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1 Report to/Rapport au : Transportation Committee Comité des transports and Council / et au Conseil October 24, 2012 24 octobre 2012 Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager/Directrice municipale adjointe, Planning and Infrastructure/Urbanisme et Infrastructure Contact Person / Personne ressource: Vivi Chi, Manager/Gestionnaire, Transportation Planning/Planification des transports, Planning and Growth Management/Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance (613) 580-2424 x 21877, [email protected] Gloucester-South Nepean (22) Ref N°: ACS2012-PAI-PGM-0249 SUBJECT: BARRHAVEN TO RIVERSIDE SOUTH RAPID TRANSIT PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS OBJET : RECOMMANDATIONS DE L’ÉTUDE DE PLANIFICATION ET D’ÉVALUATION ENVIRONNEMENTALE POUR LE TRANSPORT EN COMMUN RAPIDE ENTRE BARRHAVEN ET RIVERSIDE-SUD REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS That the Transportation Committee recommend Council approve initiating the Transit Project Assessment Process in accordance with Ontario Environmental Assessment Act (Regulation 231/08) for the Barrhaven to Riverside South Bus Rapid Transit facilities as described in this report and supporting documents, including the preparation and filing of an Environmental Project Report for formal public review and comment. RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT Que le Comité des transports recommande au Conseil d’approuver le lancement du Processus d’évaluation des projets du transport en commun conformément à la Loi sur les évaluations environnementales de l’Ontario (Réglementation 231/08) concernant les installations du transport en commun rapide par autobus entre Barrhaven et Riverside-Sud, comme le décrivent le présent rapport et les documents d’appui, et d’approuver également la préparation et le dépôt d’un 2 rapport de projet environnemental qui servira à l’examen officiel et aux commentaires du public. Executive Summary Assumptions and Analysis The North-South Corridor LRT Project Environmental Assessment (N-S LRT EA) from Barrhaven Town Centre to the Rideau Centre was approved by the Minister of the Environment in June 2006. The EA report identified twin-track electric Light Rail Transit (LRT) as the recommended technology for the entire corridor. In 2008, Council approved an updated Transportation Master Plan (TMP) that identified the segment of the N-S corridor connecting Barrhaven Town Centre and Riverside South Town Centre as a bus rapid transit (BRT) facility terminating at an LRT/BRT transfer station and Park and Ride within Riverside South Town Centre. This change in technology requires a new EA approval which is the principal subject of this Planning and EA study. This study also addresses a City commitment made in response to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) appeal hearing for Official Plan Amendment (OPA) No. 76, in which the City agreed to identify: • Property requirements for the BRT stations along the Transitway between Limebank Road and the Rideau River; • Land requirements, both size and location, to accommodate the BRT-LRT transfer station to the west of Limebank Road, and as part of this work a review of the size and location of the Park and Ride facility proposed on the east and west sides of Limebank Road to serve this BRT-LRT station, and • LRT station requirements, particularly north of Earl Armstrong Road with respect to drainage and station platform size as well as pedestrian circulation needs. Additionally, in response to Council direction, staff identified in a report presented to the 22 February 2012 Transit Commission meeting that it was technically feasible to extend the existing single-track diesel powered O-Train to either Leitrim or Bowesville Station and Park and Rides. That report concluded that a recommendation regarding possible future extension of the O-Train should be examined within the 2013 Transportation Master Plan Update. Accordingly, this BRT Planning and EA Study also identifies a Recommended Plan to extend BRT technology within the future LRT corridor between Riverside South Town Centre and a potential future O-Train transfer/terminus at either the Leitrim or Bowesville Station and Park and Ride facilities. To address imminent planned development along Chapman Mills Drive, this report also presents an interim implementation plan (Document 1) to defer the full cost of constructing the ultimate transit facility (Document 2), provide enhanced transit service reliability in the near term, and address existing operational issues in this corridor. Accordingly, this report presents the Recommended Plan that describes: 3 1. An ultimate BRT facility from Barrhaven Town Centre to Riverside South Town Centre; 2. An interim BRT Extension from Riverside South Town Centre to