Joint
Transit Committee and Transportation Committee
Réunion conjointe du Comité du
transport en commun et du Comité des transports
3 February 2010/le 3 février
2010
Submitted
by/Soumis par : Kent Kirkpatrick, City Manager / Directeur
municipal
Contact
Person/Personne-ressource : John Smit, Manager/Gestionnaire, Development Review‑Urban
Services/Examen des projets d'aménagement-Services urbains, Planning and Growth
Management/Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance
(613) 580-2424,
13866 John.Smit@ottawa.ca
|
Ref N°: ACS2010-CMR-OCM-0001 |
That
the joint Transportation and Transit Committee:
1.
Approve the Lansdowne Transportation Study Terms of Reference, as
outlined in Document 1; and
2.
Direct staff to retain Delcan Corporation and McCormick Rankin
Corporation to undertake the Lansdowne Transportation Study and develop a
Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan in accordance with the Terms of
Reference outlined in Document 1.
Que le Comité mixte des transports et du transport en commun :
1. Approuve le cadre de référence de l'étude sur les
transports du parc Lansdowne, tel que l'indique le document 1 ; et
2. Demande au personnel de retenir les services de Delcan
Corporation et de McCormick Rankin Corporation pour entreprendre l'étude sur
les transports du parc Lansdowne et d'élaborer un plan de gestion de la demande
en transport (PDDT), conformément au cadre de référence présenté dans le
document 1.
At a special meeting of City Council held on November
12, 13, and 16, 2009 Council considered a report from the City Manager, dated
November 12, 2009 (Report Ref. # ACS2009-CMR-OCM-0009), regarding
Implementation of the Lansdowne Partnership Plan (LPP) that had been tabled at
the Council meeting of September 2, 2009.
Recommendation 2 a) ii) of the LPP Implementation Report was put forward as follows:
“That transportation studies and
supporting transportation demand management plans be completed to determine
whether or not impacts on traffic circulation and on-street parking resulting
from the implementation of the LPP can be reasonably accommodated and that the
transportation strategy outlined in the LPP will work as anticipated.”
On November 16, 2009, prior to approving the report recommendation, Council approved Motion 77/14 as follows:
“THERFORE BE IT RESOLVED that City Council delegate the authority to a joint Transit and Transportation Committee to approve the Terms of Reference for the transportation studies including an associated demand management plan for the LPP and for the additional Terms of Reference for the Traffic Impact Study for the relocation of the trade show space to the airport as referenced in Recommendation 2 a) ii);”
The Transportation Strategy included in the September 2, 2009
report (Report Ref. #
ACS2009-CMR-OCM-0006), was developed to provide a high-level assessment
of transportation requirements to support the LPP and to provide for a strategy
that would be consistent with Official Plan (OP) and Transportation Master Plan
(TMP) transportation objectives and directions. Council further directed that a Terms of Reference for this study
be consistent with the Council approved Transportation Impact Assessment
guidelines.
The provision of Motion 77/14, which relates to the Traffic
Impact Study for the airport tradeshow, is responded to in report # ACS2010-CMR-REP-0009
that was tabled at Corporate Services
and Economic Development Committee on February 2, 2010 and will be considered
by Council on February 10, 2010.
Recommendation 1:
The Terms of
Reference, as outlined in Document 1 of this report, has been developed for the
completion of a detailed Transportation Impact and Assessment Study and
associated Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan for Lansdowne as
directed by Council in November 2009.
The Terms of Reference build on the 2009 LPP Transportation Strategy and
set out the necessary
minimum requirements for the study and TDM Plan. To ensure a full assessment is
undertaken of all relevant transportation issues the scope of the study may
expand as the study progresses.
