Fewer KEA lanes may mean longer rush hour
Posted Mar 12, 2010
BY DESMOND DEVOY
http://www.emcottawaeast.ca/20100312...nger+rush+hour
EMC News - Reducing King Edward Avenue (KEA) from six to four lanes may extend the afternoon rush hour in Lowertown.
"That might extend into a period that might extend from 3 to 6 p.m.," explained Rory Baksh, a community planner with Dillon Consulting, who has been doing computer modeling on the lane reduction study for the City of Ottawa.
He estimates that the worst of the afternoon rush hour in the area is usually from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Baksh's reporting from the first phase of the King Edward Avenue Lane Reduction Study found that the "Duration of impact could be 2.5 hours during PM peak period," if lanes were reduced.
During a later telephone interview, Baksh noted that while the above information "was an example given, it was not definitive," he added that "when we modeled the four lane scenario, there appeared to be some additional congestion," though he and his group were unable to nail down how much longer rush hour would last on a four-lane road, beyond the 2.5 hour window. "There may be a rush hour period that goes beyond 2.5 hours with a five and four lane road."
Motorists would also notice a difference with a four or five lane road heading northbound during the afternoon rush hour as well.
"It should take you an extra minute to get from Rideau Street to the top of the corridor," said Baksh.
The study also looked at a number of variables, using computer modeling and found that, on the whole, reducing lanes on KEA would not make a noticeable impact. Pedestrian crossings were not affected, and neither would walking times from Sussex Drive to Rideau Street or cycling.
"Thing change a bit," said Baksh, when transit was factored in, "with the 4-lane Configuration experiencing the highest transit travel times," along the route at two minutes and 40 seconds, between the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge and Rideau Street, according to computer model results. The results also showed that the "4-lane Configuration has the poorest reliability with travel time around 3 minutes, 45 seconds," in the afternoon rush hour.
Baksh was speaking at a public consultation meeting on the KEA Lane Reduction Study being looked at by the City of Ottawa, at the Routhier Community Centre, 172 Guigues Avenue, on the evening of Thursday, March 4. Baksh and his team were seeking the input of Lowertown and area residents to "guide" a recommendation to the City of Ottawa's Transportation Committee when the issue is scheduled to be put before them on Wednesday, May 5.
Baksh was quick to point out, however, that neighbouring areas like Sandy Hill and Vanier should not worry about traffic spilling over into their areas under a possible lane reduction.
"If you put the squeeze on a transit connection, that does not guarantee that it (traffic) will shoot elsewhere," he said, and the study found that there would be little impact on neighbouring areas for overflow traffic.
The study also made some interesting conclusions regarding air pollution. A five-lane road would result in "a range of higher and lower concentrations," of air pollution than a six lane road, but a four lane road would result in lower concentrations of air pollution. All three options did not result in a greater or lesser amount of noise pollution.
But the issue of congestion did impact on issue of the environmental.
During the recent construction on the major KEA/Rideau Street intersection last summer,
"there was a bit of congestion but things were still getting through...KEA seems to operate okay when it is down to four lanes," said Baksh. But, he later admitted that "if it takes longer for all the traffic to get through...then those emissions haven't really disappeared."
Another aspect of the issue that Baksh's report looked at was the parking that is allowed on KEA during off-peak hours. The number of spots, however, would drop significantly under the proposed changes. Currently, there are 556 parking spots on the six lane stretch, but only 200 would be available under a five lane proposal, and even then, only on the southbound lane. No parking would be available under the four lane proposal.
"No computer exists that can tell you what quality of life will be like," in the future, after the plans have been implemented, he said.
Baksh noted that reducing the lanes on major thoroughfares in cities is not without precedent, pointing to New York City as an example.
"Most folks are familiar with New York traffic because they know about gridlock," he said. In New York nowadays, though, "they are taking lanes out and giving them back to the community," making them either bike lanes, or to accommodate widening the sidewalks.
"What happens to that lane (when it is removed) is a separate conversation," said Baksh. He admitted that the lane could be partially used for small in-and-out lanes, allowing residential traffic to slow down to enter or exit small off-street, but that that had not been part of the computer modeling.
The meeting was attended, and addressed, by Ward 12 (Rideau-Vanier) City Councillor Georges Bedard grew up at the intersection of Bruyere Street and KEA and "that was when it was two lanes!" While it may not return to those days, even under the study, Coun. Bedard stated that he wanted "to return King Edward Avenue to a residential street."
KEA has been undergoing a $50 million dollar renovation for many years now, which will "make it a more interesting street, but this (lane reduction) is the next step."
Along with lane reduction, Coun. Bedard pushed for a new interprovincial bridge that would finally remove trucks from KEA since "downtown is not the place for trucks."
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