EAGLESON ROAD (CADENCE GATE / COPE ROAD TO FLEWELLYN ROAD) / FERNBANK ROAD (TERRY FOX DRIVE TO EAGLESON ROAD) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

ÉVALUATION ENVIRONNEMENTALE DU CHEMIN EAGLESON (CADENCE GATE / CHEMIN COPE JUSQU’AU CHEMIN FLEWELLYN) / CHEMIN FERNBANK (PROMENADE TERRY FOX AU CHEMIN EAGLESON)

ACS2007-PTE-POL-0058 Rideau-Goulbourn (21), Kanata South (23)

A PowerPoint presentation was provided by Steve Stoddard, Senior Project Engineer, Planning, Transit and the Environment (PTE) and Shawn Doyle, Dillon Consulting. A copy is held on file with the City Clerk.

Councillor Feltmate, the Ward Councillor with respect to this item, requested clarification of what noise mitigation measures are planned for this area, particularly for the residents along Eagleson. Mr. Stoddard confirmed that the intention is to erect a noise barrier wall. Councillor Feltmate wished to ensure that would be the case.

Councillor Feltmate then referred an email (copy on file with the City Clerk) received by the Committee on September 17, 2007 from Peter McNichol, a Kanata Cyclist, in which he noted his previous communications to staff about his concerns that the TransCanada Trail at Eagleson is not signalized. She questioned why this issue was not addressed in the staff report. Mr. Stoddard acknowledged the issue has been present for several years, having been reviewed by the Public Works and Services (PWS) Department previously, and that it should have been addressed in this report. He apologized for the oversight and noted that it has been sent to PWS for evaluation for a pedestrian signal. He stated this would be included in the final report. As for the introduction of the signal, PTE would pursue this with PWS in terms of the warrants evaluation and the financing.

Councillor Feltmate noted that the Stonehaven Community in her ward are currently in discussions about implementing roundabouts in that development. She thought that a roundabout had been considered for Fernbank and Eagleson but was not sure why it has not been implemented. Mr. Stoddard responded that when staff conducts a study such as this one, it has become a more common practice to evaluate whether roundabouts would function in the long term at the intersections. Some of the intersections, such as Fernbank, are primarily special in terms of the land requirements to fit a proper roundabout for those speeds and that volume of traffic. Mr. Doyle added that the consultants did conduct an operational review of the intersection, comparing the capacity and the ability of the intersection to handle the forecasted traffic demands, both as a more typical intersection and as a roundabout, and came to the conclusion that a roundabout simply would not be able to handle the volume of traffic that is forecasted, in part due to the directions of approach and how those volumes come together.

Councillor Legendre questioned how the roundabout at Flewellyn and Eagleson would be signed and whether it would behave similar to the one at Prince of Wales. Mr. Stoddard advised that it would be signed and behave as a normal roundabout, that is to say that traffic must yield to vehicles in the roundabout.

Councillor Legendre wondered why the intersection of Cope and Eagleson was not chosen as a location for a roundabout. Mr. Doyle explained that the traffic volumes on Cadence Gate and Cope Street are not very high compared to those on Eagleson Road and operational analysis of intersections indicates a poor performance for roundabouts when the volumes are not balanced, so a more traditional design has been recommended for this location. He acknowledged that the design could still be changed at the detailed design stage should Council feel that a multi-lane roundabout is in order and could accommodate the traffic flow, and he added that there is sufficient property allowance along Eagleson to accommodate that. Councillor Legendre questioned whether this would be the right time to request that a roundabout be installed there. Mr. Doyle replied that the direction would be taken now if Council so wished, but he reiterated that staff is not recommending it because the operational analysis showed a traditional design would work better to accommodate the type of traffic at this location. When asked if roundabouts have not been recommended for the same reason for the Emerald Meadows Drive / Romina Street and Eagleson Road intersection and the Terry Fox Drive / Hope Side Road and Eagleson Road intersection, Mr. Doyle affirmed that to be the case.

Councillor Legendre inquired whether any pedestrian islands are planned in this design. Mr. Doyle apologized for the lack of detail on the slides regarding the Terry Fox Drive / Hope Side Road arms of these intersections. He noted the intention is to maintain what exists now since the City recently reconstructed this intersection. On all approaches the median islands in the center will be there, and there is no recommendation for right turn channels on the extremities of the intersection.

