Construction in Rideau-Goulbourn and Drop-In Sessions

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Congratulations to Rideau-Goulbourn residents Sanchit and Riya Gupta on receiving the Mayor’s City Builder Award at Council on Wednesday, May 22. The Guptas established a chapter of MealCare, a non-profit organization that aims to combat food waste, in Ottawa. Working with local restaurants, university cafeterias and grocery stores, the Guptas take in surplus food, and, with the help of fellow volunteers, redirect it to shelters and soup kitchens where it is needed most.

Congratulations to Rideau-Goulbourn residents Sanchit and Riya Gupta on receiving the Mayor’s City Builder Award at Council on Wednesday, May 22. The Guptas established a chapter of MealCare, a non-profit organization that aims to combat food waste, in Ottawa. Working with local restaurants, university cafeterias and grocery stores, the Guptas take in surplus food, and, with the help of fellow volunteers, redirect it to shelters and soup kitchens where it is needed most.

In my most recent column, at the beginning of May, I highlighted the many culvert replacement projects that were scheduled to take place this summer. Many of these culvert renewals will lead directly into our roads program for 2020, such as Roger Stevens Drive and the other part of Rideau Valley Drive North. For now, though, I would like to focus on 2019 and let you know what you can expect to see under construction throughout Rideau-Goulbourn. Spoiler Alert: It is a lot.

We will begin with three major capital projects, two of which are ongoing. The McBean Street Bridge is still on schedule to re-open in December 2019. Construction will continue throughout the summer. The west side of the bridge is nearing completion following which the east side of the bridge will be dismantled, requiring another full closure of the bridge. We will continue to provide updates on this project. The Kanata South Link project continues as well with the widening of Old Richmond Road, between Hope Side Road and West Hunt Club as well as the construction of the roundabout at Hope Side Road. Finally, the intersection of Prince of Wales Drive and Bankfield Road will be under construction this summer as the City adds turning lanes in all directions. Additionally, Bankfield Road will be widened back to First Line Road and a signalized intersection will be installed at that point.

Onto road renewal, we have a number of Fall 2018 projects that were delayed due to the early winter that will get underway as soon as possible. Those include the McBean Street intersection with Goodstown Road, the Owlshead Road intersection with Munster Road, as well as portions of Dobson Lane, McCordick Road, and Third Line Road. These projects have already been awarded and will begin when half load restrictions are lifted from our roads. The list of 2019 road renewal projects in Rideau-Goulbourn include: 

  • Joy’s Road (Ottawa to Franktown)

  • Rideau Valley Drive North (Roger Stevens to Rideau Narrows)

  • Fallowfield Road (Eagleson to Huntley)

  • Barnsdale Road (Moodie to 416)

  • Barnsdale Road (Greenbank to Prince of Wales)

  • Hazeldean Road (Jinkinson to Carp)

  • McBean Street (Rail Crossing)

  • Dwyer Hill Road (Rail Crossing)

  • Manotick Main Street (Bankfield to Bridge)

  • Strachan (West of McBean)

  • Longfields Drive (Prince of Wales to Golflinks)

  • Carp Road (Hazeldean to Westbrook)

  • Mackey Road (Malakoff to Viola)

On our gravel roads, Paden Road will see its final lift in the two step rural road upgrade process between Harnett Road and Malakoff Road. Black’s Side Road will be upgraded using the same process this year and next between Ridingview Crescent and Flewellyn Road. McCordick Road, between Mackey Road and Cowell Road, will see new guiderails installed.

Some construction will also take place in a few of Rideau-Goulbourn’s many parks and also on a new one. Sarah McCarthy Park will see construction begin this month with a slated completion date of July. It will be Richmond’s newest park located on Cedarstone Drive. Keeping in Richmond, some final touches will be done on the work that took place in King’s Grant Park last year and the play structures at Richmond Lions Park will be replaced shortly. In Manotick, a collaborative effort between residents and my office has resulted in some new features being added to Gordon & Ivy Scharf Park. That work will also begin shortly.

Finally, in some less exciting but important nonetheless news, nearly $20M will be spent at our Trail Road waste facility which includes the replacement of the scale house and the capping of Stage 2 of the landfill. The landfill has a total of five stages. This is form part of a larger discussion in June as the Environment Committee begins discussing waste diversion and the Solid Waste Master Plan.

Drop-In Sessions

Our drop in sessions will be going on hiatus during the month of June due to the pending addition to my family but we will be back on schedule in July. I can imagine the stress this might cause you so, as always, feel free to contact my office anytime and we will do our best to assist. July will come before you know it and you can come visit at one of our next drop in sessions, with the first likely being held in Richmond.

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If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or contact me by phone at 613-580-2491. For information on Rideau-Goulbourn issues, please visit RideauGoulbourn.ca.

ARAC & Additional Infrastructure Improvements

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Photo from the ward: This photo was submitted to the MVCA's 'Going to the Dogs' photo contest. Dude, a 3 year old Bernese Mountain Dog, loves David Bartlett Park, especially in the winter!

