Attachment 1

Yellowhead Trail – 156 Street Concept Planning Study, Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

Over the past 20 years, the City of Edmonton has continued to upgrade Yellowhead Trail to a freer-flowing standard by limiting access locations and grade separating major intersections. The Transportation Master Plan approved by City Council in April 1999 designates Yellowhead Trail as the northern leg of the Inner Ring Loop. The Plan calls for the roadway to “be further enhanced to an ultimate free-flow standard through progressively more stringent access management practices and the progressive replacement of at-grade intersections with interchanges.”

As a result of existing traffic congestion, excessive delays, safety concerns and the access management issues, combined with the projected increase in traffic volumes, this location has been identified as a priority for both an interchange and a grade separation of 156 Street and the Canadian National Railway.

Major Issues

Major Issues addressed in this study are:

  • Development of an interchange and adjoining roadway network that provides for safe and convenient movement of traffic.
  • Provision of safe and convenient access to adjoining properties, both during and after construction.
  • Accommodation of traffic flows for the initial Yellowhead Trail and 156 Street interchange and consideration for the ultimate development of Yellowhead Trail between 170 Street and St. Albert Trail.
  • Minimal impact on railway operations, during and after construction.
  • Minimal disruption of existing and future utilities and drainage systems.
  • Property Requirements.

Alternatives Considered

Four strategic planning alternatives were considered for Yellowhead Trail between 156 Street and St. Albert Trail. The options entailed different on and off ramp configurations at the various cross streets. Two of the four alternatives were determined to be feasible with respect to the 156 Street interchange.

Three options were studied regarding the location of the proposed interchange in relation to the location of the current intersection. The options were as follows:

  • The interchange structure located in the same location as the existing intersection.
  • The interchange structure located along the existing Yellowhead Trail centreline but shifted west of the existing 156 Street centreline.
  • The interchange structure located north and west of the existing intersection.

The options were evaluated based on numerous criteria including horizontal and vertical alignment of the ultimate roadway, staging and constructability, cost, property issues, drainage and utility impacts.

Recommended Plan

The recommended plan is shown in Figure ES.1 and includes the following:

  • A point diamond interchange configuration. This interchange configuration requires less property than other configurations, hence the overall project cost is reduced. This configuration will accommodate the projected traffic volumes for the threshold population of 850,000.
  • The interchange structure will be located north and west of the existing intersection with a westward shift of 156 Street. 156 Street will pass over both Yellowhead Trail and the Canadian National Railway. The railway tracks will remain at the present grade and Yellowhead Trail will be depressed approximately one meter to improve the vertical alignment and to allow 156 Street to be back to grade before the intersection with the proposed 123 A Avenue.
  • Three through lanes in each direction on both 156 Street and Yellowhead Trail.
  • A short and long term stage. The long-term stage will include an additional through lane on the east and westbound off ramps and a two lane one way service road south of Yellowhead Trail between 156 Street and 149 Street. The long-term plan will need to be implemented in conjunction with the construction of the Yellowhead Trail and 149 Street grade separation.
  • A new east west roadway between 153 Street and 160 Street with an intersection at 156Street. This roadway is tentatively named 123 A Avenue.
  • A sidewalk for pedestrian and bicycle access along one side of 156 Street and 123 A Avenue.
  • An upgraded section of 128 Avenue west of 156 Street with a new access road to Inland Cement.
  • A new roadway to provide access to properties east of 156 Street between the CN tracks and 128 Avenue.
  • A new drainage storm pond to replace the existing pond south west of the 156 Street and 128Avenue intersection. The new drainage pond will accommodate all the additional drainage requirements from the new road network.

