City looks to pin down the science behind drive-thrus
The city is looking to gather input from the public on how to make drive-thrus in the city work better. A report from city staff indicated the biggest source of drive-thru-related congestion during the morning rush hour outside of coffee shops.
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
City staff are looking to help you get your morning coffee a little easier.
When designed correctly, drive-thrus can be the essence of convenience. However, when they are not, they can lead to traffic jams, clogged parking lots, and a whole line of frustrated, under-caffeinated drivers. And to date, both the City of Oshawa and the Region of Durham have no guidelines for the construction of these modern contraptions.
For that reason, city staffers have spent the last seven months exploring and studying the city’s drive-thrus to find what works and what doesn’t.
“Each one of them comes with their challenges,” says Paul Ralph, the city’s commissioner of development services, “depending on traffic safety considerations, design, (or) compatibility with adjacent land uses.”
Starting this past October, council approved a moratorium on the construction of drive-thrus in the city’s most dense areas, spurred on by a proposed Tim Hortons drive-thru on the southeast corner of Rossland Road and Thornton Road that threatened to clog the residential streets in the area of Prestwick Drive.
The city’s study looked at all of the municipality’s 43 drive-thru facilities, which include 17 fast food restaurants, 11 coffee shops, 14 financial institutions and one pharmacy.
To the surprise of nobody, the biggest congestion was found during the morning rush hours outside coffees shops.
Currently, the city has no policies to prevent such a problem, which can be found outside the Tim Hortons drive-thru on Bloor Street, east of Simcoe Street South, where the lineup can snake on to the busy road.
“The city’s land use planning instruments have not kept up with the proliferation of drive-through facilities and do not effectively address the location and development of drive-through facilities,” the city’s draft report reads.
Previously, drive-thru developments were dealt with on a case-by-case basis using the city’s official plan policies that, according to Ralph, are very “high-level” and act as general guidelines. Now, staff are looking to get a little more precise.
“We want to really hone in and have specific direction and policies,” he says.
Now, the city is looking to gather the public’s comments on certain potential policies to help ease the traffic problems that come with drive-thrus. Potential policies include requiring a certain number of parking spaces for those waiting on food, and possibly restricting the movement of vehicles in and out of drive-thrus onto main roads to stop the back-up that occurs with cars waiting to exit onto busy streets.
If approved by council, the draft report recommends holding a public open house in the near future to gather comments to be included with any final report and recommendations.
The results of a vote from council were unavailable prior to press time.