1. Introduction

1.1 Study Areas

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has retained Totten Sims Hubicki Associates (TSH) to undertake a Preliminary Design Study and Class Environmental Assessment for improvements to Highway417 (the Ottawa Queensway) from the Highway 416 interchange to west of Anderson Road (26 km). The primary Study Area for the traffic operations component of this project, illustrated in Figure 1.1, includes the Highway 417 mainline within these limits as well as all interchanges and crossing roadways within the interchange limits. The entire primary Study Area is within the City of Ottawa.

For the analysis of areas where Highway 417 operations are affected by operations on the crossing roadways, the primary Study Area has been extended along the crossing roadways as necessary to identify the operational effects.

A secondary Study Area, including the entire City of Ottawa, was considered in the development of traffic volume projections for future years.

Figure 1.1 - 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

1.2 Highway Characteristics

Throughout the primary Study Area, Highway 417 is a divided freeway with a posted speed limit of 100 km/h. From Highway 416 to Ottawa Road 174, the freeway has an urban cross-section, with a concrete barrier separating the travel directions and six to eight basic lanes. From Ottawa Road 174 easterly, the freeway is rural, with a depressed grassed median and four basic lanes. The existing basic and auxiliary lanes in each section of the freeway are summarized in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 - Existing Highway 417 Mainline Lanes

Section From - To	Eastbound Basic Lanes*	Eastbound Auxiliary Lanes**	Westbound Basic Lanes*	Westbound Auxiliary Lanes**
Highway 416 - Richmond Road	3	1	3	1
Richmond Road - Pinecrest/Greenbank Road	3	1	3	1
Pinecrest/Greenbank Road - Woodroffe Avenue	3	1	3	1
Woodroffe Avenue - Maitland Avenue	3	1	3	1
Maitland Avenue - Kirkwood Avenue	3	0	3	0
Kirkwood Avenue - Island Park Drive	4	0	4	0
Island Park Drive - Parkdale Avenue	4	0	4	0
Parkdale Avenue - Rochester Street	4	0	4	0
Rochester Street - Bronson Avenue	4	0	4	0
Bronson Avenue - Lyon Street	4	0	4	1
Lyon Street - Kent Street	4	0	4	0
Kent Street - O'Connor Street	3	0	4	0
O'Connor Street - Metcalfe Street	3	0	3	0
Metcalfe Street - Nicholas Street	3	1	3	1
Nicholas Street - Vanier Parkway	3	1	3	1
Vanier Parkway - St. Laurent Boulevard	3	1	3	1
St. Laurent Boulevard - Ottawa Road 174	3	0	3	1
Ottawa Road 174 - Innes Road	2	1	2	1
Innes Road - Walkley Road	2	0	2	0
Walkley Road - Anderson Road	2	0	2	0

* Basic lanes are continuous through interchanges.
** A continuous auxiliary lane generally connects the last on-ramp at the upstream interchange to the first off-ramp at the downstream interchange.

The highway passes through an area characterized in the west end as urbanizing commercial and industrial while the east end is characterized as rural. The central portion of the Study Area passes through the downtown business core of the City of Ottawa; this is a fully mature urban core. Throughout the Study Area, substantial pockets of residential developments abut the Highway 417 corridor.

1.3 Scope of Report

This report documents existing and projected future traffic operations within the Primary Study Area, assuming no improvements to the Highway 417 mainline or interchanges, with the exception of the addition of an interchange at Hunt Club Road by 2021. The findings of the traffic operations analysis documented herein comprise part of the Need and Justification component of the Class Environmental Assessment for improvements to Highway 417. This report provides information on:

• The data used in the analysis;
• Current and historical traffic volumes;
• Travel demand forecasting, using the City of Ottawa TRANS (EMME/2) model;
• Development of traffic volume projections for use in INTEGRATION modelling and operations analysis;
• INTEGRATION modelling of existing and projected future conditions;
• Traffic operations analysis of the Highway 417 mainline, ramps and related intersections on the crossing roads under existing and projected future traffic volumes;
• Safety analysis of all components of Highway 417 and its interchanges;
• Problem areas identified through the INTEGRATION modelling, traffic operations analysis and safety analysis; and
• Conclusions and recommendations of the Traffic Operations Study.

1.4 Report History

A draft Traffic Operations Report -- Existing Conditions was submitted to MTO for review on September 12, 2002. An initial analysis of projected future volumes was completed in October 2002, and documented in a draft Traffic Operations Report -- Future Conditions, dated October 30, 2002. At the time the traffic volume projections for that report were developed, the City of Ottawa was in the process of completing a comprehensive Transportation Master Plan (TMP) study. Since the travel demand forecasting model reflecting the most recent work for the 2003 TMP was not available, travel demand forecasting for the Highway 417 Preliminary Design Study relied on the City's 1997 TMP model. Prior to beginning the travel demand forecasting work, the 1997 model was adjusted to reflect known changes in land use projections, based on a set of interim assumptions developed in consultation with City staff and reflecting the best information available at the time.

