May 30, 2012 Mr. Robert Haslett Haslett Construction Inc. 529 Roosevelt Avenue Ottawa, ON K2A 1Z9 Dear Mr Haslett: RE : 923 Bronson Avenue Transportation Assessment We are pleased to provide you with the following Transportation Assessment for the proposed residential development at 923 Bronson Avenue. Proposed Development The proposed development is located on the east side of Bronson Avenue between Fifth Avenue and Holmwood Avenue in the City of Ottawa. The site is made up of four existing lots and is occupied by two semi-detached, two-storey residential brick buildings which have been vacated and are slated for demolition. The proposed development will consist of a 5-storey residential structure and provide 43 rental units. A total of 30 below-grade parking stalls will be provided on two levels. Access to the property will be via an unsignalized, all-movements intersection with Bronson Avenue at the northern site boundary. The below-grade parking area will also include two secure bike lockers that will accommodate up to 27 bicycles. According to Zoning By-law 2008-250, the minimum requirements for the number of vehicular and bicycle parking stalls have either been met or exceeded. Details of the proposed development are included in APPENDIX 1. 400-333 Preston Street, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5N4, Canada (613) 241-3300, FAX (613) 241-1130 IBI Group is a group of companies providing professional services and is affiliated with IBI Group Architects. Transportation Assessment – 923 Bronson Avenue - 2 - May 30, 2012 Existing Road Network Bronson Avenue is an urban arterial roadway that extends from Sparks Street to Heron Road which then transitions to Airport Parkway south of Heron Road. It has a four-lane undivided cross-section and posted speed limit of 50km/h within the study area. South of the Rideau Canal, these characteristics change to accommodate higher speeds and volumes as the corridor provides a city-wide link to the Ottawa Airport and communities to the south. The intersection of Bronson Avenue/Fifth Avenue/Madawaska Drive is located approximately 75m north of the proposed site access driveway. It is a four-way signalized intersection with no auxiliary lanes. The posted speed limit of both Fifth Avenue and Madawaska Drive is 40km/h. Fifth Avenue is a neighbourhood collector road which provides a link to Bank Street; a north-south arterial parallel to Bronson Avenue. The intersection of Bronson Avenue/Holmwood Avenue is a signalized T-intersection, approximately 150m south of the site access and has no auxiliary lanes. The southbound-left turning movement is restricted on weekdays from 7am-7pm to ease congestion on Bronson Avenue and reduce traffic on Holmwood Avenue, a designated local road. Existing Transit Service OC Transpo operates only one route within the study area, Route 4, which runs from Hurdman Transitway station to the Rideau Centre Transitway station via Bronson Avenue. Although it is the only route which provides service to the site, it operates on a full-day schedule (5am-12:30am) with a 15-minute headway on weekdays and a 20-minute headway during evenings and weekends. Route 4 can be accessed from bus stops at both Fifth Avenue and Holmwood Avenue. Existing Bicycle & Pedestrian Facilities South of Carling Avenue, Bronson Avenue is classified as a Spine or City-Wide Cycling Route, according to the Ottawa Cycling Plan, published in January 2008. Shared-use lanes/signed routes are proposed for Bronson Avenue, Fifth Avenue and Madawaska Drive. Bicycle lanes exist on Bronson Avenue between the Rideau Canal and Heron Road. Concrete sidewalks have been provided on all roads within the study area. The nearest signalized pedestrian crossings are 75m to the north at Bank/Fifth and 150m to the south at Bank/Holmwood. There are also a number of cycling and pedestrian linkages to the NCC’s pathway network along Dow’s Lake and the Rideau Canal. Existing Traffic Volumes Recent 2011 traffic volumes have been obtained from the City of Ottawa for the intersections of Bronson/Fifth and Bronson/Holmwood. As these volumes have been recorded less than 12 months prior to the undertaking of this study, they can be considered representative of current traffic conditions. Details of the existing (2012) traffic volumes in the study area can be found in APPENDIX 2. Traffic Generation Traffic Generation associated with the proposed development has been estimated based on data included in the publication, “Trip Generation”, 8th Edition, published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) in 2008. According to data presented for Land Use Code 220 (Apartment), based on 43 units, the development would be expected to generate approximately 22 trips in the weekday morning peak hour Transportation Assessment – 923 Bronson Avenue - 3 - May 30, 2012 and 27 trips in the weekday afternoon peak hour. The above rates are often reflective of highly- suburbanized areas with little to