The Transportation Master Plan (TMP) documents were released at the beginning of April. The stage of planning the City is at now is deciding what we can afford to do as a subset of what we need to do. This stage of the Transportation Master Plan Update is called “Phase Five – March to May 2025, Public engagement on draft Capital Infrastructure Plan and investment scenarios.” It should be “April and a week or so of May.”
Ottawa has figured out how to figure it out and figured out what we need. Now the rubber hits the road. Or not.
Highlights Report and Transit
To see what the thinking is, you can start with the TMP Capital Infrastructure Plan Highlights Report. Maps at the end of the Highlights Report give a useful summary.
On pages 5-6, you will learn that, of the possible transit projects, the two seen as top priority are:
- Baseline Transitway–Algonquin College to Billings Bridge (what we’ve been calling the Baseline BRT, although it also includes cycling infrastructure)
- Cumberland Transitway–Blair Road to Chapel Hill Park and Ride
Construction of the Baseline BRT is starting this summer.
Local projects of interest to us are:
- Kanata North Transitway – Corkstown Road to Terry Fox Drive, a median bus rapid transit facility is number 7 on the list and completely dependent on funding from provincial and/or federal government.
- Continuous bus lanes on Carling Avenue – Lincoln Fields Station to Sherwood Drive is ninth on the list. It’s what we’ve been calling the Carling BRT, though it also includes cycling infrastructure.
- O-Train Line 3 Extension: The extension of Line 3 from Moodie Station to Hazeldean Station is apparently included in the Priority Network, although it doesn’t appear in the table on page 6. This project is also contingent on securing 100% federal and/or provincial funding.”
Maps at the end of the Highlights Report give a useful summary.
Richmond Road cycling
Cycling infrastructure will be improved on Richmond Road from Holly Acres Road to Carling Avenue, including on the bridge over the Queensway, in the first phase. “The first phase of implementation is expected to be completed over the next 7 to 10 years; however, these timelines may be shortened or extended depending on future funding levels.” I For details on this and other projects, see Active Transportation Projects – Proposed Priority, p. 8).
Feedback on the TMP?
The deadline for the survey is May 12.
Most of the public engagement events happened just after the TMP was made available, but there are still three online events you can attend:
- Thursday, May 1 – Central
6:30 – 8:30 pm Register here - Monday, May 5 – East
6:30 to 8:30 pm Register here - Tuesday, May 6 – South
6:30 – 8:30 pm Register here
For some reason the public engagement on the TMP has been crammed into just over a month. We have very limited time to provide feedback on this stage of the TMP and the limited time coincides with public engagement on draft two of the new zoning bylaw and an amendment to the Official Plan. If you think you might have something to say, say it soon.
You can get the whole story—history, documents, schedules, feedback survey, how to be added to the mailing list and so on at Transportation Master Plan Update page on Engage Ottawa.
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