When the City's TMP study was completed in early 2003, a comparison was made between the travel demand forecasts used in the October 30, 2002 Traffic Operations Report -- Future Conditions and the 2003 TMP travel demand forecasts. Changes in the inputs, assumptions and methodology used in the TRANS model resulted in different forecasts at both a network and roadway facility level. To ensure that the Highway 417 EA would be consistent with the City's TMP, the future conditions traffic operations analysis and modelling were redone using the 2003 TMP travel demand forecasting model as a basis for traffic volume projections. This analysis was documented in the draft Traffic Operations Report -- Future Conditions Update, submitted to MTO on September 24, 2003. The Future Conditions Update Report superseded the previous Future Conditions Report in its entirety, as only the update report is consistent with the City's current Official Plan and Transportation Master Plan.

Table 1.2 provides a comparison among key attributes of the 1997, 2002 and 2003 models. Although the increased transit mode share in the 2003 TMP model produced a reduction in overall auto trips on the National Capital Region road network compared to the earlier models, there was no reduction in projected auto travel demand on Highway 417. As capacity is relieved on the roadways by the increased transit use, travel times improve, and more longer distance auto trips are assigned within the model. As a result of this change in auto trip distribution, the 2003 TMP model had lower rates of internal travel within communities (e.g., Kanata to Kanata or Central Area to Central Area), while there were an additional 10,000 trips between communities in the p.m. peak hour. Since Highway 417 is an attractive route for long distance trips, even when congested, these effects produced a small net increase in the projected auto travel demands on Highway 417. The projected travel demand on Highway 417 was also increased by adjustments to work trips to account for increased labour force participation between 1995 and 2021 and the use of an updated travel survey as the basis for trip distribution (1996 instead of 1986).

Table 1.2 - TRANS Model Comparison, 1997 TMP Versus 1997 Modified Versus 2003 TMP

Characteristic	Variable	1997 TMP	1997 Modified (TSH 2002)	2003 TMP
Land Use	Population	1,330,000	1,492,000	1,492,000
Land Use	Employment	698,000	868,000	868,000
Person Trips	Process	Model derived trip generation	1997 TMP trip generation rates	Model derived trip generation
Person Trips	Total Peak Hour Trips	219,715 auto vehicles	256,715 auto vehicles	215,000 auto vehicles (256,720 pcu*)
Trip Distribution	Process	Model Derived	1997 TMP	Model Derived
Transit Mode Share	Process	Screenline Targets	1997 TMP	Origin-Destination Targets
Transit Mode Share	System wide target	20%	20%	30%
Assignment	Auto	Vehicles	Vehicles	Vehicles
Assignment	Transit	Persons	Persons	Persons
Assignment	Commercial vehicles	N/A	N/A	Passenger car units

* Passenger car units (pcu) includes auto vehicles plus an adjustment to account for commercial vehicles.

This Traffic Operations Report combines the content of the draft Traffic Operations Report -- Existing Conditions and Traffic Operations Report -- Future Conditions Update to provide a comprehensive review of the existing and projected future traffic operations of Highway 417 through the Study Area. This report incorporates comments received from MTO on the two previous draft reports and supersedes those reports.

1.5 Travel Mobility and Congestion

Travel mobility and congestion are two of the most common criteria used to determine the ease of travel between trip origins and destinations within an area road network. There is an inversely proportional relationship between mobility and congestion. As congestion increases, the free movement of people and goods through the road network is impaired. Measures of congestion are therefore also often used as indicators of travel mobility.

The modelling and analysis procedures employed for the future conditions analysis and described in this report produce several measures of congestion/mobility at various levels of detail. The measures included in this report are summarized in Table 1.3. An assessment and comparison of the values of these measures across horizon years provides an indication of expected changes in congestion/mobility over time.

It should be noted that the INTEGRATION measures listed in Table 1.3 can be produced at various levels of detail. In subsequent stages of the EA process, measures that are now summarized corridor-wide may be recalculated to assess the impacts of potential improvements on specific sections of the corridor.

Table 1.3 - Measures of Congestion/Mobility

Modelling/Analysis Method	Measure of Congestion/Mobility	Level of Detail	Report Section
Travel Demand Forecasting Model (EMME/2)	Volume to capacity ratio	Screenline Highway 417 section	3.2.2, Appendix B 3.2.3, Appendix B
Travel Demand Forecasting Model (EMME/2)	Average system speed % roadways exceeding capacity	Network-wide (entire City of Ottawa)	3.2.4, Appendix B
Microscopic Simulation Model (INTEGRATION)	Level of service (density)	Highway 417 section Ramp link	5.2.1, Appendix F
Microscopic Simulation Model (INTEGRATION)	Average corridor speed Average corridor stops	Highway 417 corridor	5.2.2
Freeway Operations Analysis (Highway Capacity Manual)	Level of service (density)	Highway 417 section	6.2., Appendix F, G
Intersection Operations Analysis (Highway Capacity Manual)	Level of service (delay)	Intersection, approach and individual movement	6.3.1, Appendix F, G

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Contents | Summary | Introduction | Data Collection | Demand Forecasting | Traffic Volumes
INTEGRATION Modelling | Operations Analysis | Safety Review | Conclusions