City of Lethbridge Transportaon Master Plan Final Report Adopted by City Council ‐ April 2, 2013 REPORT CONFIDENTIALITY AND © COPYRIGHT This document is for the sole use of the addressee and Associated Engineering Alberta Ltd. The document contains proprietary and confidential information that shall not be reproduced in any manner or disclosed to or discussed with any other parties without the express written permission of Associated Engineering Alberta Ltd. Information in this document is to be considered the intellectual property of Associated Engineering Alberta Ltd. in accordance with Canadian copyright law. This report was prepared by Associated Engineering Alberta Ltd. for the account of City of Lethbridge. The material in it reflects Associated Engineering Alberta Ltd.’s best judgement, in light of the information available to it, at the time of preparation. Any use which a third party makes of this report, or any reliance on or decisions to be made based on it, are the responsibility of such third parties. Associated Engineering Alberta Ltd. accepts no responsibility for damages, if any, suffered by any third party as a result of decisions made or actions based on this report. REPORT Table of Contents Executive Summary (Separate Document) SECTION PAGE NO. Table of Contents i List of Tables i List of Figures ii 1 Introduction 1-1 1.1 Study Purpose/Background 1-1 1.2 Goals And Objectives 1-2 1.3 Transportation Master Plan Project Phases 1-3 2 Transportation and Land Use Planning Context 2-1 2.1 Integrated Community Sustainability Plan / Municipal Development Plan 2-1 2.2 Data Collection Program 2-2 2.3 Previous Transportation and Transit Studies 2-6 2.4 Current Capital Improvement Plan 2-7 2.5 Model Development & Forecasting 2-11 3 Goals and Possible Strategies to Support the Plan 3-1 3.1 Transportation And Land Use Planning 3-1 3.2 Consider All Modes 3-2 3.3 Promote Public Transit 3-4 3.4 Manage Transportation Demand 3-5 3.5 Manage Transportation Supply 3-6 3.6 Manage Parking 3-7 3.7 Measure Performance 3-8 4 Existing Conditions 4-1 4.1 Existing Road Network 4-1 4.2 Existing And Future Land Uses 4-1 4.3 Lethbridge Transit 4-1 4.4 Network Evaluation 4-10 i p:\20103091\00_transpmasterplan\engineering\08.02_reports\may 21, 2013\rpt_tmp_final report_city_of_lethbridge_2-april-2013.doc Table of Contents 5 Options Development (100,000 and 130,000 Population) 5-1 5.1 Road Network Options 5-1 5.2 Lethbridge Transit 5-7 6 Community Engagement and Consultation 6-1 6.1 Workshops 6-1 6.2 Public Open Houses 6-3 6.3 Council Presentations 6-5 7 Recommended Transportation Master Plan 7-1 7.1 Recommended Road Network Plan 7-1 7.2 Recommended Transit Plan 7-6 7.3 Goal Recommendation And Implementation Plan 7-6 7.4 In-Service Road Safety Reviews Recommendations 7-6 Certification Page 7-1 Appendix A - Data Collection Report 1 Appendix B - Household Travel Survey 1 Appendix C - Model Calibration & Validation Report 1 Appendix D - Policy Paper 1 Appendix E - EMME Plots 1 Appendix F - Network Screening Analysis Results 1 Appendix G - Public Communication Material 1 Appendix H - Aggressive Transit Plan Recommendations That Were Not Accepted 1 ii p:\20103091\00_transpmasterplan\engineering\08.02_reports\may 21, 2013\rpt_tmp_final report_city_of_lethbridge_2-april-2013.doc Table of Contents List of Tables PAGE NO. Table 2-1 Population Data by Quadrant for Different Census Years 2-3 Table 2-2 Travel Survey Results 2-5 Table 2-3 Summary of Population for Existing and Forecast Land Uses 2-17 Table 2-4 Summary of Employment for Existing and Forecast Land Uses 2-17 Table 2-5 Summary of Trips from Land Uses and External Data 2-17 Table 4-1 System Service Summary 4-5 Table 4-2 Route Performance by Route and Weekday Time Period 4-10 Table 5-1 Number of Trips per Time Horizon 5-6 Table 5-2 Conservative versus Aggressive Alternative Targets 5-9 Table 5-3 Performance Results for Alternative Service Scenarios 5-12 Table 6-1 Goal Workshop Comparison 6-3 Table 6-2 Open House Attendance by Area 6-4 Table 6-3 Primary and Secondary Modes of Travel 6-4 Table 6-4 Key Transportation Issues 6-5 Table 6-5 Open Houses Goal Voting Results 6-5 Table 7-1 10 Year Capital Improvement Plan - Transportation 7-5 i List of Figures List of Figures PAGE NO. Figure 4-1 Existing Roadway Network 4-2 Figure 4-2 Existing and Future Land Uses 4-3 Figure 4-3 Existing Area Structure Plans 4-4 Figure 4-4 Current System Map 4-6 Figure 4-5 Examples of Travel Links Requiring Route Transfers 4-12 Figure 5-1 2020 Arterial Road Network Scenarios 5-2 Figure 5-2 2040 Arterial Road Network Scenarios 5-5 Figure 5-3 Proposed Base Network Concept 5-11 Figure 7-1 Road Network Plan to Service 100,000 and 130,000 Population 7-3 Figure 7-2 Long Term Road Network Plan 7-4 ii REPORT 11 Introduction The City of