no access to public transit, therefore the number of trips generated by the proposed development may be less than what has been described above. The 2005 Origin-Destination Survey, published by iTRANS, indicates that automobile usage within the Ottawa Inner Area only accounts for 40-50% of peak hour traffic, while the remainder of trips are made by automobile passengers, public transit, walking or cycling. Given the above, it is estimated that the site will generate approximately 10 vehicles (2 inbound / 8 outbound) during the weekday morning peak hour and 12 vehicles (8 inbound / 4 outbound) during the weekday afternoon peak hour. Details of the Trip Generation data can be found in APPENDIX 3. Intersection Capacity Analysis The results of the intersection capacity analysis are as follows: Bronson Avenue / Fifth Avenue: . AM Peak Hour – Level of Service “C” (v/c=0.79) . PM Peak Hour – Level of Service “D” (v/c=0.81) Bronson Avenue / Holmwood Avenue: o AM Peak Hour – Level of Service “A” (v/c=0.60) o PM Peak Hour – Level of Service “C” (v/c=0.78) Bronson Avenue / Site Access: o AM Peak Hour – Level of Service “C” (delay=23s) o PM Peak Hour – Level of Service “E” (delay=44.9s) The results indicate that there is currently sufficient capacity on Bronson Avenue to the immediate north and south of the property to accommodate traffic by the development. During the weekday afternoon peak hour, the intersection of Bronson/Site Access will operate at close to its theoretical capacity as a result of delays to vehicles exiting the site. The low volume of traffic entering the site via the southbound-left movement during the weekday afternoon peak hour (4 veh/h) is not expected to result in significant delays to through-traffic on Bronson Avenue. Traffic signals both upstream and downstream of the proposed access driveway will provide an adequate amount of gaps to permit this movement. This is currently demonstrated by vehicles accessing numerous other properties along Bronson Avenue and requiring a similar turning movement. The intersection capacity analysis confirms this by indicating that on average there will be a negligible amount of delay to the southbound-left or the southbound-though movements. Details of the Intersection Capacity Analysis can be found in APPENDIX 4. Transportation Assessment – 923 Bronson Avenue - 4 - May 30, 2012 Visibility at Site Access A review of visibility at the location of the proposed site access has been conducted. The vertical alignment of Bronson Avenue is slightly depressed south of the site in the vicinity of Holmwood Avenue. There is unrestricted visibility of approaching northbound vehicles up to a distance of approximately 110m south of the site access. Visibility improves again south of Holmwood Avenue. To the north of the site, visibility is unrestricted. According to Geometric Design Guide for Canadian Roads, published by the Transportation Association of Canada, the minimum stopping sight distance for vehicles travelling on Bronson Avenue is 75-85m. The site access is visible at this distance for vehicles approaching from both the north and the south and therefore provides an adequate and safe stopping sight distance. It is recommended that only low-level landscaping be used within the City right-of-way south of the site access to maintain a clear line of sight to vehicles approaching from the south. Site Access Ramp Configuration The site access ramp will consist of two 3.0m wide lanes providing access to and egress from the below- grade parking facilities, which can be considered adequate for the low number of parking stalls that are proposed. The ramp’s drive aisle will be divided by columns which provide support to the structure above. Overhead clearance height of 2.8m will be provided. Conclusion The results of the intersection capacity analysis indicate that there is sufficient capacity on Bronson Avenue and at the signalized intersections immediately to the north and south of the proposed development site to accommodate the volume of traffic generated by the development. The site access will operate above its theoretical capacity during the weekday afternoon peak hour. Vehicles exiting the site during this time can expect delays of up to 45 seconds. Vehicles entering the site from the north during the weekday afternoon peak hour are not expected to encounter significant delays and therefore should not restrict flow to southbound through-traffic on Bronson Avenue beyond what can be considered reasonable. A sight-line analysis has demonstrated that there are no concerns with respect to visibility at the site access provided that no obstructions are introduced along the site frontage which would limit visibility. It is for that reason that only low-level landscaping be considered. The overall conclusion of this Transportation Assessment is that the traffic generated by the proposed development at 923 Bronson Avenue can be safely accommodated on the adjacent road network.