By Scott McAnsh
More road work is coming to Old Ottawa East. The City is finalizing plans to redesign the north end of Main Street, Hawthorne Avenue, Greenfield Road, and many adjacent side streets. An initial public information session was held on June 18th at Saint Paul’s University setting out the preliminary design for the streets. The City had already held two public advisory sessions for community stakeholders.
More than 60 people attended the public information session and directed many comments and questions to the City staff and consultants on hand. The City will take those comments and come back to the community this Fall with a more detailed design.
An artist’s rendering of what the redesigned Hawthorne Avenue could look like following completion of the upcoming construction. Image by City Of Ottawa.
The preliminary plan foresees a road redesign of Hawthorne Avenue, Main Street north of Hawthorne, Greenfield Road, and many of the side streets off Greenfield. There will be changes to the water and sewer infrastructure, and many of the streets will have cycling infrastructure added. The plans include a westbound bike lane on the north side of Hawthorne, cycle tracks on both sides of Greenfield and on Main, and a two-way multi-use path along the east side of Colonel By Drive from Graham Avenue to Hawthorne.
The bike lane on Hawthorne will be similar to the path on Laurier Avenue, bounded by concrete barriers. City staff advised that a full cycle track is not possible on Hawthorne due to the substantial water main that runs under that road. Cyclists will be expected to use Graham for eastbound trips, and the new multiuse path along Colonel By is intended to allow cyclists to safely complete the trip to the Pretoria Bridge.
A proposal that drew some concern at the session was the plan to remove the left turn lane from Greenfield to Main. There were many in attendance who said that the removal of that lane would create large traffic backlogs at that busy intersection.
Jonathan Knoyle, the Program Manager for the project with the City of Ottawa, said that the feedback the City received from the first two public advisory sessions was very useful. He has found the community to be cooperative and easy to work with and notes that the City got good value from those sessions. Many more comments made at the Saint Paul’s public information session could also impact the plan, according to Knoyle.
Capital Ward Councillor Shawn Menard attended the public information session and indicated that he was happy with the progress of the project thus far. He said that his office has been in constant contact with the project team and he has found them receptive to concerns that he and his staff have raised, including issues like cycling connections and the protection of important trees in the neighbourhood. Menard says there is still more work to be done, including connecting the bike infrastructure on Main Street and burying the hydro lines on Hawthorne Avenue. While there have been productive talks with City staff on burying hydro wires, Menard considers it unlikely to be incorporated into the redesign plan for the streets due to the cost of the procedure.
Greenfield Avenue will take on a new look with wider sidewalks and cycling lanes in the works. Image by City Of Ottawa.
Prolonged discussion took place around the planned replacement of the highway bridges at Main and the Canal. The Ministry of Transportation is in the early stages of planning those bridge replacements and consideration has been given to the Ministry possibly buying or expropriating properties at either end of Hawthorne. The City says that is one reason why there are no current plans for the redesign of Main from Hawthorne to Harvey Street. That stretch of Main under the highway is relatively narrow, and the City is in early talks with the Ministry about acquiring some land for the roadway when the bridge replacement is complete. That project is not set to begin until 2025, so there will be a gap in the cycling infrastructure on Main for some time.
Concerns about the dangerous intersection at Main and Hawthorne are also expected to be addressed in the context of the redesign plan for these streets (see article on page 10 of this issue).“This is a difficult intersection; there’s a lot going on, and a lot of people and cars are using it,” explained Councillor Menard. “The bollard (traffic barrier) was an important immediate step we could take to add more protection for pedestrians, but it’s not a long-term solution.
“In the coming years, that intersection will be re-designed as part of the re-construction of Hawthorne, Main and Greenfield. We are working with city staff to make sure that the new design will prioritize safety of vulnerable road users. In the meantime, we will keep looking into temporary measures to keep people safe,” Menard told The Mainstreeter.
The timeline for the project is to develop a detailed design plan in the Fall and to finalize the plan over the Winter. Construction north of the highway, including work on Main and Greenfield, will begin in 2020 and likely run into 2021. The work south of the highway, including Hawthorne and Colonel By, will begin in 2021. The City is expecting to complete the project by the end of 2022. So get ready for more road disruption in the community.
