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October
1999 Newsletter
Submission
to Panel by Chair of Friends
The
written submission made by the chairperson of Friends
of Red Hill Valley suggested specific alterations to
approximately 70 sections or sub-sections of the Draft
EIS Guidelines document. Many of these recommendations
were intended to make more precise the requirements
imposed on the Region.
Major items were the full evaluation of alternatives,
the inclusion of socio-economic impacts especially to
vulnerable populations, the inclusion of an examination
of the Region's financial capabilities, and amendments
to ensure that the time and space boundaries of the
environmental assessment are adequate. The following
is a brief excerpt from the 11,000 word submission:
We
also strongly recommend to the Panel that the precautionary
principle be applied very specifically to socio-economic
impacts.
This
Project is the single largest and most expensive one
ever undertaken by the Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth.
It will have dramatic effects on this community for
decades to come and we need to ensure that those effects
are understood and accounted for.
For
example, it appears likely that approval of the proposed
Project will lead to significant deterioration in adjacent
neighbourhoods such as Rosedale (as occurred in the
Beach Strip community with the opening of the QEW),
heavy impacts on commercial areas in lower Hamilton
(for example, the opening of the Lincoln Alexander Parkway
has already resulted in a huge shift in shopping to
the Meadowlands area of Ancaster, including by many
residents of lower east Hamilton), further deterioration
(perhaps fatal) to the commercial health of the central
business district, further significant deterioration
in the reputation of Hamilton and the Region with regards
to quality of life and attractiveness to new business,
and significant growth in usage of vehicles.
North
Americans are beginning to understand what has been
obvious to Europeans for a long time - that building
more roads generates induced traffic. We draw your attention
to a study released in 1998 which evaluated the relationship
between highway expansion and congestion in 70 communities
over a 15 year period. The study concluded that metro
areas that invested heavily in road capacity expansion
fared no better in easing congestion than metro areas
that did not. Indeed, communities that invested heavily
actually ended up with higher congestion costs. This
result is in line with a growing understanding of the
phenomena of induced traffic.
We
have a very specific experience in Hamilton-Wentworth
which bears this out. In October 1997, the Proponent
opened the Lincoln Alexander Parkway, a 12 kilometre
east-west expressway on Hamilton Mountain. An analysis
of traffic flows before and after the addition of this
facility shows that it induced an increase in east-west
traffic of over 20% in the first year of operation.
Evidence
for this is found in the annual "Hamilton-Wentworth
Traffic Volumes" reports produced by the City of Hamilton.
Using
a Central Mountain Screenline running parallel to and
just east of Upper Wellington Street, a calculation
can be made from these annual reports of the total number
of vehicles crossing this screenline on a daily basis
(the analysis uses all major east-west arteries including
Concession, Queensdale, Fennell, Mohawk, Limeridge,
Stone Church and Rymal, as well as the Lincoln Alexander
Parkway).
The
total east-west flows in 1994 were a little over 119,000
vehicles per day. In 1995 this total rose to between
122,000 and 123,000. It remained in this range in 1996.
In 1997, the Lincoln Alexander Parkway was opened (which
resulted in partial closings on Limeridge Road). With
this facility included, the total east-west flows across
the Central Mountain Screenline rose to nearly 151,000
in 1998.
This
increase of more than 28,000 east-west vehicle trips
per day corresponds to a 23% increase in vehicle usage.
The Proponent apparently did not anticipate or calculate
for this induced traffic.
This
is evidenced by their surprise that the daily flows
on the new expressway were more than double what they
had predicted. They had anticipated flows of 25,000
vehicles per day, but the 1998 data shows nearly 59,000
actually using the facility on a daily basis.
The
increase in east-west traffic between 1996 and 1998
was accompanied by a smaller increase (about 8%) in
traffic flows crossing the escarpment within the cities
of Hamilton and Stoney Creek (primarily in the off-peak
periods).
The
growth in total east-west traffic flows was also reflected
in substantial traffic increases on all north-south
Mountain streets connecting to the interchanges of the
new expressway.
Traffic
flows near the expressway on Upper Wentworth rose
70% and on Upper Gage by 63%. Increases of about
30% were also seen on Garth and Upper Wellington
(even though the latter does not have an interchange
with the Lincoln Alexander Parkway).
There
were smaller increases on Upper James and Upper Sherman
and decreases were recorded on Upper Ottawa (down 15%)
and Upper Paradise (down 30%), both major arteries that
do not have interchanges with the new expressway.
This
information shows that the implications for traffic
flow on major arteries and residential streets near
the proposed Project must be evaluated in the Panel
Review....
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©
Friends of Red Hill Valley 1991-2005
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