MEMORANDUM - Review of Options to Add Additional Capacity on Helmcken Road

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Watt has been retained by Invictus Commercial Investment to conduct a review of options for adding additional capacity to Helmcken Road to address queueing issues observed during the Traffic Impact Assessment conducted by Watt for the proposed Eagle Nest development on the northwest corner of Burnside Road and Helmcken Road. The analysis of the existing traffic conditions identified that westbound traffic queues from the Helmcken Road / Watkiss Way back through the Helmcken Road / Burnside Road intersection during the PM peak hour. This queueing also creates queueing on Burnside Road as northbound left turners cannot easily turn onto Helmcken due to the extended queuing. This review will examine options to improve the operations along Helmcken Road.

The high volume of northbound Burnside Road traffic turning left onto Helmcken Road may be due to vehicles avoiding the construction at the Highway 1 / McKenzie Avenue / Admirals Road intersection. The intersection is currently partially through a 4-year construction project to install an interchange which will include a dual left right turn on-ramp from McKenzie Avenue onto Highway 1. The completion of the McKenzie interchange may divert traffic from Helmcken Road / Burnside Road to McKenzie Avenue / Highway 1 and therefore improve operations along Helmcken Road.

2.0 EXISTING CONDITIONS

During the PM peak hour, the westbound movement on Helmcken Road experiences long queues and spillbacks past the Burnside Road W intersection from the Watkiss Way signal. The northbound movement on Burnside Road W is also poor due to the limited ability to make a left turn onto Helmcken Road due to the queues on Helmcken Road. The northbound left movement is further impacted by right turn traffic from the southbound movement on Burnside Road. The northbound left turn queue impacts the ability of northbound through and right turn vehicles to access Helmcken Road since the northbound direction is a single lane.

3.0 ADDITIONAL LANING

One option is to add a second through lane westbound east of Watkiss Way for approximately 100m. The addition of the second westbound lane through the Watkiss intersection is an improvement in the left turn, north-south, and westbound delays. The westbound 95th percentile queue length drops by 330m to less than 100m and eliminates the spillback of westbound traffic through the Burnside Road intersection.

The northbound movement on Burnside Road at Helmcken Road remains poor due to the high percentage (70%) of northbound left turning vehicles. The addition of a northbound left turn lane would provide for separation of left turning vehicles and allow northbound through and right turn vehicles to access Helmcken. Sufficient right-of-way exists on Burnside Road to accommodate the road widening required for a northbound left turn lane. The addition of a northbound left turn lane results improves the LOS for the northbound left turn movement from LOS F to LOS E in the new left turn lane and LOS B for the combined through / right turn lane.

Although transit buses servicing at the westbound transit stop west of Burnside Road pull into the bike lane as they stop, they remain partially in the westbound lane of Helmcken Road and may impede traffic for up to 30 seconds. The developer is working with BC Transit to determine if a bus bay is desired. Installation of a bus bay at the existing transit stop location will allow buses to pull fully out of the westbound lane at the stop.

4.0 CONCLUSIONS

At the Helmcken Road / Watkiss Way intersection, the existing laning results in significant peak hour queueing, causing traffic to back up into and through the Burnside Road intersection. The installation of a second westbound through lane at the Helmcken Road / Watkiss Way intersection reduces the 95th percentile queue length of westbound vehicles to less than 100m, eliminating spillback of westbound traffic into the Burnside Road intersection. The additional lane improves the overall operation of the intersection.

The addition of a 40m northbound left turn lane improves the northbound left turn movement to LOS E and LOS B for the northbound through / right turn movement as well as reduces northbound queues.

Sincerely,
Watt Consulting Group

Tanner Vollema, EIT
Transportation Engineer

Nadine King, P.Eng., PTOE
Senior Transportation Engineer