Transportation Issues A brief overview of transportation issues which are of potential interest to residents of Sandy Hill and where to go for more information. Comments or questions on any of the issue discussed below can be directed to [email protected]

Action Sandy Hill participates as a member in the City Centre Coalition (CCC). The CCC consists of 13 different downtown citizen‟s groups and focuses on supporting community-oriented transportation planning that emphasizes walking, cycling, and transit. The CCC opposes road construction and expansion intended to accommodate peak-hour car demand particularly for projects within the greenbelt or which are intended to increase the peak hour capacity leading to the urban core. Such roads only induce environmentally and community-destructive car use.

The CCC maintains a website which is an excellent resource for tracking ongoing transportation planning reports and activities in the City and providing a record of ongoing CCC activities. www.ccc-.ca

John Verbaas – Jun 2012

B. Ottawa-wide Issues with Sandy Hill Implications

New Ottawa River Crossing Study (East End Bridge) Inter-Provincial Transit Study Alta Vista Corridor (AVC) Queensway Expansion to 8 Lanes East of Ottawa LRT Rapid Transit ( Transit Tunnel - DOTT) Lansdowne Park Re-development (Lansdowne Partnership Plan) Transportation Master Plan 2008 Rideau/Sussex/Colonel-By Intersection Enhancement Study Other Useful Links

New Ottawa River Crossing Study (East End Bridge)

The NCC together with the Ontario and Quebec Ministries of Transport have commissioned a series studies to determine the best possible location for a new crossing of the Ottawa River. The Action Sandy Hill transportation representative is an active member of the Public Consultation Group (PCG) whose role is to represent various community interests. Phase 1 of this study concluded in Jan 2009 and recommended that the best location for a new crossing would be Kettle Island, connecting on the Ottawa side via the Aviation to the 174-417 split intersection. Negative reaction to this was swift and another study was then initiated which re-introduced two of the potential crossings (about 6km further east down Highway 174) which Phase 1 of the study had discounted. Further study was then broken into 2 phases. Phase 2A‟s purpose was to consult with communities on what will be the process to be used in phase 2B which will narrow down from the now 3 potential crossing locations to a single preferred location. The reason for Phase 2A was that communities in the east end felt that they had not been given sufficient opportunity to comment on what evaluation criteria were used to perform the original Phase 1 evaluation and recommendation. Phase 2A completed in June 2010 and Phase 2B started in the summer of 2011. Phase 2B will lead to the choice of a single preferred location. This decision is expected in late summer/early fall 2012 and will then be followed by a detailed design and environmental assessment of the preferred crossing would run into 2013. The stated main purpose for a new crossing is to divert trucks out of the Waller-Rideau-King Edward corridor and to accommodate forecast increases in inter-provincial travel demand over the next 50 year time horizon.

The eventual construction of a new crossing could be of significant benefit to Sandy Hill, however there are some concerns over just how much traffic (both car and truck) may be diverted out of downtown by any potential new crossing. Phase 1 of the study concluded that around 30-40% of the trucks currently travelling down Waller, Rideau and King Edward would be „attracted‟ to and prefer to take a new crossing in the east end. That leaves 60% of the trucks still downtown and that will be some 10 years from now and after spending 500m$ (the cost of the crossing + approach roadway changes as estimated in the Phase 1 study). Will it be possible at that time to go one step further and to ban trucks from Rideau/KingEdward and force the remaining 60% to take the long roundabout route over an east end bridge?

To date no comprehensive study has been performed which estimates the potential increase in cost imposed on the business community of such a downtown truck ban. Similarly no consultation with business and trucking groups has taken place to discuss the impact of a regulated diversion of all inter-provincial trucks to an east end bridge. Lastly, the act of forcing all trucks to a potential new east end bridge has the side effect of moving the current 2500 trucks per day onto the City of Gatineau street that would serve as the access to the new bridge. This simply moves the truck problem from Ottawa to Gatineau and the City of Gatineau council has already passed a resolution stating that it will be unacceptable for all truck traffic to be moved from King Edward to Gatineau‟s streets. If there is a risk that forcing all trucks to use a new east end bridge will not be politically or practically possible then maybe we should be looking for a different solution to this problem than a new east end bridge?

A key issue at stake here is the relative weighting of the requirements on a new crossing for getting trucks out of downtown vs simply adding new peak hour inter-provincial car based commuting capacity. The Action Sandy Hill transportation representative is involved in keeping forward momentum going on this initiative and to ensure that the best possible solution to reduce the downtown cut-through truck and commuter traffic is found.