With respect to the curvatures at the channels Councillor Legendre noted that even if there are no channels, if the curvature is large, traffic approaching the intersection could do so at much higher speeds, causing potential danger to pedestrians in those areas. He suggested the design proposed here might be even worse as there is nothing to indicate a vehicle turning lane to pedestrians. Mr. Doyle explained the intersection design parameters used, and that because this is the southern limit of the area designated as an arterial main street, staff has recommended design parameters that coincide with the minimum guidelines for arterial roads. The curvature is therefore as tight as can reasonably designed to still accommodate the traffic volumes that are anticipated.

Councillor Legendre noted that he was not concerned with the volume of the traffic, but rather the kind of traffic and the speed at which it turns. He wondered if this was designed especially for articulated vehicles. Mr. Doyle explained that the standard design vehicle for an arterial roadway is one that accommodates a tractor-trailer, so that type of vehicle is accommodated.

Referring to the PowerPoint diagrams, the Councillor noted the design shows a parking lot to the north and some stores not yet built adjacent to the roadway with the sidewalk sandwiched between the road and the parking lot. He questioned this design. Mr. Doyle noted that what they had included in the illustrations was the most recent version of the applications that were underway, representing a latter stage of that development application process. He suggested that the basic features they are trying to achieve on these sites is to have the building relatively near the roadway to give a sense of an edge to the arterial roadway and they would rather have some buildings near the roadway than have them all set completely back and have a large expanse of parking lot. This is the current compromise for building near the roadway with minimized parking exposure to the roadway.

Councillor Legendre wanted to note to the Planning Department that he would not be approving such designs and concepts in the future. He suggested that in these cases, the parking should be tucked in the back and out of sight. Mr. Stoddard noted that they had taken the step of illustrating the adjacent developments to the roadway with the intention of being very transparent about the whole concept that is being proposed. Councillor Legendre appreciated this, and noted that often the road proposals go to Transportation Committee, while the site plans for the adjacent parking lots go to the Planning Committee, and the City doesn’t seem to approach development with one philosophy.

Councillor Wilkinson commented regarding the roundabout illustrated in Slide 13, and asked if it was within the existing road allowance. Mr. Doyle noted that the illustration shows the proposed right of way, and there would need to be a property acquisition to construct the roundabout and to create the geometric features approach as illustrated.

Councillor Wilkinson asked if that size of roundabout would fit into the size of a standard roadway. She noted it was relatively compact and wondered if maybe it could be used in other areas as well. Mr. Stoddard agreed it was relatively compact, and explained that staff had done some reviews of roundabout alternatives in compact scenarios in different regions of the City. They found that these roundabouts would fit into some areas, but they sometimes require severe speed restrictions to make the geometrics fit, thus requiring the approach speeds to be very slow, and this would not work for some areas. The Councillor suggested that many residents would like those speed restrictions, rather than having stop signs.

The Councillor questioned why a roundabout was not being recommended at Emerald Meadows, given there is space to do so. Mr. Doyle suggested that the issue was not a space constraint, but rather the fact that the intersection would function better as a traditional layout than it would as a roundabout given the traffic flow and approaches.

Councillor Cullen, referring to the roundabout at Flewellyn, noted there is an annual cycling event, the Rideau Lakes Tour, in which over 1,000 cyclists come through this particular intersection within a short time span. He questioned how this intersection would operate for cyclists. Mr. Doyle agreed that it was part of the current cycling route pattern that is being developed and refined for the City, including Hope Side Road and this segment of Eagleson. He noted the illustration showed paved shoulders and cycling lanes on this component of the corridor. The intention is that would terminate and cyclists would enter the stream of traffic to approach the roundabout. Councillor Cullen questioned why the cycling lane would not be extend into the intersection instead, noting that right now the shoulders are very narrow and not very advantageous to cyclists. Mr. Doyle stated that there is accommodation for cyclists south of the median by implementing wider paved shoulders. He pointed out it is a rural rather than an urban bicycle treatment. He admitted that the roundabout was not designed to handle 1,000 cyclists an hour, but noted the design is consistent with the City’s typical approach for designing rural roads and accommodating cyclists. Councillor Cullen suggested the design should be adjusted to reflect reality and he noted the potential safety issues for cyclists. He wondered if staff could look at this as they move to the design stage, and Mr. Doyle confirmed that it could be examined and discussed further in the final report. Councillor Cullen asked that staff engage the Ottawa Bicycle Club as they go forward in the public consultation, as they are the sponsors of the Rideau Lakes Tour.

