Earlier this year, vehicles jammed the Airport Parkway and Hunt Club Road during a Lululemon Warehouse Sale and Home Renovation Show. Cars parked on both sides of Uplands Drive also contributed to the slowdown.
In a report being tabled next week at the city's planning committee, municipal staff say several measures will be introduced, including the installation of No Parking signs and the implementation of new protocol for large events.
The city responded by installing No Parking signs on both sides of Uplands Drive between Breadner Boulevard and the Airport Parkway. By-law Services will continue to enforce three-hour parking restrictions on Uplands Drive north of Breadner Boulevard.
The CEC will be required to submit estimated attendance sizes for its events to the city each month for review and determination of mitigation measures.
During major events, city police will be on-site to direct traffic. CEC staff will stand at the push-button ticket boxes, manually handing out tickets to reduce wait time and improve traffic flow into the parking lot. Staff will also advise guests to pay for parking inside the CEC before leaving.
Roadside signage and event advertising will advise drivers to use the Airport Parkway as an alternative route to Uplands Drive, diverting traffic away from Hunt Club Road.
The committee is currently reviewing the possibility of installing a traffic light at the intersection of Breadner Boulevard and Uplands Drive, and has proposed that the upcoming transportation master plan will investigate the airport land use changes since the previous update to ensure adequate transportation is in place.
The CEC will be responsible for installing a pathway for transit users into the site from the bus stop at the intersection of the Airport Parkway southbound off-ramp and Uplands Drive.
"We've made significant strides from that opening weekend," said Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans. "A lot of improvements have now been made and a lot of the initial issues have been resolved."
The CE Centre hosted its first event a few days after Christmas and has booked 40 per cent of its maximum occupancy for the year.
See also:
CE Centre becoming concert destination: McCrann
How Ottawa's new trade show space ended up at the airport
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