Placemaking: Community Street Painting Program

CONCLUSION

Administration will establish a permanent Community Street Painting Program starting in 2019 following the successful Street Painting Pilot Project undertaken in 2017 and 2018.

This program will require community groups to apply for a permit and upon approval by Administration, be permitted to secure a temporary closure of a city road for a street painting event, subject to compliance with temporary street use permit requirements.

The recommended fee for an event is $400 per permit as proposed in Appendix A. The fee will ensure the cost of administering the application process is covered in addition to the provision of a temporary traffic control plan and the traffic control set up/tear down by City of Regina (City) operational staff.

BACKGROUND

In 2017, Administration undertook a Street Painting Pilot Project (Pilot Project) in collaboration with the Cathedral Area Community Association and Cathedral Village Arts Festival. The placemaking event saw members of the community gather on a temporarily closed portion of the roadway at the intersection of 14th Avenue and Montague Street to create a public art installation designed by the Neil Balkwill’s artist in residence, Brendan Schick. 

In 2018, Administration brought forward report CR18-36 “Placemaking: Street Painting Project Update” with the recommendation for an expansion of the Pilot Project as detailed in Appendix B.

At the April 30, 2018 City Council meeting, the following was passed:

1.      That City Council approve the expansion of the Street Painting Pilot Project up to a maximum of three additional locations in 2018. These locations will include Harbour Landing, Downtown Business Improvement District and the Warehouse Business Improvement District and are subject to the locations meeting the criteria of the Pilot Project.

2.      That City Council direct Administration to bring back a report in 2019 with the Pilot Project findings and any recommendations for a future program.

DISCUSSION

Regina’s Cultural Plan

Regina’s Cultural Plan defines placemaking as a holistic and community-driven approach to adaptive, inclusive and flexible public spaces through art and design. A street painting event contributes to placemaking by providing an opportunity for a community to gather for the purpose of a collaborative, artistic endeavour that provides a sense of community, inclusion or cultural representation.

Pilot Project Findings

The three locations shown in Table 1 were evaluated as part of the Pilot Project.

Table 1: Pilot Project Locations

The evaluation of the Pilot Project considered various factors including the rate of community participation and satisfaction, alignment to the goals of Regina’s Cultural Plan, impact to public safety, impact to traffic flow, paint quality/longevity and City cost implications.

Community Participation and Satisfaction

The events at each of these locations saw numerous participants engaged with the street painting events. The various projects demonstrated a diverse approach to placemaking. For example, the Cathedral area event engaged with the Neil Balkwill Artist in Residence Program in conjunction with Culture Days. Conversely, the Harbour Landing location was a youth-driven project at École Harbour Landing School and the Warehouse location was designed to match the character of the Warehouse Business Improvement District.

The rate of participation, positive feedback received from participants and the alignment with the City’s goals of fostering creativity, supporting the artistic and cultural community, strengthening social cohesion and expansion of events reflective of diverse community interests, was well met by all the respective projects.

Throughout the Pilot Project Administration has been in direct contact with the Warehouse Business Improvement District, Downtown Business Improvement District and the Cathedral Area Community Association as all these groups had shown a desire and interest in this type of project. Their interest and feedback has helped to form the recommendation of a permanent program.

Administration from Citizen Services and Community Services will continue to work together for both the determination of locations, as well as appropriateness of the artwork for approved placemaking locations.

Paint Longevity and Traffic Flow

The Pilot Project’s 2018 expansion permitted higher traffic locations than in 2017. An evaluation of the paint treatments at various locations confirmed that higher traffic volume directly correlated with a decreased quality and longevity of the artwork. The winter season was also highly detrimental to the artwork regardless of traffic volumes and as such future works should be expected to last for the year of completion only. Images of the paint treatments can be found in Appendix C.

All events included temporary traffic controls to provide a safe road closure and appropriate guidance was given to motorists to ensure safety.

The City did not observe and is not aware of any issues with tire traction on the painted surfaces. Applicants were required to source only pre-approved paint products that were mixed with silica sand for traction. Further to the inclusion of painted treatments with marked crosswalks, marked crosswalks were not determined to have noticeable motorist or pedestrian confusion.

Administration, through its research, is aware that forthcoming national standards may restrict the usage of certain colors on the roadway surface, particularly those colors restricted to specific traffic controls or bright color shades. Once these have been published, Administration will review these guidelines to ensure alignment with the City’s program.