Bowesville or Leitrim Station and Park and Ride facilities; and 3. A near term implementation strategy on Chapman Mills Drive. This project is being planned in accordance with the Transit Project Assessment Process (TPAP) as described in Ontario’s Transit Project Regulation (O. Reg. 231/08). Prior to initiating the formal approvals process, the TPAP requires proponents to have a clearly defined transit project which necessitates a considerable amount of planning work. In the context of this project, planning activities completed by the City have included corridor selection (as part of the N-S LRT EA), assessment and evaluation of design alternatives, identification of a strategy to guide project implementation and a comprehensive stakeholder engagement program including Agency, Stakeholder and Business Consultation Group Meetings and a Public Open House. Project Estimate The preliminary project cost estimate to design and construct the transitway facility is $225 M in 2012 dollars. This estimate will be refined after detailed design of the project and will include inflation in accordance with the Construction Price Index. The upcoming TMP review will include an update to the affordability model and the establishment of project priorities. This project will be part of that review. The recommended plan to extend BRT from Greenbank Road to a BRT/LRT transfer facility west of Street 4 in Riverside South Town Centre is estimated to cost $85 million. The potential interim extension of BRRT facility from Riverside South Town Centre to Bowesville Park and Ride is estimated to cost $95 million. The potential interim extension of this BRRT facility from Bowesville Park and Ride to Leitrim Park and Ride is estimated to cost $45 million. The near-term transit priority implementation plan for Chapman Mills Drive from Greenbank Road to Woodroffe Avenue is estimated to cost $12 million. The $6M for near-term transit priority measures for the section between Longfields and Woodroffe would come from existing capital authority. The remaining Greenbank to Longfields section would be funded from development charges and future capital authority for transit priorities and/or transit supplementary network projects. Public Consultation/Input Meetings with Agency, Business, and Public Consultation Groups were held three times between April and September 2012. Comments and feedback were incorporated during the development and evaluation of alternatives and preparation of the Recommended Plan. A Public Open House was held on 2 October 2012 at Steve MacLean School with 33 people signing the registry. There was a general support for the recommended plan and the concerns that were raised were design in nature and would be responded to in 4 the detail design plan (next phase of project) or were transit operational issues that would be managed by OCTranspo. Hypothèses et analyse L’évaluation environnementale du couloir nord-sud du TLR du centre de Barrhaven au Centre Rideau a été approuvée par le ministre de l’Environnement en juin 2006. Le rapport d’ÉE désignait le train léger sur rail électrique à voies doubles comme la technologie recommandée pour la totalité du couloir. En 2008, le Conseil a approuvé le Plan directeur des transports mis à jour qui énonçait que le tronçon du couloir N-S reliant le centre ville de Barrhaven et le centre de Riverside Sud serait relié par transport en commun rapide par autobus (TCRA) se terminant à une station de correspondance TCRA/TLR et un parc-o-bus au centre de Riverside Sud. Ce changement de technologie exige qu’une nouvelle ÉE soit réalisée et approuvée ce qui est le principal objectif de l’étude de planification et d’évaluation environnementale. Cette étude porte également sur l’engagement pris par la Ville en réponse à l’audition de l’appel fait à la Commission des affaires municipales de l’Ontario concernant la modification 76 du Plan officiel, dans laquelle la Ville a convenu de déterminer : • Les exigences relatives aux propriétés pour les stations du TCRA le long du Transitway entre le chemin Limebank et la rivière Rideau; • Les besoins en terrain, soit la taille et l’emplacement, pour accommoder la station de correspondance TCRA/TLR à l’ouest du chemin Limebank; et, dans le cadre de ces travaux, l’évaluation de la taille et de l’emplacement du parc-o-bus proposé sur les côtés est et ouest du chemin Limebank afin de servir la station du TCRA/TLR; et • Les besoins pour la station de TLR, plus particulièrement au nord du chemin Earl Armstrong, relativement au drainage et à la taille des quais de la station ainsi que les besoins pour la circulation piétonnière. De plus, en réponse à une directive du Conseil, le personnel a indiqué dans un rapport présenté à la réunion du 22 février 2012 de la Commission du transport en commun que, du point de vue technique, il était techniquement