[Cre47]

Here's an interesting article about future plans for Bells Corners to become much more vibrant in the future.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Push is on to reinvent Bells Corners blight

Rick Chiarelli wants to make 'Main Street' a place for people

College Councillor Rick Chiarelli, who lives in Bells Corners, says hotels are key to the revitalization of the area's three-kilometre-long commercial strip. He says it's well-positioned for travellers from the U.S. and Toronto looking for brand-name hotels at a lower price than they would find downtown.
Photograph by: Pat McGrath, The Ottawa Citizen

In theory, Bells Corners has everything that a successful neighborhood requires. The Nepean community has jobs, a commercial main street, housing and easy access to transit and the Queensway. In reality, Bells Corners is a perfect example of space-wasting strip development that was prevalent 30 or 40 years ago. It's a place to drive through on the road to somewhere else, but not a place to stop.

All of that could be on the verge of change. Councillor Rick Chiarelli and local businesspeople are trying to reinvent Bells Corners. It will be a test of what can be done with the suburban commercial strips that dot the city. They are a kind of blight that we can't afford to ignore if we are to intensify and improve the already-built parts of Ottawa.

The challenge in Bells Corners is considerable. The three-kilometre-long commercial strip is a hodge-podge of auto repair shops, office buildings, restaurants, small retailers, tired brand-name outlets and three Tim Hortons locations, all within an easy waddle of each

other. The low points are an abandoned Hooters restaurant and a former nightclub that is a derelict ruin that wouldn't be out of place on the streets of Detroit. Bells Corners even has its own trailer park.

Bells Corners was never a beauty spot, but it wasn't always this bad. For years, businesses thrived on customers from Kanata. When that city farther west began to get larger and develop its own commercial magnets, business in Bells Corners fell off. The loss of the furniture store IKEA was a particular blow. Bells Corners became a commercial strip without an identity or a purpose.

For years, the condition of Bells Corners was a "pet peeve" of Chiarelli. He actually represented another ward, but has lived in Bells Corners for more than a decade. When it became part of his ward at the last election, he vowed to act. The process has been slow, but a number of improvements are now at hand.

The first challenge was to find a focus for Bells Corners that built on existing businesses, its good road access and the fact that it is surrounded by the Greenbelt. Hotels are the key to the strip's commercial revival, Chiarelli says. There are already a Day's Inn and a Best Western and a new Holiday Inn is under construction. Another major American chain will build on the site of the derelict nightclub, the councillor says, once legal and soil-contamination issues are resolved.

Its proximity to both the Queensway and Highway 416 leaves Bells Corners well-positioned for travellers from the U.S. and Toronto looking for brand-name hotels at a lower price than is offered downtown, Chiarelli says. There is even a plan for bicycle lending at the hotels, so that guests could take recreational rides through the Greenbelt or connect to the bicycle path network to ride to events like Bluesfest.

The city has already spent $1 million to improve sidewalks on the strip and will work with the Business Improvement Area on better signs and cosmetic improvements.

The strip also suffers from street-name confusion. People approach Bells Corners from Richmond Road, but it suddenly becomes Robertson Road part-way through Bells Corners itself.

The other main road, Moodie Drive, does a similar mysterious conversion when it switches back to Richmond Road. The complexity of the road pattern is based on the historical path of Richmond Road, but the city will soon clear up the confusion with a new name for Richmond/Robertson.

The city is also about to start a community design plan, which is intended to guide Bells Corners' future development. This is the most important part of the puzzle and the focus has to be on residential intensification.

Underused streetfront parking lots are an ideal opportunity for new townhouse development. Ottawa has ambitious goals for adding more people to the existing urban area. It can be done with a lot less friction in an area like Bells Corners.

What the community really needs is more people on the streets, say Mark Kosmos, the vice-chairman of the new BIA. The operator of Local Heroes restaurants says Bells Corners "looks tired" and is not sufficiently appealing to consumers. "When they stop, they stop for a red light," he says. He wants enough attractions in Bells Corners to make it worthwhile for people to park and walk around. Think Richmond Road in Westboro.