In
brief, the Terms of Reference:
·
Sets
out Study Objectives
·
Identifies
Key Transportation Issues to be addressed
·
Defines
the Study Area
·
Details
the Assessment required
·
Sets
out Work Plan Requirements and Deliverables
·
Highlights
all the Community Concerns that have been expressed related to transportation
matters to be considered in the conduct of the study
The objectives of the Transportation Impact and Assessment Study include:
·
Conducting
a Community Transportation Study (CTS) in accordance with the City’s
Transportation Impact Assessment (TIA) Guidelines to address Transportation
Impacts and requirements
·
Undertaking
a more traditional Transportation Impact Assessment for “day-to-day” activity
related to the new mixed use
·
Building
on the August 2009 LPP Transportation Strategy to address transportation needs
for events
·
Undertaking
overlap analysis to assess cumulative impacts – “day-to-day” and events
The
key transportation issues that will be reviewed include but are not limited to
the following:
·
Pedestrian
and Cycling needs
- facility connectivity,
event storage capacity and safety, on-site bicycle parking facilities
·
Transit
Planning and Operations
- maximize ridership,
create incentives
- additional Bank Street
service for “day-to-day” activities
- “event” transit and
shuttle bus requirements and impacts on Bank Street and the Queen Elizabeth
Driveway
·
Traffic
flow
- impacts of “day-to-day”
site traffic on area streets and intersections, and any off-site parking
impacts
- impact of “event”
traffic on the community as a whole with regard to on-street parking,
cut-through traffic and general congestion
·
Site
access
- intersection operation
and minimizing pedestrian/bike/vehicle conflicts
·
Parking
- on-site parking
sufficient for “day-to-day” requirements
- impacts of off-site
“event” parking minimized through aggressive transit service and TDM plan
·
Transportation
Demand Management
- specific to each on-site
land use and event, with objective to maximize alternative travel modes and
minimize vehicular travel
·
Queen Elizabeth Driveway
- recognize the National
Capital Commission’s (NCC’s) requirements and need to protect/enhance this
facility’s integrity and safety for all users and travel modes
·
Other
(taxis, water taxis, service vehicles, etc.)
The
work program provided in the Terms of Reference includes:
1. Confirmation of Base Conditions
·
Uses
and activities (being determined through master plan development)
·
Demand
scenarios
·
Data
collection
·
Update
of 2009 LPP Transportation Strategy existing conditions analysis regarding
traffic
·
Re-examine
assumptions and estimates regarding transit
·
Confirm
feasible modal split targets
2. A detailed
assessment of four (4) activity scenarios that are focused on the following:
Scenario 1 – daytime including office, hotel, residential and retail (AM Peak
hour, PM peak hour and SAT/SUN peak hour)
Scenario 2 – weekday evening including significant retail (restaurant; cinema) and
with/without OHL Hockey (up to 10,000) [Friday evening]
Scenario 3 – full retail and CFL Football/soccer (up to 25,000) [Saturday and
Sunday afternoons and Friday evenings]
Scenario 4 – some retail (restaurant; cinema) and large event (up to 40,000)
[weekend evening]
3. The
detailed assessments under each scenario include:
·
Pedestrian and cycling activity and
needs (circulation, connections, bike parking, etc.)
·
Transit service requirements
·
Traffic operations including at
satellite parking lots
·
Shuttle requirements and operations
·
Parking Requirements (on-site and
off-site, on-street, etc.)
·
Site access and queuing requirements
·
On-site circulation requirements
(vehicles, pedestrians, loading, etc.)
·
Transit service impacts on Bank
Street (simulation model)
·
Emergency response requirements
·
Sensitivity analysis (relative to
different assumptions)
·
Public comments and concerns raised
through consultations
4.
The Transportation Impact and Assessment Study is to provide determinations and
make recommendations related to the following:
·
Network
modifications and measures to maximize pedestrian and cycling modes
·
Transit
operations plan to support day to day and events for each scenario
·
Traffic
operations plan to support day to day and events and to support the transit
operations plan
·
On
and off-site parking operations and management
·
On-site
needs (access, circulation, loading etc)
· TDM
plan for each land use
· Implementation
and performance monitoring plan
Staff is recommending that Delcan Corporation
and McCormick Rankin Corporation be retained jointly to undertake the Lansdowne
Transportation Impact and Assessment Study and to develop the TDM plan for the Lansdowne
Revitalization, in accordance with the attached Terms of
Reference, Document 1 and under the direction of City staff.
Delcan in partnership with and under the
direction of City staff prepared the August 2009 LPP Transportation Strategy.
The Transportation Impact and Assessment Study will be grounded in the work
done to date and in close connection with City staff. Delcan is an internationally
respected firm that has the required background to undertake this work in a
cost efficient and timely manner. Delcan has a long history of working with the
City of Ottawa on important transportation initiatives. For example, Delcan and
the City worked together on some of the most significant projects undertaken by
the City over the last thirty years, including: Traffic Studies and Traffic
Calming Plans for Sandy Hill, Parkdale Area and Main Street; Parking Studies
for Elgin Street, the Central Area, Bank Street, Somerset Street, and
Wellington Street; the transportation Planning work for various Community
Design Plans (CDP) including the Escarpment District Plan, the East Orleans,
CDP, the Leitrim CDP, and the development of the Regional Road Corridor Design
Guidelines. Delcan Corporation has also undertaken the Transportation Impact
and Assessment Study and planning work for private and public sector clients
for many of the City’s major employment and institutional nodes including
Confederation Heights, Tunney’s Pasture, the Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa University
and Algonquin College. Delcan has been
on the standing offer list at the City of Ottawa for over ten years.
