Preliminary Design Study
and Environmental Assessment
Highway 417 (Ottawa Queensway), from
Highway 416 to Anderson Road
G.W.P. 663-93-00 C.A.
4005-A-000090
Transportation Environmental Study Report
Executive Summary
January
2007
Introduction and Description of the Undertaking
In response to growing traffic volumes in the City of Ottawa, the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) initiated this comprehensive operational review of Highway 417 (Ottawa Queensway) from west of Highway 416 easterly to west of Anderson Road, a distance of about 26 km. This study evaluated opportunities to optimize the use of the existing facility, while providing for the efficient movement of people and goods and reducing gridlock. It examined existing and future problems and opportunities and provided a Recommended Plan to guide the evolution of the Queensway over the next 20 years. The study examined the mainline, as well as all interchanges and crossing roadways within the interchange limits. Exhibit E-1 illustrates the study limits.
Exhibit E-1 Study Area Map
Highway 417 (Ottawa Queensway)
Preliminary Design Study and
Environmental Assessment
from Highway 416 easterly to Anderson Road
MTO
G.W.P. 663-93-00
This Transportation Environmental Study Report (TESR) was prepared in accordance with the Class Environmental Assessment for Provincial Transportation Facilities, 2000, which has been approved under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act for highway projects undertaken by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO).
The undertaking, or project, generally includes the following measures:
- Widen Highway 417 by one lane per direction to four mainline lanes in each direction from Highway 416 to Carling Avenue and from Metcalfe Street to Ottawa Road (OR) 174;
- Retain the existing number of mainline lanes from Carling Avenue to Metcalfe Street;
- Widen Highway 417 by one lane per direction to three lanes in each direction from Ottawa Road 174 to east of Walkley Road;
- Retain the existing basic horizontal and vertical mainline geometry throughout;
- Modify the interchanges at Richmond Road, Greenbank Road, Woodroffe Avenue, Carling Avenue, Parkdale Avenue, Bronson Avenue, Lyon Street, Nicholas Street and St. Laurent Boulevard to improve safety and traffic operations. The modification at Parkdale Avenue will require the removal of 19 homes on the south side of Westmount Avenue;
- Revise/enhance the drainage system to accommodate proposed widening;
- Rehabilitate pavement, bridges, and the illumination system as required;
- Upgrade/expand the existing Advanced Traffic Management System including (ATMS) additional pavement loop detectors, cameras, changeable message signs and queue end warning devices;
- Upgrade noise walls to current standards; and
- Replace/enhance landscaping.
In the section of Highway 417 from Maitland Avenue to Island Park Drive, construction of the mainline widening will utilize the widened platform built under the Bridge Rehabilitations Class EA Study - G.W.P. 4058-01-00 to accommodate the additional lane in each direction. No further platform widening will be required within these limits. The environmental impacts, concerns and proposed mitigation measures associated with this work, including the property acquisition requirements and landscaping treatments, were addressed as part of the Bridge Rehabilitations Class EA Study.
Consultation
Throughout the duration of the study, the public, community and interest groups and agencies were encouraged to participate through a proactive approach that included contact letters and notices, a project web site, three series of Public Involvement Centres, a Municipal Technical Advisory Committee, a Public Advisory Committee and presentations to the Transportation Committee of the City of Ottawa, as well as coverage of events on local television and in newspapers.
Agencies provided valuable input during the course of the study, assisting the Project Team in the collection of background data and the development, evaluation and refinement of alternatives and the Recommended Plan. Agency participation is summarized as follows:
- City of Ottawa provided input on key project issues, transportation information, provided comments on study documentation as it proceeded and participated in the evaluation of design alternatives;
- National Capital Commission (NCC) provided input on the Island Park Drive interchange alternatives and participated in the evaluation of design alternatives;
- Ministry of the Environment and Environment Canada provided advice on the investigation of environmental issues;
- The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency coordinated the federal EA review of the project;
- Public Works and Government Services Canada provided input on design alternatives at Parkdale Avenue and Island Park Drive;
- Indian and Northern Affairs Canada provided contact information from Aboriginal groups;
- Parks Canada provided input on the bridge over the Rideau Canal; and
- Algonquin's of Pikwakanagan provided information relating to land claims in the area.