Photo from the ward: This photo was submitted to the MVCA's 'Going to the Dogs' photo contest. Dude, a 3 year old Bernese Mountain Dog, loves David Bartlett Park, especially in the winter!

To begin this week, I would like to thank residents for taking the time to attend the open house last week for the proposed roundabout at the intersection of Barnsdale Road & Prince of Wales Drive. The feedback was quite positive to the rationale and design. Construction is tentatively scheduled to start in 2019 pending budget approval. Staff will now move to detailed design. For more information, please visit www.rideaugoulbourn.ca/barnsdaleroundabout. Any comments may be sent to Kunjan Ghimire via email at [email protected] or by phone at 613-580-2424, ext. 21685.

While at the open house, many residents also asked about the intersection of Prince of Wales and Bankfield Road. You may recall that I had been working on a plan for 2018 to implement turning lanes on Bankfield Road. Through further discussion and examination, staff have come back with a more comprehensive plan that also brings in the required upgrades to the First Line Road and Bankfield Road intersection. The plan is still being finalized and I will share that when it is available. What we are now looking at are new turning lanes in all directions at Prince of Wales and Bankfield in addition to signalization of the First Line Road intersection. Staff are currently working toward a spring 2019 timeline for construction.

Previously, the City approved plans for a roundabout at Prince of Wales and Bankfield as well as a realignment of First Line Road into a new roundabout 300m south of Bankfield on Prince of Wales. While still the plan for the future, it simply is not affordable in the short term. Through the next Development Charge By-Law review, staff will recommend these projects for inclusion in that by-law so that all future development in Manotick is paying into the plans for those improvements.

Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee

The March 1st meeting of the Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee has only two items on the agenda. Both affect Rideau-Goulbourn. The main item will be the Engineer’s Report on the Cranberry Creek Municipal Drain, in North Gower and Kars. The second item is an amendment to the Zoning By-Law for the Caivan development at 6350 Perth Street in Richmond. That report just fixes the various zoning boundaries within the development to align with the blocks and lots within Phase 1 of the subdivision.

The Cranberry Creek Municipal Drain item dates back to 2012 and beyond. After a very wet spring in 2012, landowners on this Municipal Drain (MD) raised concerns about the maintenance of it. As of approximately 1991, the MD actually lacked a pump and dyke system that allowed it to operate as per the approved Engineer’s Report. In essence, the MD has not been properly functioning since that time.

The drain itself was originally constructed in 1895 but the pump and dyke were installed following an updated Engineer’s Report in 1969. That system remained in place for over two decades but it was considered insufficient based on the volume of water it could handle. An updated report in 1991 recommended upgrades to the pump and dyke at that time but it was not accepted by Rideau Township and the landowners at that time. As mentioned above, the matter resurfaced nearly six years ago leading to our current report.

In September 2014, the City appointed Robinson Consultants to update the Engineer’s Report and bring forward a plan to have the MD function as was intended and also to clean it out to its original depths. This report brings that forward. Landowners assessed by this MD received the Engineer’s Report in recent weeks which outlines the proposed works as well as the assessment values. Being a significant watershed, there are many properties affected by these drainage works.

While the Cranberry Creek MD Engineer’s Report comes to our Committee for approval, it is actually the Drainage Act that outlines the process. I understand that the assessments can create undue burden on affected landowners and I have committed to doing what I can to find some financial assistance to lower those assessments. That work will likely continue right through into April when this matter returns for the Court of Revision process.

The purpose of the Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee meeting will be to discuss the Engineer’s Report. Andy Robinson, Drainage Engineer, will be presenting to the Committee. For those wishing to appeal assessments, that opportunity comes during the Court of Revision, which is scheduled for Monday, April 23rd at the Alfred Taylor Recreation Centre in North Gower.

The Thursday, March 1st meeting of ARAC takes place at 10:00am at Ben Franklin Place.

2018 Additional Infrastructure Improvements

During the 2018 Budget deliberations, City Council was made aware of a $10M surplus, which was then directed to infrastructure renewal. At the Finance & Economic Development Committee of February 5th, staff brought forward a report on how the $10M would be spent in 2018. I am pleased to report that nearly $2M of that amount will be spent in Rideau-Goulbourn.

Approved at the February 14th meeting of City Council, the report includes pavement preservation projects on Eagleson Road (Perth to Brophy), Old Richmond Road (Fallowfield to Hope Side Road) and Dwyer Hill Road (Fallowfield to Highway 7).  The report also includes the resurfacing of Potter Drive and the portion of Barnsdale Road, between Moodie Drive and Twin Elm Road. On that, I have asked staff to take a second look and determine whether it would be more beneficial to resurface a portion of Barnsdale Road east of Moodie Drive instead. They are currently looking into that.

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If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or contact me by phone at 613-580-2491. For information on Rideau-Goulbourn issues, please visit RideauGoulbourn.ca.