Bells Corners actually does have several outstanding businesses, but they are easy to miss when one is driving by in a car. Their location and merits are mostly insider knowledge.

The BIA intends to mount an ad campaign to identify the area's virtues. First, it must have some, of course, but Bells Corners is finally moving in the right direction. If this somewhat desolate commercial strip can be turned into an attractive place to live and shop, something significant will have been accomplished.

[RTWAP]

I'm glad change is coming, however slowly.

I wish they'd require all businesses to build to the sidewalk, and narrow the street by converting one lane to a segregated bi-directional bike lane.

Converting an entire street might be hard though. There's no way they'll get a significant number of property owners to redevelop at the same time. Perhaps there's a better way. I wonder if they could separate the EB and WB lanes and move them each closer to the buildings on their side, with the space in the middle made available for angled parking, bike lanes, pedestrian path and perhaps some kiosks where appropriate. Landscape the centre island (mature trees if possible) and make it a boulevard instead of an ugly strip.

In those few spots where buildings are built to the road already (e.g. Al's Steakhouse) they could have the street meander back to the original alignment. It would have serve to slow traffic and give the area a more pleasant feel, instead of a semi-freeway.

I'd also reduce the speed to 50 or even 40, and put in two mid-block cross-walks per block to allow pedestrians to make their way to and from the central pedestrian/cycling/parking island to either side of the street.

Think of something like the west end of York Street, with more space in the middle, and two lanes of traffic in each direction.

[eternallyme]

I'm glad change is coming, however slowly.

I wish they'd require all businesses to build to the sidewalk, and narrow the street by converting one lane to a segregated bi-directional bike lane.

Converting an entire street might be hard though. There's no way they'll get a significant number of property owners to redevelop at the same time. Perhaps there's a better way. I wonder if they could separate the EB and WB lanes and move them each closer to the buildings on their side, with the space in the middle made available for angled parking, bike lanes, pedestrian path and perhaps some kiosks where appropriate. Landscape the centre island (mature trees if possible) and make it a boulevard instead of an ugly strip.

In those few spots where buildings are built to the road already (e.g. Al's Steakhouse) they could have the street meander back to the original alignment. It would have serve to slow traffic and give the area a more pleasant feel, instead of a semi-freeway.

I'd also reduce the speed to 50 or even 40, and put in two mid-block cross-walks per block to allow pedestrians to make their way to and from the central pedestrian/cycling/parking island to either side of the street.

Think of something like the west end of York Street, with more space in the middle, and two lanes of traffic in each direction.

I'd hardly call it a semi-freeway since entrances are very frequent along there. But it has barely changed at all since it was Highway 7 (originally Highway 15 when the highway network in the area made little sense at all) before the early 1980s. The fact that it is the original highway through the area should be mentioned as well.

Since many of the fronts are set only slightly back of the road in the area, a widening with a wider grassed median (instead of the central turning lane) might be ideal, pushing the road off more to the side removing some parking lots, and allowing for bicycle lanes and wider sidewalks as well. The side would change depending on local conditions on the street. Mid-block crosswalks wouldn't be a bad idea either.

As for the speed limit, the current 60 km/h is best considering the current design. If significant redevelopment takes place, a reduction to 50 may be warranted though.

The same design could also apply to Hazeldean Road in Kanata, at least between Eagleson and Terry Fox.

As for the street name issue, that is a major problem going back to historical routings and former municipalities. That would be harder to change, as it would have to be neutral given all the histories. Something like "Old Highway 15" sounds best IMO unless a whole new name is created, but that would split up Richmond Road. Address numbers also change drastically - they go from about 3800 on Richmond Road back to zero at Robertson Road (up to about 800), then back to 400 on Hazeldean at Eagleson, and jump from about 600 to 5600 at the old Kanata/Goulbourn boundary. I'd renumber all the addresses between the Richmond split and the former Kanata/Goulbourn line between 3800 and 5600 filling the gap.

