The objective of the contract granted to CIMA+ was to determine the impact on traffic as a result of changes made to the proposed Arena on Sainte-Catherine St. West. The change involve the relocation of indoor parking access to Lansdowne Ave. and construction of outdoor pools only, primarily based on the study that was conducted by CIMA+ in 2008 and in January 2010. 

The area that was studied includes Sainte-Catherine St. West between Lansdowne and Metcalfe avenues, along with the intersection of de Maisonneuve Blvd. and Lansdowne Ave. 

The new design concept for the Arena is included in Appendix A.

The following activities were carried out within the context of this supplementary study:

• Rerouting of traffic resulting from the project;
• Analysis of future traffic conditions, before and after mitigation measures

3.1 Rerouting of traffic
The increase in the volume of traffic in the area under study was evaluated using standard trip generation methods as a function of the proposed expansion of the Arena, as shown in the January 29, 2010 Technical Study. The number of trips resulting from the project represents an increase of 52 during the evening rush hour (4:45 to 5:45 p.m.), in the form of 23 cars entering the sports complex and 29 leaving. This flow is in addition to the 57 vehicles entering (23 from the east and 34 from the west) and 44 leaving via Academy Road (37 going west and 7 going east) that were counted during the traffic studies on November 10, 1999, and the approximately 1,200 vehicles traveling on Sainte-Catherine St. during the same rush hour period (October 2008 data).

Only outdoor pools were considered within the context of this study. The counting was carried out in October, during which time the existing outdoor pool was not operational, and therefore, the construction of new outdoor pools would not introduce any change in the volumes resulting from the project. 

By rerouting the access to the indoor parking to Lansdowne Ave. this will allow additional trips to be split between the two accesses. In light of this, vehicle traffic was allocated as a function of the capacity of the parking areas, which provide 40 spaces for indoor parking (access from Lansdowne) and 46 spaces for outdoor parking (access from Sainte-Catherine St. West). The assumption was that 45% of vehicles would use the Lansdowne Ave. access, and 55% would use the Sainte-Catherine St. West access. The current flows entering or leaving via Academy Road were also split in the same proportions. Table 3.1 shows the current distribution of vehicles entering and leaving as compared to the situation in the future.


Table 3.1: Current and future trip allocation

The traffic entering and leaving via Bethune St. was not taken into account in the simulations, because no counting data was available. Given the fact that this street is more a combination of a private access and a Public Works access, and that the traffic during the evening rush hour is negligible, this street was considered to be a private access, and was not included in the simulated network. The vehicles were counted at the intersections with Sainte-Catherine St. West, which provides an adequate representation of the actual situation. 

It is important to note that the actual number of trips resulting form the project will probably be lower than the theoretical values. This is because future use of the Arena during the evening rush hour should generate traffic similar to the current pattern (Appendix C), even though the number of trips generated in the simulation was based on a similar reference site. However, the new sports complex is likely to attract additional spectators, and additional traffic is projected during other periods of the day, and therefore, the number of 52 additional trips allows for an analysis of the least favourable conditions. 

3.2 Future traffic conditions 
Simulation of future traffic conditions on the road network using Synchro plus SimTraffic software indicates that service levels comparable to the current ones will prevail. 

In fact, adding an access on Lansdowne Ave. will make it possible to divide vehicles up in a way that that has little effect on current traffic conditions on Sainte-Catherine St. West, and will result in acceptable service levels that are comparable to those that were calculated for the current situation. 

In fact, the various traffic patterns in the study area are characterized by service levels from A to D, and no gridlock was observed between the intersections. Vehicles leaving the indoor parking with the access located on Lansdowne Ave. experience little delay, and are easily able to enter the road network. There is no apparent impact on vehicle traffic on Lansdowne Ave. 

In addtion, vehicles leaving from Academy Road have no problem entering the network, because there are sufficient gaps in the traffic. 

D service levels were observed at the Sainte-Catherine St. West/Melville/Abbott and Sainte-Catherine West/Metcalfe intersections, but the delays are caused by the length of the cycle, and not by congestion, because all of the vehicles manage to clear the intersections in a single cycle. 

3.3 Proposed mitigation measures and future traffic conditions 
An optimization was conducted using Synchro plus SimTraffic 7 software in order to validate the current programming of the traffic lights on the road network under study. The simulation of future traffic conditions indicates that the current programming will be adequate to meet the anticipated demand, and modifications to the programming do not appear to be necessary at this time. 

Even coordination of all of the intersections that are controlled by traffic signals does not improve future traffic conditions, because it would cause longer waiting times on the side streets and secondary approaches to the intersections that are controlled by stop signs. In light of this, we recommend that the current programming be maintained for the traffic signals controlling the network under study. 

It is worth noting that Lansdowne Ave. is curved, and therefore, special attention must be paid in order to ensure visibility at the exit from the indoor parking area so that drivers can correctly evaluate the gap that is available for entering traffic. 

3.4 Balance of supply and demand in terms of parking 
As mentioned in the 2008 study that was conducted by CIMA+, construction of the new complex will require a total of 120 parking spaces, 100 of which are for players, 10 of which are for employees, and 10 of which are for visitors. 

Therefore, the projected number of parking places (86) is not likely to meet future demand. In this case, users can use parking spaces on Sainte-Catherine St. West and Bleinheim Place, where approximately 66 parking spaces were counted near the Arena.

The relocation of the underground parking access to Lansdowne Ave. has been proposed in order to minimize the impact of the Arena reconstruction project. 

Current traffic volume on Sainte-Catherine St. West is in the order of 1,200 vehicles per hour, and the additional flows calculated for the new project would amount to only 52 vehicles per hour, and therefore, the impact on vehicular traffic on Sainte-Catherine St. West would be negligible. 

In light of the foregoing, an analysis of future traffic conditions on Sainte-Catherine St West between Lansdowne Ave. and Metcalfe Ave. indicates that the traffic resulting from the Arena project will allow current traffic conditions to be maintained. In addition, it is also recommended that the current programming at the intersections controlled by traffic lights be maintained.