Further details can be found at the web link: www.ncrcrossings.ca

Other groups have been formed who are opposed to some or all aspects of a potential east end bridge and have formed their own websites to explain their positions. Some of these can be found here: http://www.ssd-ottawa.ca http://www.stopthebridge.org/ http://commonsensecrossings.com/

Inter-Provincial Transit Study

In 2009 the NCC launched a study (together with City of Ottawa and Gatineau) to recommend how to improve the quality and efficiency of transit across the Ottawa River. This is of particular interest to Sandy Hill because today as many as 150 STO buses per hour in rush hour travel south on King Edward Ave and then west along Rideau St, significantly reducing quality of life in these areas. A better integrated inter- provincial transit system has the potential to take the vast majority of these buses off these roadways. It also has the potential to reduce the volume of cars commuting through Sandy Hill to and from the Macdonald-Cartier bridge. The Sandy Hill transportation representative is an active participant in the PCG (Public Consultation Group) guiding this study.

The first phase of this study which was completed in the fall of 2009 involved consulting various community groups on what they saw as the issues and priorities to be addressed in improving inter-provincial transit in this region. In February 2010 a brief presentation was made to the PCG group outlining a list of possible transit improvements in the short, medium, and longer term. Of particular interest to PCG group members was the longer term potential „infrastructure‟ options. Six different alternatives were tabled which included the following options: a) bringing STO buses across a (current unused rail-based) Prince of Wales bridge (which would need to be substantially altered for buses) and transferring passengers to the new Ottawa LRT system at Bayview (after it is operational in 2019). b) The reverse of (a)…Once Ottawa has a North-South LRT running (post 2018) to extend it‟s northern terminus across the Prince of Wales bridge to Gatineau where STO passengers would transfer from buses to the LRT. c) Like (b) except this North-South LRT with every other north-south train crossing the bridge to Gatineau alternating with the next north-south train which would merge onto the Ottawa east-west LRT line and continue through downtown Ottawa d) Implementation of a loop based rail system between Gatineau and Ottawa downtown which would probably use the Portage bridge and Alexandra bridges e) An alternating Ottawa LRT line…this time the east-west line…. from Blair station where every other train would turn north at Bayview to cross the Prince of Wales bridge into Gatineau where Gatineau passengers would transfer to STO buses there. This would alternate with regular Ottawa east-west LRTs which would travel the full east-west line from Blair to the Ottawa far western terminus f) Extending Ottawa‟s downtown tunnel with a branch that travels north under lowertown to cross the river into Gatineau. Ottawa‟s future north-south LRT would (after travelling through Ottawa downtown) branch off north to serve downtown Gatineau.

What has not yet been made available to the public is any kind of data or analysis that could be used to evaluate between the advantages and disadvantages of each of these options. Information such as anticipated ridership analysis, capital costs, operating costs, etc is required.

The study website as of Sept 2010 was missing any kind of visibility of the upcoming study steps, deliverables, or timelines. It can be found at this address: http://www.interprovincial-transit- strategy.ca/

As of Sep 2011, indications from the NCC were that the study was to be completed by the end of 2011. This was delayed again and as of writing in Jun 2012 there is no visibility of when any recommendations are to be brought forward.

Alta Vista Corridor (AVC) For some years now the City of Ottawa has had listed as one of its top priority new road projects a corridor joining at Walkley, through an empty corridor north of the Ottawa Hospital connecting to a re- designed interchange of Nicholas Avenue at the Queensway. A coalition (Citizens for Healthy Communities) was formed in the early 2000‟s including representatives from Sandy Hill to oppose this on the basis of the number of new additional cars it would dump into the downtown area and the fact that it is now extremely rare for municipalities to be building major new arterial roads leading into their downtown cores. In fact, it is becoming increasingly common to implement measures that constrain the flow of additional automobiles into downtown cores.

The coalition felt any such transportation investments were much better spent on new transit initiatives. The City of Ottawa began public consultations towards a „Class‟ environmental assessment (EA) for the construction of this road in 2001. The coalition opposed to this road appealed to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment that a „Class‟ category of EA was inadequate for this project and should be subjected to a more rigorous process (bump-up request). In January of 2008 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment denied this „bump-up‟ request. After the completion of the Class EA, residents were successful in getting agreement from the City that the construction of the road should be split into 3 phases and that Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the road would not be built until 2 more reviews of the Transportation Master Plan were completed (2008 and 2013).

