New commercial development means more traffic for Canotek Park

Construction on the new 122,500-sq.-ft. building on Rainbow Street is slated to start in earnest next month, according to officials, the first of two properties planned for the site owned by the Hospitals of Ontario Pension Plan. The project is expected to be substantially completed by Sept. 1, with tenants occupying the space by mid-November at the latest.

But Tim Tierney, president of the Beacon Hill Community Association (BHCA), says the roadways coming in and out of Canotek Business Park are already bursting at the seams during peak hours. "In the mornings getting out of the neighbourhood, getting up that hill at Shefford is already a major challenge," he recounts.

It's the same situation many evenings, Tierney continues, with sporting events happening in the area. That stretch of Shefford meeting Montreal and Canotek roads is also a prime location for accidents, he says, with "quite a few" occurring at both intersections. "Something definitely has to be done before they start adding in additional businesses," Tierney suggests. "I've noticed a lot more traffic (in the last couple years). The city has to wake up and realize with more business comes more traffic."

And while increased development is good economic news for the area, he stresses that infrastructure has to keep up with resident usage, pointing to the growth that's occurred since only a movie theatre stood in the business park in 1979.

If the new facility is built without any upgrades to roads or infrastructure, "I think people will have to add on some time to their commute every day," Tierney continues. "It's not something residents probably want to do."

The development's transportation impact study, meanwhile, concludes the facility will generate additional traffic – an approximate 140 vehicles per hour during morning and afternoon peaks – but points to existing and future "capacity concerns" between the Montreal and Shefford intersection and Highway 174 not directly influenced by the development. While the report offers suggestions on different upgrades that could relieve some the roadway burden, it also concludes that public transit will have to play a major role in reducing congestion.

Paul Jordan, a project manager at the city, explains information received from the Rainbow Street project's transportation impact study – completed by the IBI Group and released in the fall – is determined by "taking the zoning and determining what the maximum amount of traffic could be coming out of that site. They've given us what they feel will be the traffic generated by the site."

When a site plan is approved, city staff also takes that information for review, potentially "strengthening the reason for putting money into an intersection," he continues, explaining the city already has a list of intersections in need of upgrades on which Montreal and Shefford roads may be included. "There are a lot of things that can adjust the capacity of an intersection," Jordan adds, including signal timing and lane widening.

But with construction on the Rainbow Street project's first phase slated to get underway in upcoming weeks, they are only examining "traffic generated by one-half of this site," he explains, with the ability to potentially revise the study in the future if needed.

The city is also considering expanding Polytek Street to Shefford, giving traffic another out for the area, and with much of the land between the Rainbow Street development and Shefford already city-owned, Jordan recounts.

As for transit use factoring into estimated traffic predictions, he continues, anticipated ridership numbers are used to determine impact and future use. Also taken into consideration is the nearby Transitway, Jordan explains, as well as the pathway between Montreal and Rainbow leading to a bus stop that residents are assumed to use. "We're hoping (public transit use) will reduce some of the (vehicle) trips," he says, adding that development news is also circulated to OC Transpo. "We’re trying to get a good fit here … trying to split the traffic in and out. It's keeping in tune with the industrial use." — With files from Peter Kovessy