In a nutshell, here are how I would rename all the streets:

Moodie Drive (south of Richmond) - Moodie Drive

Richmond Road (south of Moodie) and Moodie Drive (north of Richmond) - Stony Swamp Parkway

Richmond Road (east of 417) - Richmond Road

Richmond Road (west of 417 to the Robertson split), Robertson Road and Hazeldean Road - (some historical trail name) or "Old Highway 15"

Richmond Road (collector road through Bells Corners) - some new name, maybe Chiarelli Drive since it is his plan?

[lrt's friend]

Let's not tinker with the naming of Richmond Road. It is Ottawa's most historic road, first built in 1818, 8 years before Bytown was founded. We have to be very careful in renaming particularly major thoroughfares as we can easily lose connection with the heritage of communities.

[reidjr]

Let's not tinker with the naming of Richmond Road. It is Ottawa's most historic road, first built in 1818, 8 years before Bytown was founded. We have to be very careful in renaming particularly major thoroughfares as we can easily lose connection with the heritage of communities.

I got in a very big debate over this with someone a few months back.This person said they should name streets and areas after the middle east and natives.

[lrt's friend]

I got in a very big debate over this with someone a few months back.This person said they should name streets and areas after the middle east and natives.

That must have been an interesting debate. Really, I don't see the relevance of a middle eastern name for an Ottawa street. This is not Beirut or Damascus or Tehran. I am also a little reluctant to start creating clearly ethnic community names for fear of ghettoizing parts of the city. Maybe, I am wrong. On the other hand, if someone of middle eastern descent has made a big contribution either locally or nationally, I can see a 'new' street being named after him or her. Likewise, for aboriginals but I would be open to aboriginal names in general since they are clearly a longstanding important part of Canadian history. My only other concern is to make sure that street names are relatively easy to pronounce for the average resident.

[reidjr]

That must have been an interesting debate. Really, I don't see the relevance of a middle eastern name for an Ottawa street. This is not Beirut or Damascus or Tehran. I am also a little reluctant to start creating clearly ethnic community names for fear of ghettoizing parts of the city. Maybe, I am wrong. On the other hand, if someone of middle eastern descent has made a big contribution either locally or nationally, I can see a 'new' street being named after him or her. Likewise, for aboriginals but I would be open to aboriginal names in general since they are clearly a longstanding important part of Canadian history. My only other concern is to make sure that street names are relatively easy to pronounce for the average resident.

It was a very heated debate as i pointed out there is really not a growing ethnic community in bells corners.If someone of middle east decent has done something in the community then yes name the street after them.But this person just for what ever reason thought streets should be named after middle east areas and did not seem to care or know about the history of bells corners and robertson road.I have lived in bells corners for 22 years and i am very connetced to the area i want to see the area protected including the history of it not turn it into something else to attract new canadians.

[adam-machiavelli]

There's a community in York Region where all the streets are named after mosques and no has complained about pronunciation yet. There's only so many streets we can name Shady Acres and Summerside, etc.

[Ottawan]

Let's not tinker with the naming of Richmond Road. It is Ottawa's most historic road, first built in 1818, 8 years before Bytown was founded. We have to be very careful in renaming particularly major thoroughfares as we can easily lose connection with the heritage of communities.

I agree 100% and this is exactly what I thought when reading about renaming initiatives. There are many areas in Ottawa where renaming to fix confusion are appropriate, but Richmond Road is not one of them. As you mention, the route itself is historic, going from Richmond Landing (now what we think of as the most Northeastern part of Lebreton Flats, below the National Archives, at the Ottawa River just past Chaudiere) to the military settlement of Richmond.

Bell's Corners itself is named for the Bell family, who set up an Inn at that location to capitalize on the fact that in the early-mid 1800's it was where Richmond Road met the highway that headed west to the towns on the Mississippi (therefore a 'corners').

[reidjr]

There's a community in York Region where all the streets are named after mosques and no has complained about pronunciation yet. There's only so many streets we can name Shady Acres and Summerside, etc.