Public Consultation

A public consultation process was undertaken consisting of two rounds of one-on-one meetings with the affected stakeholders in January and May of 2000, as well as two

Attachment 1 - Page 1 of 8

Attachment 1

Yellowhead Trail – 156 Street Concept Planning Study, Executive Summary

Attachment 1 - Page 1 of 8

Attachment 1

Yellowhead Trail – 156 Street Concept Planning Study, Executive Summary

public meetings. The first public meeting was held February 23, 2000 and the second on June 29, 2000. The main issues are summarized as follows:

  • Maintain access to existing businesses and properties.
  • Minimize interruptions to traffic flows during the construction period.
  • Maintain retail-oriented business visibility to the users of the roadways.
  • Minimize property severance impacts.

The development of the recommended plan has taken into account all of these issues. New access roads will be constructed to provide reasonable alternate access to affected stakeholders. The proposed construction staging allows traffic to continue to flow on both Yellowhead Trail and 156 Street. Each of the considered alternatives will somewhat reduce the visibility for some businesses. The recommended plan has the lowest number of impacted properties.

Area stakeholders and the West Edmonton Business Association generally supported the recommended plan.

Drainage

  • The proposed grade separation has an influence on three storm drainage basins

-North of CN railway Tracks;

-South of CN railway tracks up to 400 meters south along 156 Street; and

-Areas along 123A Avenue and 156 Street.

  • A new stormwater management facility will be constructed to handle stormwater storage for the interchange and surrounding area. This will replace the existing stormwater facility located south west of the intersection of 156 Street and 128Avenue, which cannot meet all drainage needs.
  • The proposed stormwater management facility is to be serviced through the existing 2150 mm storm trunk along Yellowhead Trail (Quesnell Outfall System). The new stormwater management facility will be required to accommodate 33,000 m3 of storage volume.
  • The outlet system from the proposed stormwater management facility is to be designed with a real time control system, which discharges only when there is available capacity in the downstream system.
  • Ditches and culverts will direct overland flow to the proposed stormwater management facility.
  • The new stormwater management facility will have to be constructed before decommissioning the existing stormwater management facility.

Utilities

To define the impact of the construction of the Yellowhead Trail and 156 Street interchange on existing utilities, information was obtained from the City of Edmonton’s own records and the various utility companies with facilities in the area. These companies included EPCOR Water Services, EPCOR Power, ATCO Gas, Telus Communications and Videon. The proposed interchange will require relocation of existing utilities and construction of new facilities. Associated cost estimates have been included as part of the overall project cost estimate.

Environmental Review

The proposed project could trigger the environmental assessment process pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) as a result of federal funding or the requirement for a decision by Transport Canada pursuant to the Railway Safety Act. Therefore, it is recommended that an environmental screening assessment of the project be completed. The terms of reference should fulfil the requirements for a ‘screening assessment’ pursuant to CEAA (Act) and the guidelines of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. This is the minimum level of assessment required under the Act and more detailed or further assessments will likely not be required. Discussions and/or meetings with CEAA (Agency) and the ‘responsible authority’, (likely Transport Canada or the potential federal funding body) should be initiated prior to finalizing the terms of reference for the environmental screening. This is necessary to determine the scope of the project to be screened, the scope of the screening assessment, including the appropriate level of effort, and the issues to be considered.

Completion of an environmental impact assessment that will fulfil the CEAA requirements will ensure there are no project delays and will adequately address the assessment requirements of the project proponent. It will ensure that a responsible assessment of the potential impact of the project is completed and due diligence has been applied to the design of the project.

It is important that the potential environmental impacts of the project be considered over the entire project life. This would include project actions associated with the following:

  • Construction activities, such as staging and access, initial overpass/road construction, deferred overpass/road construction and unforeseen construction problems (i.e. encountering soil contamination);
  • Operational activities which would include normal operations, routine maintenance and emergency conditions (i.e. vehicle or pedestrian accidents) and;
  • Decommissioning or end life replacement.

Further investigation and evaluation of the environmental condition of the properties possibly involved through acquisition is required during the preliminary design phase, prior to any property transactions. It is recommended that Phase I Environmental Site Assessments be completed for all potential properties involved in any land transaction or transfers. Further assessment, in the form of Phase II Environmental Site Assessments, will likely be required on selected properties to investigate specific concerns identified in the Phase I assessments.