Councillor Legendre proposed to move “That the Eagleson Road EA incorporate traffic circles at Cope Road / Cadence Gate and Eagleson Rd.; Emerald Meadows Drive / Romina Street & Eagleson Road; and Terry Fox Drive / Hope Side Road & Eagleson Road”.

At the request of the Chair, Mr. Stoddard commented on Councillor Legendre’s motion. Appreciating the intent of the motion, he noted that these issues were considered during the environmental assessment and evaluated in developing the staff recommendation. He suggested it would be appropriate at this time for staff to clarify their evaluation and respond back to Committee, but suggested that to change the recommendation of the study would require an additional evaluation and public consultation. Councillor Legendre noted that staff had suggested that this was the stage for Council to indicate something like this, and noted that there was no earlier opportunity, nor would there be any appropriate later opportunity at which to do this. He asked the Committee for their support, and suggested that these intersections would work very well, even on a major road like Eagleson, and he noted that he was prepared to do the same thing in his ward on equally large streets when the opportunity presents itself.

Chair McRae indicated that, unless she received evidence to the contrary from other Committee Members, she would be supporting Councillor Legendre’s motion. She agreed that there was no better time to include it.

Councillor Wilkinson suggested that Cadence Gate be removed from the list, as the houses are already built very close to the road and to put it there would create difficulties for existing residents. Councillor Legendre agreed to remove the Cope / Cadence Gate location from his motion as a friendly amendment.

Councillor Wilkinson suggested the other two might work. She stated that she was very much in support of a roundabout for the Emerald Meadows intersection, however she stated that she was not sure about the use of a roundabout at Terry Fox and Eagleson. She noted that this is the crossing of two major arterial roads. She noted that, so far, Ottawa has only had roundabouts on single lane roads, and she felt that having them on larger roads would require a lot of education first. She suggested the motion be changed to say that at the time of construction, it be considered at that location. She felt that by that time, they would have a better sense of how it might work on such a large road.

Councillor Leadman noted that the motion read ‘that the Eagleson road EA incorporate traffic circles.” She wondered if this meant it must be done, or that they be considered. She understood that these had all been considered and there was rationale for them not being there. Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager, Planning, Transit and the Environment noted that it was here as an Environmental Assessment, as per process. She clarified that Council has opportunity to provide direction, and if they want to change anything, staff would have to go back out to re-engage the public, and then come back to Council for approval to file the EA.

Councillor Leadman asked if roundabouts were proposed to the public when the initial public consultations were done. Mr. Stoddard explained that roundabouts were considered as options during the earlier stages of the evaluation of alternatives, but once they were at the point of illustrating the alternatives to the public, they were screened out, with the exception of Flewellyn Road. He noted it was typical in many studies to bring up roundabouts early as an option, and say they will evaluate them, and then go to the public with the results of that evaluation.

Councillor Cullen commented on his experience with roundabout in Holland and France, where if a pedestrian steps out into the road following the marked zebra crossing at a roundabout, traffic comes to a halt to permit the pedestrian to cross the road. He wondered how pedestrians would be expected to cross the road at the roundabout proposed here. Mr. Stoddard explained that pedestrians would cross at the median areas (the deflection areas) and that when a person enters into the crosswalk, vehicles are supposed to yield to them. However, he noted that in Gatineau, where there are multi-lane roundabouts, there has been difficulty in terms of vehicle behaviour and pedestrians that has forced, in some cases, the installation of pedestrian signals in roundabout legs to deal with the issue. This is one of the factors in the evaluation of the pros and cons of inserting roundabouts on major arterials, especially in the cases of multi-lane configurations.