Cost Implications

The City’s costs of Pilot Project events were determined to primarily be related to the provision of engineered traffic control plans and installation/removal of traffic control devices. Locations required the installation of parking restrictions in advance of the event to ensure an adequate, clear roadway for closures, as well as barricades and signage to inform motorists. These temporary traffic controls were required prior to and during the event and needed to remain in place after the event was complete to ensure the paint had adequately dried before reopening the road. Administration determined the average cost per location to undertake this was $400 per event. Therefore, Administration would be looking to charge a fixed rate of $400 per permit for a typical event to recoup direct costs and to provide cost certainty to community groups. Administration will continue to review these costs to ensure that they are appropriate in providing direct costs recovery only for City’s expenses.

In accordance with City Council’s approval of the expansion of the Pilot Project, organizers were required to cover all costs associated with the events, including the provision of temporary traffic controls. City costs were invoiced to organizers through a standard application for service process.

Administration receives numerous of requests for special events and temporary street use permits each year. Although the City does not typically charge special events for the use of the road right of way, it does for the costs associated with City provided services, such as any temporary traffic accommodations. Further, Administration does not currently have budget to provide these services without charges.

Program Recommendations

In accordance with the Pilot Project findings, Administration has determined that community interest, social benefit and the relative operational feasibility of the street painting events warrants the establishment of an official program.

To ensure the orderly review of applications, Administration will establish and communicate the deadline each year for program applications. Events may only be scheduled between May 1 and September 30 of each year. Locations choices may be restricted by Administration to accommodate construction activities or previously approved special events, in accordance with standard temporary street use approval processes.

A maximum of 20 applications will be approved annually to ensure the program can be effectively administered within the scope of existing budgets. Applications will be reviewed in the order they are received by Administration and upon approval of the maximum of events. Additional applications will not be considered.

Events approved through the program that wish to renew their artwork in subsequent years will be required to submit new applications annually for approval.

Administration recommends that a permit fee of $400 be established in Traffic Bylaw 9900 for street painting events, based on the Pilot Project findings. It was determined that a preestablished, fixed-rate fee is preferable and allows groups to better manage their event budgets when compared to variable rate contracts with post-event invoicing for actual expenditures. Should Administration determine a change to the $400 permit fee is required to ensure the program remains cost neutral for the City. Any proposed future fee changes would be brought forward to City Council for approval.

Administration will continue to review the program and adjust application requirements as needed to ensure compliance with national standards and adherence to industry best practices. This may include adjusting criteria to exclude restricted colors, imagery or other placement and proximity restrictions.

RECOMMENDATION IMPLICATIONS

Financial Implications

Administration costs associated with the establishment of the program and the provision necessary traffic control operations for the events will funded by applicants through the addition of a $400 permit fee for Street Painting in the Traffic Bylaw 9000.

Other costs associated with community street painting events will also be at the expense of the applicants, including but not limited to painting supplies, equipment and artist fees.

Limiting the number of approved program events each year to a maximum of 20 will ensure Administration does not require additional operating or capital budget funding for the provision of additional resources, material or equipment.

Environmental Implications

Paint products shall be specified by the City to ensure they meet the same environmental requirements as traffic paint used for City pavement markings.

Policy and/or Strategic Implications

The program is consistent with the Official Community Plan’s (OCP) goals of supporting cultural development and inclusion, specifically Section D8, Goal 1 - Support Cultural Development and Cultural Heritage.

It aligns with the Regina’s Cultural Plan by fostering creativity, strengthening social cohesion and supporting the artistic/cultural community and the expansion of festivals/events that reflect diverse community interests and needs. Furthermore, it aligns with the value of the innovation and responsiveness, as it demonstrates the City’s commitment to the development of policies and programs that respond to community needs.

Other Implications

None with respect to this report.

Accessibility Implications

None with respect to this report.

COMMUNICATIONS

Road closures to support placemaking events will be communicated though standard Administration processes as required, such as public service announcements. Organizations that are most likely to be interested in the program, including community associations and arts/cultural organizations, will be notified by Administration that the program was approved. Administration will also provide program information on Regina.ca and will respond to inquiries through Service Regina.

DELEGATED AUTHORITY

The recommendations contained in this report require City Council approval.

Report prepared by: Carolyn Kalim, Manager, Traffic Engineering