The main impact this road would have on Sandy Hill would occur with the 2nd phase which is a new bridge across the Rideau River tied into a re-designed Nicholas/417 interchange. The new interchange design would be more like other 417 interchanges such as the Vanier Parkway with traffic lights on both the north and south sides of the 417 controlling access on and off the highway in both directions. The presence of the new bridge across the Rideau enables a significant increase of cars able to drive from the south end of the City up to the Nicholas/Laurier intersection. It is rather unclear how it could be possible to move more cars through this intersection (especially for the critical turn movement to and from the downtown) at the peak hour than what it already can support!! This is all the more the case considering that since an extra lane is to be added to the 417 east by 2018, there will be a significant increase in the volume of cars that can exit the 417WB onto Nicholas.

In the 2012 City budget, funding of 54m$ has been allocated for phase 1 of the AVC (in addition to 10m$ previously allocated and not yet spent), often referred to as the “Hospital Link”. This road is a 1.2 km connection from Riverside Dr into the north side of the Ottawa Hospital complex and would form the middle section of the 3 sections of the road. The main reason for building Phase 1 has been given as reducing the traffic pressures on /Riverside Dr leading into the hospital. Other reasons that are sometimes quoted are to reduce the traffic levels on Alta Vista Dr and to prepare the way for a new housing development on the current site of the NDMC (National Defence Medical Centre) lands. The extremely high cost is due to the fact that it requires and overpass over Riverside Dr, a realignment of the current lanes of Riverside Dr, a 2nd overpass over the Transitway, and an underpass under the CN rail line.

The design of this Hospital Link corresponds exactly with Phase 1 of the proposed AVC and it is difficult to understand how the City could contemplate spending such a large amount of money on what is merely a „driveway‟ to the hospital unless they were intending to eventually implement the complete roadway over the Rideau River and into Sandy Hill at the Nicholas/417 interchange.

ASH is participating with several other downtown community groups to lobby for the City to remove Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the AVC from the official Transportation Master plan when it is revised in 2013. Unfortunately it appears to be too late to stop the Phase 1 Hospital Link now.

Further Details can be found at: http://www.queenswaycoalition.org/AVC.html

The City of Ottawa‟s current (2008) Transportation Master Plan can be seen at: http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/master_plans/tmp/index_en.html

…and to see the AVC in the proposed list of projects: http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/master_plans/tmp/chapter_8/index_en-01.html

… the City‟s record of public consultations on the AVC which used to be at the following address seems to have disappeared.: http://ottawa.ca/public_consult/alta_vista/index_en.shtml

Queensway Expansion to 8 Lanes East of In 2003 the Ontario Ministry of Transport (MTO) completed a detailed environmental assessment for the addition of a fourth lane in each direction to the Queensway starting from Metcalfe Street moving eastward as far as . This project also included some modifications to existing Queensway ramps at Lees, Bronson, Parkdale, etc to improve satefy. Like the Altavista Corridor (AVC) a coalition of citizen‟s groups (City Centre Coalition) opposed to this initiative appealed to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MoE) that this was not a typical „Highway expansion class‟ of environmental assessment and should be „bumped-up‟ to a more rigorous review process. In January 2008 the MoE ruled that a more rigorous “Individual EA” would not be needed and formally approved this environmental assessment for widening the Queensway.

In Feb 2010 a formal notice of expropriation was issued to homeowners living nearby the Parkdale Ave westbound off-ramp and those houses were subsequently demolished (ie. the ramp modifications for safety improvements) were going ahead. During the preliminary design phases for Ottawa‟s east-west LRT system the City of Ottawa entered into discussions with the Ontario Ministry of Transport regarding alternative routing for OC Transpo buses during the period that the Transitway would be shut down for conversion to rail (2016-2018 timeframe). The Ministry of Transport had indicated that it could be possible for newly constructed lanes on the Queensway to be dedicated to buses during this time period and committed to completing this 417 lane expansion as far east as the Aviation Parkway before the 2015 timeframe. The estimated cost of this expansion is in the range of 150m$.

During much of the 2012-2015 construction period, the EB on-ramp from Lees Ave to the 417WB will be closed (in order for this area to be used for construction staging purposes). Also it is anticipated that at some point during the construction there will be a 3 month period where the Lees Ave overpass will be unavailable while it is being replaced.

We are not convinced that such a highway expansion project is in the best interest of Sandy Hill or the City of Ottawa as a whole. At best this several hundred million dollar project would simply enable 5,000-10,000 additional east end commuters to reach their central destinations a few minutes faster during a 1-2 hour period in the morning and afternoon. The rest of the 20 hour daily period the extra lanes would be serving no particularly useful purpose. Better to use several hundred million dollars to improve the public transportation system where it will provide new incremental benefits to citizens all day long. It is ironic that the main reason cited at this time for the 417 east lane expansion is to support Ottawa‟s premiere Light Rail Project. It is also ironic that when the Light Rail Line opens the new lanes on the 417 will then be released for general commuter traffic and the incentive to use the Light Rail system to avoid congestion on the 417 will be greatly reduced!

