John Dance is The Mainstreeter’s
chief reporter and the former
Chair of the Old Ottawa East
Community Association’s
Planning Committee.
Relying upon his extensive
experience. he keeps our readers
informed of a wide range of
community developments.
Riverdale reconstruction is coming
Public consultation on the rehabilitation of Riverdale Avenue begins this winter.
“The City of Ottawa has identified Riverdale Avenue for an integrated road, water, and sewer rehabilitation project to address aging underground infrastructure,” says Elizabeth Murphy, a program manager in the city’s transportation engineering services.
The project involves full road reconstruction along most of the corridor between Main Street and Bank Street. To prepare, the city launched a functional design exercise in 2024 to confirm the scope of the roadway and transportation elements.
Widened sidewalks, potential new cycling facilities, improved bus stops, and on-street parking are under consideration, along with intersection improvements and traffic calming measures.
The timing of construction will depend on approval of capital funding but will tentatively begin in 2027.
New funding benefits OOE
Despite the financial challenges faced by the City of Ottawa, several projects benefitting Old Ottawa East residents received approvals in the city’s new budget. Ottawa’s new budget increases taxes by 3.9 percent which is notably lower than the increases in Toronto and Hamilton (9.5 and 6.3 percent respectively).
A total of $6.8 million was approved in the 2025 capital budget for construction of the new community centre in the Deschâtelets Building. The expenditures for the project will begin when the provincial government provides funding to complete the Au Coeur d’Ottawa school, the primary occupant of Deschâtelets.
Almost $2 million has been approved for the Forecourt Park in front of the Deschâtelets Building. “The design work will begin in 2025 with construction to follow, subject to coordination with timelines associated with building of the required fire lane, the community centre and the Au Coeur school,” says Dan Chenier, the city’s general manager of Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services.
The expanded Carleton University Aquatics Facility also received an increase of $1.5 million for a total of $54.6 million project budget. This funding is for a 50-metre pool with final location yet to be confirmed. Discussions with Carleton University are ongoing to determine if a partnership arrangement can be negotiated.
“Any future impact on Brewer Pool will depend on where the new 50-metre pool is built,” says the city.
“There are currently no plans to replace Brewer Arena. The arena will continue to be maintained through ongoing lifecycle renewal work. Works identified for the next five years include roof replacement, repaving of the parking lot, and upgrades to the refrigeration, lighting, electrical and plumbing.”
Centennial trees – Take 2
A February consultation meeting to gather the views of Centennial Boulevard residents is expected to hasten the early release by Hydro One of a detailed landscaping plan for the Centennial Boulevard hydro line corridor.
Last November, to the dismay of many residents, Hydro One chopped down all of the large trees under the electric cables. However, now Hydro says its goal is “to restore the natural beauty of the boulevard while keeping the corridor safe for public use and for our crews to access the power lines for maintenance and repairs.”
Hydro One justified the removal of the trees to limit the cost of maintenance and on the basis of an easement agreement with the City of Ottawa which Hydro One originally claimed limited trees to just 10 feet. Upon questioning by The Mainstreeter, Hydro now says the limit is actually 12 feet, although in its invitation to the February meeting Hydro still spoke of a 10-foot limit.
Over the Christmas holidays, a number of Centennial residents “replanted” part of the boulevard with used Christmas trees, something that was an improvement over Hydro’s barren clearcutting. The Christmas trees sparked an idea for one local resident who mused whether planting Christmas trees might be a sound use of all or some of the boulevard whereby each year some trees would be harvested and new trees planted in the gaps.
Hydro One intends to implement its new landscaping plan this spring.
Centennial Boulevard residents improved the boulevard by “planting” used Christmas trees where the large trees had been removed by Hydro One. Photo by Margo Bisson
Greenfield/Main/Hawthorne: Stop!
A month after the completion of last year’s construction on the Greenfield/Main/Hawthorne (GMH) project ended, the city reinstalled a missing stop sign at the corner of Montcalm Street and Greenfield Avenue. Montcalm resident Greg MacEachern notified Councillor Shawn Menard of the deficiency and a sign was installed the next day.
Last fall, MacEachern and neighbours raised a number of issues concerning the conduct of the lengthy project and the result was an on-site meeting of residents, city staff, Menard and the contractor.
“What typifies the lack of regard for the community is that when the construction company, running well behind schedule, had to hurry and return our streets to normal so plows could clear snow, but neither they nor the city ensured the stop sign at Montcalm and Greenfield was re-installed,” MacEachern wrote in an email to Menard. “Did no one think to do a neighbourhood inspection following the removal of the construction equipment?”
MacEachern proposes that another community meeting be held “to review how the remaining months (years?) of construction will work, and that commitments about proper notice be met.”
Colonel By stone walls
Although the National Capital Commission (NCC) is not planning any rehabilitation work on the retaining walls in Old Ottawa East between Colonel By Drive and Echo Drive this coming year, considerable work is planned for the Old Ottawa South portion of the walls.
“The construction of a 140-metre-long new armour stone retaining wall along Colonel By Drive between the Bank Street overpass and Rosedale Avenue is expected to begin in 2025,” says the NCC. “The second part of the project between Echo Drive and Rosedale Avenue will take place in 2026.”
Armour stone is a natural quarry rock that is extremely large in size and usually comes in a uniform rectangular shape. The large blocks were also what was used four years ago in the rehabilitation of the retaining wall near the Avenue Road stairs.
New trees along Colonel By
Addressing a long-standing concern of the Old Ottawa East (OOE) Community Association, the NCC planted 13 trees last fall on the barren stretch of land between Colonel By Drive and the Canal opposite Kings Landing.
Although there had been several trees there before, some had died and others had been destroyed by the 2022 derecho. The plantings are a part of theincremental tree planting efforts supported by the federal government’s “2 Billion Tree” program. The new trees include elm, oak, spruce and hickory.
The community association has also requested that the NCC plant additional trees along the southern section of OOE’s Colonel By Drive frontage. When previously asked about this, the NCC responded thatmore trees would be planted when the installation of the new lights is completed, something scheduled for “winter 2025-26.”
In related news, the city has replaced four dead trees along Main Street, between Clegg Street and Beckwith Road.
Main and Hawthorne corner safety concerns
Shortly after its installation, one of the new hard bollards at the southwest corner of Main and Hawthorne was decapitated. The city says additional improvements will be made. Photo by John Dance
One benefit of the Greenfield/Main/Hawthorne project is better safety for pedestrians and cyclists at the southwest corner of Main and Hawthorne. But one of the related improvements – hard bollards – has already been damaged by turning vehicles. While this is evidence of the bollards’ value in protecting pedestrians at the substandard corner, it may also demonstrate that not enough has been done.
“The damaged bollard was impacted during a period when construction traffic control measures were in place and does not represent the final conditions at this intersection,” Bruce Kenny, the city’s manager of Design and Construction responded to The Mainstreeter.
“Once construction is complete, the corner will remain slightly constrained due to the proximity of nearby buildings,” he said. “However, the design improves the right-turn movement as much as possible, minimizing the risk of vehicles encroaching onto sidewalks.”
Next year, the city will install a concrete rumble strip along the curb line near the bollards to promote better vehicle alignment during right turns. Also, a flex stake will be installed at this corner between the crosswalks for enhanced safety. Previously, the flex stake at this location was repeatedly battered and then just disappeared. The Mainstreeter will continue to monitor what happens.
Residents have noted that the reconstructed southwest corner of Pretoria Bridge and Colonel By Drive does provide enhanced pedestrian safety and they question why the same design wasn’t used at the southwest corner of Main and Hawthorne.
