City to offer fall update as summer of construction 'hell' winds down
From LRT to the Rideau sinkhole, Ottawa's core has been in chaos for months
Could construction relief be on the way? Or will it be more of the same in downtown Ottawa this fall?
Those questions will hopefully be answered this afternoon, when city staff and Coun. Keith Egli, chair of the transportation committee, offers council an update on how the next few months of construction will affect drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.
- Ottawa's 'crazy' construction snarls downtown traffic, bedevils businesses
- Construction forcing pedestrians in downtown Ottawa to take dangerous risks
All summer, Ottawa's downtown has been a maze of orange traffic signs, work crews, and confused commuters.
Stretches of Bank, Queen, O'Connor, Kent, Lyon and Wellington streets have all seen construction projects, which the city has deemed to have had a "high" impact on traffic, according to a municipal website devoted to monitoring roadwork and street closures.
Some of the projects, such as the ongoing Confederation Line light rail construction and the National Arts Centre rebuild, have been planned. Others, like the sinkhole that swallowed a portion of Rideau Street in June, have come as complete surprises.
"It's hell. It adds a good 30 minutes to your bus ride," said Annie Molimard, who rides the bus daily into downtown Ottawa from Clarence-Rockland, Ont. "Normal time is an hour, during [rush] hour. Now we're looking at an hour and a half."
Carole Elhage said she also has a lengthier-than-normal transit ride in from Orléans, and that the construction challenges don't end when she steps off the bus.
"You definitely have to wear your flats. Because if you're in your heels, you're definitely falling some places," she said. "There's a lot of detours because often the roads are closed, so you have to turn around and take another [entrance] to your building."
While Erik Foisy's 35-minute walk wasn't affected too much, he did suggest that his favourite downtown Toronto restaurant's approach to livening up a construction zone could possibly be applied in this city.
"The owner, the bartenders, the clients played bocce ball [on a gravel patch] for hours and hours ... where all the construction was happening," Foisy told CBC News.
"I can't see Ottawa allowing that to happen."
Today's fall construction briefing is scheduled for 1 p.m. at city hall. No one with the city was able to speak Wednesday before the briefing.