Alta Vista Transportation Corridor: Environmental Assessment Study

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Alta Vista Transportation CorridorEnvironmental
Assessment Study

• Public Meeting
• December 12, 2001

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Tonights Presentation

• Corridor and its Context
• The Study Team
• Background
• Environmental Assessment
• Issues
• Your Questions and Comments

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Tonights Objectives

• Tell you about
• the corridor
• the study
• those doing the study
• Hear from you about
• all of the above
• your questions
• comments and concerns

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Nicholas
Alta Vista
417
Main
Bank
Riverside
Industrial
Smyth
Transitway
Innes
Pleasant Park
Kilborn
St. Laurent
Heron
Walkley
Conroy
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The Study Team
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Study Team

• City of Ottawa is the proponent
• Retained a Multi-disciplinary Consultant Team
• City Staff
• environmental planning, transit, mobility,
  infrastructure, structural engineering, real
  estate
• Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)
• Public Advisory Committee (PAC)
• Committee of Special Advisors (CSA)

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Consultant Team

• Delcan Corporation
• Consulting engineers, transportation planners,
  and land use and environmental planners
• Role
• Project management, transportation planning,
  greenhouse gases, social impact, land use
  planning, environmental assessment and public
  consultation, functional design

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Specialists

• McCormick Rankin - transit planning (bus/rail)
• Niblett Environmental - natural environment
• Daley Ferraro - noise, air quality (GHG), and
  vibration
• Jacques Whitford - geotechnical and contamination
• Heritage Quest - archaeology and heritage
• DuToit Allsopp Hillier- landscape planning and
  architecture

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Advisory Committees

• Public Advisory Committee (PAC)
• Community Associations and Interest Groups
• Citys Advisory Committees
• Interest Groups
• Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)
• Government Review Agencies
• City Departments
• Committee of Special Advisors (CSA)
• Major Institutional Uses
• The first set of TAC/PAC/CSA meetings was held
  in October, 2001

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Corridor History

• City of Ottawa Official Plan, 1966
• Identified as a corridor to accommodate future
  roadway in the Regional Plan in1974 and every
  plan since
• Former Regional Council, in 1994, approved 4-lane
  road including 2 lanes for High Occupancy
  Vehicles (HOV)
• 1997 Transportation Master Plan identified a
  proposed regional road
• AVTC Environmental Assessment Study initiated
  Summer 2001

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Study Influences

• Official Plan and 20/20 Smart Growth Summit
• balanced transportation system
• alternative travel modes
• walking
• cycling
• transit
• development intensification
• live/work/play

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Current Study

• Current study beginning with Phase 1 of the EA
  process
• Re-evaluate need
• Identify alternative options/solutions
• do nothing
• transit (bus/rail)
• roadway
• combination of transit and roadway
• Public Consultation

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Environmental Assessment
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EA Processes - Overview

• Ontario Environmental Assessment Act
• Canadian Environmental Assessment Act
• NCC - NCC EA Policy
• Ottawa- Municipal Environmental Evaluation
  Process
• Harmonized Process developed to address all EA
  requirements

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Harmonized Process

• Combine the requirements of all the applicable
  processes
• Starting as a Schedule C with various
• transportation options considered
• Possible scenarios
• rapid transit solution - Harmonized Individual EA
• roadway - Harmonized Class EA Schedule C
• combination of both - 2 projects
• Harmonized Individual Environmental Assessment
  (transit)
• Harmonized Class Environmental Assessment
  (roadway)

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EA Process

• Five (5) stages from initiation to construction
• 1 - Project Need and Justification
• 2 - Alternative Options/Solutions
• 3 - Alternative Designs for the Preferred
• Option/Solution
• 4 - Reporting/Approvals
• 5 - Implementation
• Public Consultation throughout the study

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Stage 1 - Need and Justification

• Need Assessment
• traffic conditions and transit ridership
• current available road capacity
• transit service strategies
• future development potential
• future travel demand
• projected north-south travel demand in the
  southeast sector of Ottawa

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Stage 2 - Alternative Options/Solutions

• Document Existing Conditions
• Develop Alternative Options/Solutions for Travel
  Demand
• Do Nothing, Transit, Road, Combination
• Identify Evaluation Criteria and Methodology
• Transportation and Transit Committee 1
• Impact Assessment
• Evaluation of Alternative Options/Solutions
• Public Open House 1
• Transportation and Transit Committee 2

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Stage 3 - Alternative Designs for Preferred
Option/Solution

• Develop Alternative Designs
• dependant on the solution selected
• Connectivity Options with Crossing Roads/Transit
• Update Existing Conditions
• Public Open House 2
• Evaluation of Alternative Designs
• Impact Assessment
• Public Open House 3
• Refinement of Preferred Design

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Stage 4 - Reporting/Approvals

• Transportation and Transit Committee 3
• Environmental Assessment Report(s)
• Public Review Period
• Appeal Opportunities

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Stage 5 - Implementation

• Beyond the scope of this assignment
• Generally includes
• detailed design drawings
• construction specifications and tendering
• construction
• operation
• monitoring

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Public Consultation To-date

• TAC, PAC, and CSA initial meetings, October 24,
  2001
• Walk-about, November 17, 2001
• Notice of Study Commencement, local papers in
  November 2001
• Public Meeting 1, tonight

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Future Public Meetings

• Three Transportation and Transit Committee
  Meetings
• Three Public Open Houses
• Project Web site
• http//www.city.ottawa.on.ca/inside_govt/majorproj
  ects_en.shtml

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Some of the Issues...

• Traffic volume and congestion
• Existing neighbourhood cut-through traffic
• Overall mobility
• Transit use
• Noise, air quality, and vibration
• New development
• suburban growth/Hospital Complex/Train lands
• Smart Growth vs Unmanaged growth

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Some of the Issues cont

• Allotment gardens
• Greenspace
• Recreation pathways and opportunities
• Environmentally sensitive areas
• Healthy communities
• Affordability

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Some Facts

• Do nothing, transit (bus/rail), road, and
  combinations are all being considered
• A 6 Lane Expressway is not being planned
• Quality of life and natural environmental values
  will play an important role in planning decisions
• Public will be involved in all stages of the
  study
• Transportation corridors must be planned/designed
  to integrate communities not divide them

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Study Schedule
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Questions/Comments