Further information can be found at:

417 East Expansion Project: http://queenswayexpansioneast.com/project-overview/ Original EA justifying the 417 Widening: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/engineering/417ea/

The website of the coalition opposed to the Queensway expansion can be found at: http://www.queenswaycoalition.org/QW.html

Ottawa LRT Rapid Transit (Downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel – DOTT or O-LRT)

After the cancellation of the 2007 North-South Light Rail project and as part of the preparation for the 2008 update to the City of Ottawa Transportation Master plan, the City undertook public consultations for a new Rapid Transit Expansion plan. A key component of this new plan is the proposal for a downtown transit tunnel and a focus on alleviating the congestion / increasing the capacity for east-west travel to downtown. The system would be based on using 4-car electric rail vehicles.

It had become clear that the current situation with up to 180 buses per hour travelling in each direction during peak hours on Albert and Slater streets had reached it‟s maximum capacity and had little room for future growth. Already there were frequent occasions where lengthy delays were experienced trying to move this many buses through 2-3 km of the downtown core. This new plan, referred to as the DOTT (downtown Ottawa Transit Tunnel) was approved by City Council in Jan 2010. It consists of the following components:

a) a 2.5 km long east-west tunnel roughly following the current transitway route between Bronson Ave and up to U of O campus station (cost approx 700m$ including 3 underground stations). The tunnel route follows until it begins a broad northward curve to accommodate a stop nearby the intersection of Rideau and Sussex streets and then makes a tight curve to the south to extend roughly underneath Waller St. The depth of the 2 downtown stations in this tunnel are projected to be approx 3 stories below ground while the depth of the Rideau station is expected to be between 9 and 11 stories underground.

b) A surface rail line extending in the west to Tunney‟s Pasture approximately following the current transitway route and in the east extending to also following the current transitway route. (cost approx 800m$)

c) A rail storage and maintenance facility in the east end (cost approx 700m$)

This would be considered as phase 1 of a multi-phase plan. Phase 1 would cost approx 2.3B$ and is projected to start operation in 2018. The cost of the latter phases would add another 4B$ extending the western terminus to Algonquin College as well as adding a north-south electric rail line roughly following the route of the current diesel O-Train (but extending it further southward to Riverside South). These extended phases are targeted to be in operation by 2031.

The site used to provide ongoing updates of the project status can be found here: http://www.ottawalightrail.ca/en/newsroom/

Further details of this project (may be out of date) are also available at: http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/transit_tunnel/index_en.html http://ottawa.ca/city_hall/rapid_transit/investing_en.html

This plan received Environmental Assessment approval from the Province of Ontario in Summer 2010. During 2011 the City advanced the design of the system to a state of “30% complete” and selected 3 international consortiums who would be qualified to bid on the project. The detailed RFP was released to these 3 consortiums in Oct 2011 and final responses are expected in Q4 2012 with construction beginning in Q1 2013.

The plan was expected to be funded by 1/3 contributions (700m$ each) from the Ottawa, Ontario, and Canadian governments. Ontario and Federal governments ended up committing 600m$ each leaving the City of Ottawa to fund the balance (900m$). A more detailed and final cost estimate for the project will not be available until the consortiums submit their final bids in Q4 2012.

For Sandy Hill residents there are some pros and some cons to this plan. By burying the proposed Rideau station 6-8 stories deep into a tunnel, and reducing the number of stops in the downtown, Sandy Hill will lose access to the Transitway system at Laurier. The Sandy Hill access to the new system will be at the current Campus station at UofO or alternatively from an entrance near the intersection of Rideau and William St. For residents of north Sandy Hill in particular this means less convenient access to the main east-west system. This is partially compensated for by the proposed (preliminary) plan to re-purpose in 2018 the current Laurier transitway stop as a hub point for an increased number of local cross-town bus routes. On the positive side, this plan is supposed to result in a reduction of approximately 50% of the number of buses using the Mackenzie-King bridge. A preliminary view of the proposed downtown bus route network (including route maps and bus volumes) that may be implemented once the LRT goes into operation can be viewed here: http://www.ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/occ/2010/01-13/tc/ACS2009-CCS-TTC-0021.htm

Lansdowne Park Re-development (Lansdowne Partnership Plan)

In Nov 2009, City Council approved in principle, a plan to re-develop Lansdowne Park. This approval spawned a number of more detailed studies (transportation network impact, retail viability, etc) and based on these studies a final decision to proceed with the plan was made in 2010. This plan involves the City of Ottawa investing 130M$ to renovate the existing stadium and provide approx 1200 underground parking spots. In addition, 300,000 sq ft of new retail development, a multi-screen cinema, and some new townhomes, office space, and a hotel would be constructed on the site by a private developer.