Safety

A review of safety issues for the various alternatives considered in this study, identified that the primary safety objective is to minimize the complexity of the driving task through the proposed interchange area where the following issues exist:

  • Relatively high traffic volumes.
  • Relatively high percentage of large trucks (in the order of 20%).
  • Relatively high visibility of businesses directly from Yellowhead Trail.
  • Relatively high travelling speeds combined with multi-lane negotiating and numerous egress and access points (both intersections and interchanges).
  • Relatively complex system of guide signs for access and egress from Yellowhead Trail.

The available background information in conjunction with this safety review indicates the following safety related impacts expected as a result of the proposed interchange and surrounding road changes:

  • Minimal negative impact to traffic capacity and safety resulting from the closure of 153 Street at Yellowhead Trail and the additional traffic generated by the future Casino as well as reduced collision potential for the higher risk movements onto and off Yellowhead Trail through this unsignalized intersection.
  • Expected improvements in collision rates at the existing 156 Street intersection by reducing the number of conflict movements with an interchange in place (both at Yellowhead Trail and at CN crossing).
  • Improved capacity through this intersection (future interchange) location and maintaining an acceptable level of service through the 2020 year planning horizon, along with related improvements for driver delay and associated frustration levels.
  • Decreased level of service for both Yellowhead Trail and 156 Street road users through the construction staging.

Risk Analysis and Management

The risk analysis on this project commenced with a review of known risk factors (i.e. encountered in the past on various interchange projects). Input for this process was obtained from key personnel in the planning, design and construction units of the City of Edmonton Transportation and Streets Department and by reviewing similar projects. Two workshops were held to identify risk factors. Some of the most important risk factors are summarized as follows:

  • Compromising design to meet stakeholders desires.
  • Uncertainty with sources of funding for project.
  • Failure to predict inflation and market conditions properly.
  • Failure to obtain stakeholder approval.
  • Proximity of site to CN Rail contributes to uncertainty in cost/schedule/safety/environment/politics.
  • Uncertainty associated with proposed provincial take-over of all major roads.
  • Provincial-Federal funding may affect ability to select contractor.
  • Uncertainty in ground conditions.
  • Uncertainty associated with land acquisition.

A risk management plan has been completed for this project to manage risk factors. The plan will be reviewed periodically as this project passes through its various stages i.e. planning, preliminary design, detailed design and construction. The risk management steps for this project involved the following:

  • Assign responsibility.
  • Define individual tasks that need to be taken to:

-Reduce the likelihood or impact of a given factor.

-Eliminate the factor or transfer it to others.

-Control the risk and mitigate its effects when it develops/occurs (e.g. contingency plan).

  • Define time/resource requirements and follow-up dates.
  • Produce solutions and implement them.
  • Communicate to others.
  • Identify any new risk factors that may arise as the project evolves.
  • Repeat the process until the project is complete for all residual risk factors.

Value Engineering

A value engineering session was conducted to validate the recommended plan or to make recommendations to improve upon the recommended plan. Members of the value engineering team consisted of independent experts from the City of Edmonton Transportation and Streets Department, UMA Engineering Ltd. and the University of Alberta. The recommended plan was generally supported but some changes were suggested to certain access points and the size of the railway and interchange structures. The value engineering recommendations were included in the final recommended plan.

Cost and Schedule

The concept level cost estimate for the recommended plan is $46 Million. The approximate breakdown of the cost estimate is as follows:

  • Interchange structure:$ 4.6 M
  • Associated civil works:$19.4 M
  • Railway structure:$ 2.9 M
  • Access roadworks:$ 2.1 M
  • Property acquisition:$ 7.8 M
  • Project drainage:$ 6.3 M
  • Project Utilities:$ 2.6 M

Upon City Council approval and funding allocation, the Yellowhead Trail and 156 Street project will be tentatively incorporated in the 5-year Capital Priorities Program for 2005. Completion of the project is expected to take three construction seasons.

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