Delcan has
local expertise and international experience that makes it uniquely qualified
to deal with transportation matters on a project of this scale and
complexity. Their Ottawa office has
extensive local experience in public and private sector projects of this
magnitude.
The inclusion of McCormick Rankin Corporation as part of the
consultant team will provide the specialized expertise required to work with OC
Transpo in developing the transit operational plans that is critical to the
development of the final TDM plan. As
provided for in the
Terms of Reference, Delcan and McCormick Rankin Corporation will
work under the direction of City staff in Planning, Public Works and OC
Transpo. Staff will provide overall
direction and be involved in the ongoing review of the assessments and
directions throughout the course of the study to ensure that all relevant
requirements and issues are addressed as directed by Committee and Council.
The number of firms with the skills required to do this type
of work, under the prescribed timelines, is extremely limited. Many firms in
Ottawa that provide this type of service also specialize in design and
architectural services. It is likely
that a number of these firms that potentially could qualify for this work could
choose not to undertake the transportation work for Lansdowne, as they may
prefer to compete in the larger park design competition.
In order to ensure that Members of Council are provided all
the information necessary to make an informed decision on this issue staff is
recommending that Delcan and McCormick Rankin Corporation be retained in order
to ensure that the aggressive timelines for this project can be met.
Extensive due diligence was brought to the development of
the Terms of Reference, including concerns raised by stakeholders throughout
the fall and subsequent to a review of the draft Terms of Reference.
Engaging Delcan and McCormick Rankin Corporation will ensure
that the work is completed within the June 2010 timelines as directed by
Council. Seeking an alternate consultant to complete this work presents a
significant challenge, as other consultants would be subject to a significant
learning curve to understand the specifics of the work done to date.
Consequently, it is expected that another consultant would not be able to
undertake the work in either a cost effective or timely manner to meet
Council’s timelines.
As directed by Council a comprehensive public consultation process on the LPP was undertaken. The public consultation process included public meetings, an on-line consultation platform and a public opinion research survey. Additional opportunities for public input, to build on comments received from the public during the first phase, are being integrated into the process moving forward.
City of Ottawa staff, including the City Manager, have
met on a number of occasions with the following groups and stakeholders:
·
The Central Canada Exhibition
Association (CCEA);
·
The Ottawa Association of Exposition
Managers (OAEM);
·
Coliseum Incorporated;
·
The Glebe Community Association;
·
The Ottawa South Community Association;
·
The Old Ottawa East Community
Association;
·
The Centretown Citizens Community
Association;
·
The Glebe Business Improvement Area
(BIA);
·
The Ottawa Farmer’s Market (OFM); and
·
The Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn.
The City Manager and, in most cases, OSEG representatives
met with these stakeholder groups to
ensure that each group was provided with an opportunity to obtain any
information they wanted to assist them in preparing their feedback and input
for Council consideration and to raise any issues and concerns they wished to
have considered regarding the Lansdowne Transportation Impact and Assessment
Study and Traffic Demand Management Plan.
The public was
also provided an opportunity to speak to standing committees on the
Transportation Strategy. Each stakeholder group was advised of the
opportunities to attend the October 8, 2009 Joint Transportation Committee and
Transit Committee meeting, and the Committee of the Whole meeting of Council on
November 12, 2009.
On January 26, 2010, in preparation for this joint committee meeting, staff met with stakeholder groups to provide an opportunity to review the preliminary draft Terms of Reference for the Transportation Impact and Assessment Study (now finalized and included in Document 1) and to ensure that the issues and concerns to date were reflected and adequately addressed in these Terms of Reference. Community organizations attending this meeting included:
· The Glebe Community Association;
· Ottawa Farmers Market;
·
Old Ottawa East Community Association;
·
Old Ottawa South Community
Association;
· The Centretown Citizens Community Association;
· The Glebe Business Improvement Area;
· Citizens for Safe Cycling; and
· Roads & Cycling Advisory Committee.
The comments received and issues raised at this meeting have been incorporated into the final Terms of Reference (Document 1) either through modifications to the document or where comments are more general, listed in an appendix with a requirement in the Terms of Reference that these be considered in the conduct of the study.
Staff is currently working to further develop the public engagement strategy on the Lansdowne Transportation Impact and Assessment Study moving forward.
There are no legal/risk management impediments to implementing the recommendations in this report.
There are no additional financial implications associated with the recommendations in this report. Costs were included in the budget established in November for Stage 1 of the implementation.
Document 1 - Lansdowne Transportation Impact and Assessment Study and Demand Management Strategy Terms of Reference
Subject to Committee approval, staff will implement the recommendations as outlined in the report.