Transportation and Infrastructure report for December 10, 2024

in Transportation and Infrastructure

Submitted by Tom Scott

1. MTO Downtown Bridges Environmental Assessment and Transportation Environmental Study Report (TESR)

We pursued a request to the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Ontario to intervene with an Order where she would direct additional consultations with impacted neighbourhoods and communities, including those well beyond the MTO view of five-hundred metres from the actual planned construction site. The much-delayed TESR publication gave us thirty days to respond and we met those timelines.

As we reported in June, past history indicates that these comments and concerns coming from community associations have had little to no impact on MTO decision making. This time was no different as MECP and MTO chose a much more limited route under the legislation to receive only concerns regarding First Nations, even thought their own TESR feedback report indicated no response from any local indigenous organizations or communities.

A copy of the acting Environment Minister’s response (PDF) is included in this month’s report. We will continue to pursue the Environmental Assessment approach with our Queen’s Park representative.

2. MTO notification of upcoming repair work to 417 Rideau Canal Bridge eastern piers

MTO notified the President of upcoming repair work to the 417 Rideau Canal Bridge eastern piers for its westbound lanes. In June, we wrote to the MTO engineering team for clarification:

The objective of the project is to install temporary supports on the east pier of the westbound Highway 417 structure over the Rideau Canal. The temporary supports will remain in place until the bridge is replaced in the future.

On Colonel By Drive, short duration lane closures are anticipated. There are two National Capital Commission (NCC) multi-use pathways at this location (a lower path and an upper path); detours will be implemented for any closed pathway segments.

We also raised this project’s timing and impact with the GMH team members – see item 3 below. This project is now very much behind in its originally announced schedule.

3. Greenfield-Main-Hawthorne (GMH) Reconstruction Project

Greenfield-Main-Hawthorne (GMH) Reconstruction Project is headed for a winter shut-down by the Christmas week although it has an approved timeline of December 31, 2024 to restore 2-way service and snow-plowing capabilities for Main Street north of Hawthorne to CBD, and Greenfield Avenue from Main to King Edward.

At the Councillor’s request, an open-air [in the rain, unfortunately] ‘Town Hall’ session was held on November 21, 2024 with neighbours in the Concord N and Montcalm area. The Councillor and his staff plus members of the GMH team and City officials (including traffic management and winter maintenance) were present to give an update and to answer questions.

Over fifty residents braved the weather to express their concerns and offer advice on how to improve the situation – it will still be bad for noise and access, but it doesn’t have to get worse – was a common theme.

Integration with any MTO projects along the 417 corridor was also raised as a concern. The GMH team was clearly sensitized to a number of issues, some at a personal level, and promised to do better going forward, and into next year as well, as these same areas will need to be dug up next season.

Following the public engagement session, the GMH team proved the following update:

On Concord and Montcalm as the road gets constructed the catchbasin covers will be installed to the level of the base course asphalt to promote road drainage. Ramping at driveways will be conducted to facilitate access to driveways.
On Montcalm especially the reverse slope driveways are a concern and we will ensure that proper drainage is restored to reduce the risk of flooding. By just performing the combined sewer separation we greatly reduce the potential for flooding.
On Old Greenfield and Greenfield North of Concord the storm sewers are all reconnected to the catchbasins. I will get the inspection staff to go through this area to make sure that any erosion and sediment control measures are modified / removed for over winter as needed.

Ongoing updates and schedule adjustments (with a map) for the various phases of the project over the next two years can be found on Ottawa.ca: Greenfield Avenue, Main Street, Hawthorne Avenue et al. reconstruction project.

We continue to look for volunteers for the City’s process for identifying locations for replacement trees on private property within the GMH boundaries.

4. Old Railway Rideau River Pedestrian Bridge Heritage Designation

On November 6, City staff held a virtual engagement session on the outcomes of Council’s direction for them to assess the old railway bridge over the Rideau River, now used exclusively for active transportation, from the perspective of a recommendation to the Built-Heritage Sub-Committee. The time to review the staff’s presentation was limited to twenty-four hours before the virtual meeting.

The presentation – focused on demolishing the existing iron-work structure and building a new bridge crossing in the same location – was not well received, and there were significant counter points made during the session. (view or download bilingual PDF slides of the presentation)

A former community member of the BHSC, Mr. Barry Padolsky, made a formal complaint to the City, supported by OOECA Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. We also submitted a separate note of concern to the City’s project team, shared with the Councillor’s office.

Motion for Old Railway Rideau River Pedestrian Bridge

In reviewing the City of Ottawa staff proposal regarding the Old CP Railway Bridge over the Rideau River, now currently part of our community’s active transportation network;
In reviewing Council’s direction to staff as to whether or not to designate this structure as a built-heritage element; and,
In considering the importance of the visual, cultural and historical aspects of this structure already defined under the heritage designation criteria,

OOECA requests that:

the City deny any proposal to demolish this structure, and instead work with a BHSC designation and with the affected communities to ensure the ongoing survival of this structure and its continued use as a key and enduring part of the Transportation Master Plan active transportation network.
an effective and economical rehabilitation strategy be established for this structure and that staff be directed to engage in meaningful consultations with affected communities to achieve an optimal result for the preservation of this historic construct.

5. Files for continuing work this coming season

Pedestrian crossings along Lees Avenue – and notably not at controlled crossings – remain highly problematic with the very much increased volume on Lees due to detours from the Main/Greenfield one-way-direction restrictions.
- Pedestrian traffic using a preference-shortcut across People’s Park appears to be contributing to this issue arriving at a point near the Lees LRT crossing point.
- University of Ottawa traffic to its new facility also appears to arrive just off the established routes so we would also need to engage them in any discussion.
- For the councillor to take the lead with partners, i.e., City of Ottawa traffic management; building owners for apartment towers and small businesses along Lees; OC Transpo for the LRT/MTO for 417 access and egress; Ottawa U for student traffic patterns; and, local community representatives for safe active transportation lines through the area and accessible routes to the river pathways and into our neighbourhoods.

6. Of community interest – Allies of the Bronson status report (regarding Bronson reconstruction)

From Barbara Popel, team leader of the Bronson Team, who shared a report from December 5, 2024:

We’ve recruited 7 allies – community organizations and volunteer organizations for specific interests – who stated they support our goals and our possible solutions for Bronson during its redevelopment and who would like to be invited to any public meetings that are held about this redevelopment.

OOECA representative, Tom Scott, has attended meetings and provided input on Main Street reconstructions lessons learned. Read their recent report: Status report for the allies of the Bronson Team – December 5, 2024 (PDF).