The public was actively involved in the study, participating in Public Involvement Centres and providing many comments for consideration. Close to 1400 stakeholders were included in the consultation database by the end of the study. Comments received from the public during the study are summarized as follows:
- Support for public transit priority;
- Support for the proposed strategic widening and many of the recommended interchange improvements;
- General opposition to the alternative to realign the Island Park Drive off-ramp to the west side of Island Park Drive in an area of Hampton Park (this alternative was dropped from the Recommended Plan);
- Concern about traffic operations and safety at many locations;
- Concern about the loss of green space and mature trees, property impacts, neighbourhood impacts, noise, air quality and vibration impacts.
Project Need
The following problems were identified as a result of the analysis of existing (2001) and future (2021) traffic operations, review of safety data and issues and assessment of the condition of existing infrastructure:
- Mobility and congestion are issues in some sections of Highway 417 during the existing a.m. and p.m. peak travel periods as there is insufficient capacity to accommodate travel demands;
- Mobility and congestion will become even greater issues in sections along Highway 417 during the future a.m. and p.m. peak travel periods as there is insufficient capacity to accommodate projected travel demands despite allowing for the achievement of the City of Ottawa's transit mode share of 30%;
- Congestion and associated delays adversely affect safety and the movement of people and goods;
- Areas of higher than expected collision frequency often coincide with areas of recurring congestion;
- Significant portions of the existing highway infrastructure (e.g. pavement, bridges, lighting, noise walls) are approaching the end of their expected service life;
- There is opportunity to improve road/transit interfaces to improve existing and/or future transit operations;
- Much of the corridor is heavily urbanized, which would significantly limit the amount of widening of the existing highway that could be accommodated without creating significant impact to the local communities that abut the highway; and
- Operational and safety concerns are associated with interchange geometry at some interchanges.
In addition, there are opportunities to support population and employment growth forecasted in the Ottawa 20/20 Transportation Master Plan, 2003 and the City of Ottawa Official Plan, 2003, which in turn will support economic development. By supporting the City target for 30% transit mode share, this work also supports a responsible mobility solution to improvements to the transportation network.
Methodology for the Assessment and Evaluation of Alternatives
In accordance with the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act, a broad definition of the environment was used to develop the list of factors and sub-factors with corresponding measures used to compare competing alternatives. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches to evaluation were used where appropriate during the process. In order to assess the robustness of the result, a variety of weights were applied to the various factors.
Planning Alternatives
To resolve the identified problems and the short term (0 to 10 years) to longer term (10 to 20 years) transportation service needs for the Highway 417 corridor within the project limits, the following "Alternatives to" the undertaking were considered:
- Do Nothing
- Alternative Modes – Rail, Water and Air
- Alternative Mode – Bus and Rail Transit
- Alternative Road Solutions:
- Diversion of traffic to other roads
- Transportation demand management
- Improve existing highway
- Major widening with general purpose lanes
- Major widening high occupancy vehicle lanes
- Strategic widening with general purpose lanes
- Strategic widening with high occupancy vehicle lanes
- New provincial highway
Following the assessment and evaluation of these alternatives, the following "Alternatives to" the undertaking were carried forward for further analysis. It was determined that the Alternatives that were carried forward would satisfy the traffic and transportation requirements for the Queensway corridor while minimizing property and environmental impacts.
- Do Nothing (i.e. no widening, retain the existing number of lanes) for the existing section of the Queensway from Carling Avenue to Metcalfe Street. While no widening will occur in this section, improvements at interchanges will be considered as part of this alternative;
- Improve existing highway – strategic widening and interchange modifications from Highway 416 to Carling Avenue to provide eight basic lanes, from Metcalfe Street to Ottawa Road 174 to provide eight basic lanes and from Ottawa Road 174 to Walkley Road to provide six basic lanes; and
- Implement transportation demand management and Advanced Traffic Management System measures and improve transit throughout the Queensway corridor to complement other proposed improvements.
Existing Conditions
Natural Environment
On the basis of the field inventories and the secondary source investigations conducted as part of this study, the features of natural environmental significance within the study area are as follows:
- A total of 11 watercourses identified as fish habitat (all warm water fish habitat);
- Several areas of vegetation (e.g. woodlot within 417/416 interchange, small forest associated with Pinecrest Creek) and scattered pockets of landscaping throughout the study area primarily situated outside of the existing right-of-way;
- The presence of one Regionally Rare (Butternut) and four Regionally Uncommon vascular species and a pair of Merlins in Hampton Park.