Councillor Cullen questioned whether the Eagleson and Terry Fox intersection would have residential development around it, as it is just outside the urban boundary. Mr. Stoddard explained that at Eagleson and Terry Fox, the urban boundary is in the centre of Terry Fox and Hope Side Rd., and it is rural to the south and urban to the north. Immediately to the north, west of Eagleson is commercial. Immediately to the north east of Eagleson is a mixture of residential and commercial.

Councillor Cullen noted that one of the issues was how to accommodate pedestrians in these roundabouts, as there is no design other than installing pedestrian operated lights to stop traffic to permit a pedestrian to cross. He commented that although he was persuaded on roundabouts from a traffic perspective, he was not so inclined from a pedestrian perspective. He felt that more thought must be put into the design of roundabouts to accommodate pedestrians in those areas where there is high pedestrian traffic.

Councillor Feltmate noted that staff will soon undertake the Hope Side Road EA, and she suggested as part of that EA Terms of Reference, staff could review the possibility of putting a roundabout at that corner. Mr. Stoddard confirmed it could be done within the scope of that coming study. Councillor Feltmate expressed support for the Wilkinson amendment to consider the roundabout at the time of construction, noting that consultation would be occurring around Terry Fox and Hope Side Road, and a better sense of the public opinion would be available. She noted that she has been a supporter of roundabouts but she was concerned that the community might not be ready for one at this multi-lane location. She said she would ensure that residents are consulted and engaged in conversations in this regard when the time comes.

Councillor Bloess noted that although staff does consider roundabouts during EA processes, they usually get eliminated as an option in the early stages and therefore are often not presented to the public as a viable option during the consultations. He noted however that a roundabout will not always be the right option for every location, but he felt that the notion should be introduced early on to the public and then the process could unfold, as it will. He felt it is not feasible to wait until construction to consider it as an option. Mr. Stoddard replied that at this point in the process, staff is trying to describe to the public and the landowners the footprint of the property being proposed, the impacts and its features, and it is the appropriate stage of planning to consider those things and whether or not they will work. With that response, Councillor Bloess felt the Legendre motion would be the most appropriate, without the Wilkinson amendment. Mr. Stoddard agreed with that supposition.

Councillor Bloess commented that while he supports roundabouts, he acknowledges there are some locations where they are not the best options, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists.

Chair McRae requested confirmation from Ms. Schepers that staff would action the following comments by Councillor Feltmate as directions:

1. That the noise mitigation be a noise barrier wall for current residents backing onto Eagleson, and

2. That the comments by a community resident about the need for a traffic signal at the TransCanada Trail be recorded in the final report along with staff comments.

Ms. Schepers confirmed staff would take both as directions and act accordingly.

The Committee then considered the motions presented.

Moved by Councillor M. Wilkinson:

Amend Councillor Legendre’s motion, adding ‘considered at the time of construction’ for the Eagleson / Terry Fox and Emerald Meadows Drive / Romina intersections.

CARRIED

YEAS (4): Councillors M. Wilkinson, A. Cullen, C. Leadman, M. McRae

NAYS (3): Councillors R. Bloess, J. Legendre, C. Doucet

Moved by Councillor J. Legendre:

Direct staff to consider at the time of construction traffic circles at

• Emerald Meadows Drive / Romina Street & Eagleson Road; and
• Terry Fox Drive / Hope Side Road and Eagleson Road.

CARRIED as amended

The Committee then approved the report recommendation as amended by the foregoing motions.

That Transportation Committee recommend Council:

1. Approve the findings and recommended plan of the Eagleson Road / Fernbank Road Environmental Assessment Study, as shown in Documents 1 and 2.

2. Direct staff to prepare the Environmental Study Report for the Eagleson Road/ Fernbank Road Environmental Assessment and post it for the 30-day public review period, in accordance with the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act.

3. Direct staff to expand the Eagleson Road (Cadence Gate to Hope Side Road) project (901121) in the Capital Budget Forecast 2008-2016 to include works to Flewellyn Road.

4. Direct staff to introduce a new project for Fernbank Road (Terry Fox to Eagleson) in the Development Charge Background Study and the Long Range Financial Plan.

5. Direct staff to consider at the time of construction traffic circles at

· Emerald Meadows Drive / Romina Street & Eagleson Road; and

· Terry Fox Drive / Hope Side Road & Eagleson Road.

CARRIED, as amended.