One of the key issues surrounding this project is whether the transportation network (basically and the ) will be capable of coping with this incremental demand from all of the new aggregated uses on this site, particularly during 20,000 person events in the stadium. In these cases, a number of special measures will be needed such as special bus operations, occasional closings of Bank street to all vehicles except buses, special shuttle bus operations to remote satellite parking lots, etc. Ottawa is now embarking on a 6B$ plan for a new rail based transit system and the Lansdowne site is not located anywhere near this new rapid transit line or its extensions. Should we be investing 130M$ in a large public stadium which is not located anywhere near our rapid transit system? A recent City of Ottawa study evaluating potential sites for a new stadium ranked at least 4 other possible locations higher than Lansdowne as the preferred location for a stadium. Action Sandy Hill was involved together with other downtown community associations in examining closely the transportation study which in June 2010 concluded that the transportation issues could be managed adequately for this re-development.

In June 2010, City Council decided to go ahead with this proposed Lansdowne Re-development.

For more information (including all the history of transportation studies) consult the following location: http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/lansdowne_partnership/index_en.html

The detailed transportation report can be found here: https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/lansdowne_partnership/tr ansportation_summary.pdf

For a viewpoint of a citizens group opposed to the current plan you can refer to the following resource: http://www.friendsoflansdownepark.ca

Transportation Master Plan 2008

Underlying the planning for all of the above mentioned major projects (Downtown Tunnel and LRT plan, New Inter-provincial Bridge, Inter-provincial Transit Evolution, Road, Transit, and Cycling projects) is a single document the City calls the Transportation Master Plan. This document is updated every 5 years and contains all the assumptions in growth in population, car traffic, and transit for over the next 20 year period. The document then goes on to detail all the foreseen transit, road, and cycling projects the city forecasts are needed to accommodate this growth over this time period. It is an informative document and well worth reading. Any new road projects that are to be built will first be detailed here.

Further details regarding the 2008 Transportation Master Plan process: (including valuable statistics on travel demand in the Ottawa area) can be found at: http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/master_plans/tmp/index_en.html

During 2012 significant activities will begin towards reviewing the data and assumptions that will be used to develop the next iteration of the plan which can be expected in 2013.

. Ottawa Cycling Plan Update The City of Ottawa has recently completed an update to its 20 year vision Cycling Plan. The Action Sandy Hill Transportation representative is involved with the Citizens for Safe Cycling group in reviewing and making comments on the plan to the City of Ottawa.

More information can be found at: Current (2009) Ottawa Cycling Plan: http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/onthemove/cycling/ottawa_cycling_plan_en.html

Citizens for Safe Cycling (Ottawa Pro-Cycling Advocacy Group): http://www.safecycling.ca/

Rideau/Sussex/Colonel-By Intersection Enhancement Study The NCC hired (Mar 2008) an engineering firm to make proposals on enhancing this intersection to reflect its importance as a „gateway‟ to parliament and the governor general‟s residence. They also wish to improve this intersection from a pedestrian and cycling point of view. The outcome of the study will be a proposed design concept that is intended to achieve the NCC‟s goals of making this a distinguishing intersection for the National Capital. The Action Sandy Hill transportation representative will follow this initiative to ensure the quality for all modes of transportation in the community are adequately taken into account in any proposed redesign of this intersection.

No further information is available on the www at this time however there are indications that the NCC would like to proceed with this project together at the same time as the implementation of the Rideau St station of the LRT project (2017-2018 timeframe).

Other Useful Links 1. City of Ottawa Transportation Web page: http://city.ottawa.on.ca/residents/onthemove/index_en.html

2. Ottawa 2008 Transportation Master Plan: http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/master_plans/tmp/index_en.html

3. Ottawa Cycling Plan: http://city.ottawa.on.ca/residents/onthemove/cycling/index_en.html

4. Citizens for Safe Cycling (Public Advocacy Group for Cycling in Ottawa) http://www.safecycling.ca/

5. Friends of the O-Train: (supporters of increased use of rail transit in Ottawa) http://www.friendsoftheotrain.org/

6. Transport 2000 - Public Interest Lobby Group in Canada on Sustainable Transportation http://transport2000.ca/