Social-Economic Environment
The urban setting of the study area means that there are many land uses along the freeway corridor that are significant to the social environment. These include residential (single to multi-family), institutional (churches, schools, embassy), commercial (office buildings, shopping centres, car dealerships, business park, hotels, etc.), recreational (open space park land, baseball diamonds) and industrial (Ottawa Works yard, car repair). Access to these land uses during construction for vehicles, transit, pedestrians and cyclists will be an important consideration.
Cultural Environment
While a Stage II archaeological assessment revealed that the existing right-of-way and adjacent area are significantly disturbed with no evidence of archaeological resources found, there is potential for the presence of archaeological resources to be found at any undisturbed location beyond the existing right-of-way.
Built heritage resources, such as the former municipal building on Main Street, do exist adjacent to the Highway 417 corridor and were identified during the existing land use review.
Transportation and Engineering
The existing Queensway is 3-lanes per direction from Highway 416 to Carling Avenue; 4-lanes per direction from Carling Avenue to Kent Street; 3-lanes per direction from Kent Street to OR 174; and 2-lanes per direction from OR 174 to the east project limit.
Access to the Queensway is provided at grade separated interchanges, many of which do not meet current design standards for a 400 series freeway.
Much of the existing infrastructure is ageing and will require rehabilitation or replacement through the 20 year planning horizon of this study.
Problem Statement
The following primary concerns were noted for the study area:
- Insufficient capacity to accommodate existing and projected travel demands for the study corridor;
- Locations of higher than expected collision frequency typically associated with locations of recurring congestion;
- The standards used for the original construction and subsequent modifications to Highway 417 through the study area have resulted in a number of features that are considered sub-standard by today's standards, including mainline horizontal and vertical alignment elements, ramp geometry and lane/shoulder widths; and
- The majority of the existing highway infrastructure is in need of significant rehabilitation and/or replacement over the planning horizon of this study in order to maintain its functionality.
Design Alternatives
The Highway 417 study corridor was divided into independent segments, interchanges and groups of interchanges for the development, assessment and evaluation of design alternatives. Each independent set of alternatives was reviewed to determine the applicable factors and sub-factors for the evaluation process. A multi-disciplinary team with representatives from the City, NCC, MTO and the consultants preformed the evaluation with input for the sensitivity testing from the Public Advisory Committee. The preferred alternatives were then presented to the public and agencies at Public Involvement Centre #2 and refinements were made to reflect input received.
Mainline
The alternatives for the mainline widening were limited to:
- Do Nothing; and
- Strategic Widening including application of positive guidance
measures, ATMS and the following basic mainline lanes:
- Widen from 3 to 4 basic lanes per direction from Highway 416 to Carling Avenue;
- Retain existing 4 basic lanes per direction from Carling Avenue to Kent Street;
- Retain existing 3/4 basic lanes per direction from Kent Street to Metcalfe Street;
- Widen from 3 to 4 basic lanes per direction from Metcalfe Street to Ottawa Road 174; and
- Widen Highway 417 from 2 to 3 basic lanes per direction from Ottawa Road 174 to east of Walkley Road.
Following the evaluation, strategic widening was selected as the preferred design alternative as it addressed traffic operations and safety issues while minimizing impacts on the environment. In order to avoid property impacts to the extent practical, retaining walls were incorporated into the highway design wherever possible. Remaining property requirements to accommodate the proposed widening consist of one residence and some strips of property. A landscaping concept was developed to guide mitigation measures for unavoidable impacts on existing roadside vegetation.
There will be benefits to the City road network as a result of the strategic widening as traffic will be more balanced between Highway 417 and City streets. The strategic widening will help address the future east-west capacity shortfall identified by the City (even with the achievement of the established 30% transit mode share target).
The strategic widening received general support during consultation and was carried forward to the Recommended Plan.
Interchanges
For each interchange location, alternative ramp configurations and/or closures were identified to address traffic, safety and/or geometric concerns. Some alternatives were developed with input from the public and/or agencies. With the selection of the strategic widening alternative for the mainline, the "base case" alternative for each of the interchanges included modifications to the ramps to fit the mainline widening, where required.
Input from the public was instrumental in the refinement of the technically preferred alternatives. In particular, the initially proposed modification of the ramp at Island Park Drive was removed from consideration. Table E-1 summarizes the technically preferred alternatives at each location within the Study Area along with the rationale for the selection of that alternative and the associated impacts:
