If the Rolling Stones came to play a concert at Lansdowne Park after it was redeveloped, the city could probably use Queen Elizabeth Driveway for shuttle buses.
“We have a tradition of collaboration with the city for major events in the capital and we will examine it,” said Francois Lapointe, executive director of capital planning with the National Capital Commission.
Queen Elizabeth Drive would only be needed for events larger than 40,000 people, according to the Lansdowne Development Transportation Strategy developed by Delcan, a transportation consulting firm for the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.
For regular football games and events closer to 20,000 people, buses would run up and down Bank Street every minute for the 90 minutes before and after the event.
Smaller events would need buses running every two minutes for an hour before and after the event.
The redevelopment plan calls for on-site parking to be reduced from 2,200 to 1,800 spaces, while adding around 400,000 square feet of business and retail space and an eight-screen cinema.
Catherine Lindquist, executive director of the Glebe Business Improvement Area, said parking shortage and traffic congestion have already been identified as problematic in the area.
“That is one our worst detriments,” she said. “We don’t want to see anything that will exacerbate that any further.”
