “gaps” in data and information.

Mike Field: says he likes the question, says staff do “a lot of work behind the scenes” to go beyond statistics and are “out there” getting more data that may “not be visible.” They are “out there” replacing traffic signal controllers, they replaced over 200 controllers in a year to be able to implement leading pedestrian intervals and other traffic timing controls for road safety.
“We need to do a better job in telling the community what we are doing” saying they need to be more proactive with comms instead of reactive.

2:29 PM:

Now asking questions is Ward 4 Councillor Tammy Hwang:

In Ward 4, there are are several “problematic” intersections where cars are leaving the roadway and colliding into buildings. Cites Ottawa Street and Cannon Street, Graham Avenue and King Street.

Asks staff to share who they prioritize their work.

Mike Field, Manager of Transportation Operations, responds that staff collect a great deal of data, and uses a ranking methods to determine where they are responding to.

There were a discussion back and forth between Hwang and staff regarding the range of available measures.

2:36 PM:

Ward 12 Councillor Craig Cassar opens his remarks/questions by noting the “number one” issue his office hears about from the community is road safety.
He says there have been six road fatalities in Ward 12 during this Council term [since Nov. 15 2022], pauses.
Cassar than lists statistics about the societal and economic costs resulting from road injuries.
Cites some of the work other municipalities, such as Winnipeg’s temporary narrowing of street widths to collect data to determine effectiveness/impacts of measures.

Response from Vincent Sferrazza, Director of Transportation Operations & Maintenance, begins by noting that staff could do more if they had more resources. Then discusses how staff are working, the efforts to design better streets before construction and re-construction projects.

Mike Field, Manager of Transportation Operations, says one of the challenges is that many of Hamilton’s intersections were designed with the car in mind, and focused on traffic flow. The City is working to redesign intersections when reconstruction and significant capital works. The City does its best to implement measures to address safety within existing intersections.

2:40 PM:

Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson opens by stating it is a “pity” that not all members of Council are present for this meeting.

Continues by citing the average number of gun deaths in Hamilton, 5 per year, and the number of road deaths, 13 per year, and yet measures to implement road safety measures are criticized as a “war on cars.” Say the City has a responsible to save lives, both for people walking and people in vehicles.

Question is how much is the City spending on roadway safety?

Response from Vincent Sferrazza, Director of Transportation Operations & Maintenance, says the Vision Zero plan is $2.3-billion. Says city staff are always looking for provincial and federal funding opportunities.

2:47 PM:

Note: liveblog notes on this topic will now focus on new information in staff responses.

Ward 11 Councillor Mark Tadeson is now providing this comments/questions. He focuses on the implement of “rural community safety zones” to address speeding and other unsafe behaviours in areas with rural populations.

2:53 PM:

Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann begins her remarks by thanking staff. Requests more information regarding how Public Works staff work with Hamilton Public Health.

Then asks staff if they envision Council members on the new Vision Zero sub-committee. Staff state it can be a Council sub-committee.

3:06 PM:

Now on Item 7.1 “Strengthening Pedestrian and Roadway Safety” which is an information report.

Within the report: the Hamilton Police Service’s submission states speeding charges falling sharply, from about 32,800 in 2021 to about 8,000 in 2025 during the years Automated Speed Enforcement cameras were active. The Ontario Conservative government banned ASE cameras last year.

The staff report notes that roadway safety outcomes aren’t shared equally across Hamilton: public health data shows higher pedestrian and cyclist injury rates in areas facing greater socioeconomic marginalization. In verbal comments, staff emphasis they are making “equity-based decisions” in all matters.

3:38 PM:

Council is now on the 2025 annual Waterwater Bypass report.

There were 20 overflow events at the Woodward treatment plant. There were 0 events at the Dundas treatment plant.

Woodward’s 2025 bypass volume of 2,852 megalitres is about 37 per cent above its five-year average, but staff describe this as more typical of historical averages.

3:42 PM:

Council is now on the issue of the Dundas alleyway at Overfield Street. The motion is for further staff review of the alleyway with a report back from staff within 24 months.

3:45 PM:

Now on Item 8.2, the closure of a portion of the alleyway beside 154 Mountville Avenue. The owner of 154 wants to close and buy a strip of unassumed alleyway, to widen their driveway.

This is a public hearing. There are two pre-registered delegates:

Bill King and Mark Harrington.