Lethbridge (City) is family-oriented, with safe streets, parks and recreational facilities. It is the largest city in southern Alberta, is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population and the third-largest by area. The City is split into three geographical areas: north, south and west. The Oldman River separates West Lethbridge from the other two, while the Crowsnest Highway and the Canadian Pacific (CP) rail line separate North and South Lethbridge. Lethbridge is the commercial, financial, transportation and industrial centre of southern Alberta. The City's economy developed from drift mining for coal in the late 19th century and agriculture in the early 20th century. Around 50 percent of the residents are employed in the health, education, retail and hospitality sectors. The only university in Alberta south of Calgary is the University of Lethbridge, which is located on the west side of the City. In addition, two of the three colleges in southern Alberta have campuses in Lethbridge. Cultural venues in the City include performing art theatres, museums and sports centres. The City has experienced noticeable growth in recent years. In its 2012 municipal census, the City reported a population of 89,074, a 1.36 percent increase over its 2011 municipal census population of 87,882. This also represents an 11.8 percent change from its 2006 adjusted population of 74,685. The City’s population continues to grow because of its vibrancy and community enthusiasm. Current transportation improvements within the City have been based on the previous transportation study completed in 2004 and is no longer considered representative of the actual transportation network required to address current and future transportation needs. In light of the continuing accelerated pace of development in the region and the need to rationalize and identify the future transportation network requirements for the City, including surrounding rural municipalities and counties, the existing transportation plan required a comprehensive update. 1.1 STUDY PURPOSE/BACKGROUND The original Transportation Master Plan (TMP) was completed in 1984 and was subsequently updated in 2004. The Circulation Road Study, completed in 2009, has provided the possibility of planning a new circulation road across the Oldman River and connections from the City road network to the proposed provincial North-South Trade Corridor (NSTC). In addition, the City has recently completed an update to its Integrated Community Sustainability Plan/Municipal Development Plan (ICSP/MDP) through a comprehensive public consultation process. This creates an opportunity to ensure an alignment in the directions of the land use policies provided in the ICSP/MDP and the transportation goals of the newly developed TMP. Associated Engineering (AE) with a team of sub-consultants was retained by the City of Lethbridge to update the existing Transportation Master Plan study. The purpose of the TMP study was to provide a comprehensive long-range plan that aligns the land use policies with the transportation infrastructure requirements for the 100,000 and 130,000 population horizons. The TMP study will provide the City with a 1-1 1 - Introduction blueprint on which to plan and implement specific transportation network improvement projects over the next 20 years, in 8-year (100,000 population) and 30-year (130,000 population) planning horizons. This report compiles the major findings from the different phases of the TMP study and detailed technical information regarding the analysis and results can be referenced in the attached appendices. 1.2 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The TMP study will develop an integrated multi-modal transportation system that will build upon the existing roadway infrastructure to promote economic vitality and serve the requirements of the recently adopted ICSP/MDP land use policies. TMP Study goals included: x Effective access and mobility for people and goods x A safe, secure and integrated transportation system x Effective public involvement in the TMP development process x Recently updated ICSP/MDP driven TMP development process x Sustainable transportation initiatives x Transportation infrastructure investment rationale Specific objectives of the TMP study include: x Evaluate existing transportation system and identify areas with physical and/or operational deficiencies x Identify transportation infrastructure requirements for personal and goods mobility, transit and other modes of transportation x Identify future upgrades required to the existing transportation system to accommodate the future traffic growth x Identify the areas where new goals should be established to encourage multi-modal systems x Engage community in developing the future transportation system