First there is a difference naming a community that is new or some what new after streets from the middle east etc.Bells corners has a long and rich history to rename the streets etc after middle east streets would not be the way to go.

[Acajack]

That must have been an interesting debate. Really, I don't see the relevance of a middle eastern name for an Ottawa street. This is not Beirut or Damascus or Tehran. I am also a little reluctant to start creating clearly ethnic community names for fear of ghettoizing parts of the city. Maybe, I am wrong. On the other hand, if someone of middle eastern descent has made a big contribution either locally or nationally, I can see a 'new' street being named after him or her. Likewise, for aboriginals but I would be open to aboriginal names in general since they are clearly a longstanding important part of Canadian history. My only other concern is to make sure that street names are relatively easy to pronounce for the average resident.

I don't have anything against names of any origin however I find the suggestion of changing names in a particular area to make them Middle Eastern a bit odd (if indeed that was what they were suggesting).

I tend to agree with lrt: some streets here and there could named for notable members of a community, regardless of origin of course.

Ottawa has many citizens of Italian origin yet there are only a handful of streets that reflect that.

Thinking out loud, Gatineau has a street named Rue des Açores to honour the Portuguese community, most of whom have their origins in the Azores islands.

Perhaps Ottawa could do the same and name a street after Beirut or even Achrafieh, which is a neighbourhood in Beirut where I think many of Ottawa's long established Lebanese-origin citizens have their roots.

And I would actually like to see more streets named for world capitals (from the Middle East and elsewhere), which I find Ottawa doesn't have enough of. And also more streets for provincial capitals and other cities across Canada. There aren't enough of those either.

Hopelessly off topic, I know...

[Acajack]

Doing my part to keep this completely off-topic...

Gatineau is actually considering naming streets in a new neighbourhood after comic book characters. The rationale is that Gatineau is home to the only university comic strip undergrad program in North America, and hosts a decent-sized comic strip festival annually.

The names being thrown around so far are all from European hard-cover comic strips (Tintin, Astérix, Lucky Luke, Mafalda, etc.), which tend to be the genre that is most popular in Quebec (as opposed to the American DC and Marvel comics).

For those who can read French:
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-droit/actualites/gatineau-outaouais/201003/08/01-4258611-prochainement-a-gatineau-la-rue-mafalda.php

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-droit/actualites/gatineau-outaouais/200908/26/01-896162-au-coin-des-rues-spirou-et-lucky-luke-.php

[Dado]

I agree 100% and this is exactly what I thought when reading about renaming initiatives. There are many areas in Ottawa where renaming to fix confusion are appropriate, but Richmond Road is not one of them. As you mention, the route itself is historic, going from Richmond Landing (now what we think of as the most Northeastern part of Lebreton Flats, below the National Archives, at the Ottawa River just past Chaudiere) to the military settlement of Richmond.

Bell's Corners itself is named for the Bell family, who set up an Inn at that location to capitalize on the fact that in the early-mid 1800's it was where Richmond Road met the highway that headed west to the towns on the Mississippi (therefore a 'corners').

Speaking of that corner, does anyone else find the Richmond-Robertson-Richmond intersection a bit odd-looking? I mean Richmond Rd is as straight as an arrow all the way from the point at which it leaves the concession grid near Stonehaven Drive until it gets within 300 m of Robertson Rd where it veers *away* from Ottawa and Richmond Rd further in. That is peculiar if you ask me because back in the pre-car era no one gave a fig about whether intersections were at 90° angles or not since it simply did not matter to a populace that travelled on foot or by horse. Richmond Rd within Bell's Corners seems like a shell of what it ought to be (a major commercial street instead of a suburban collector) and I can't help but think that the busyness of the Moodie-Robertson intersection is partly due to the lack of Richmond Rd being a major road. Those three roads together could have formed a good urban core to Bell's Corners.

What was Robertson Road's historic name? I mean before it became Hwy 7/15. It's on the same alignment as Baseline and the interruption of the two by the CN Beachburg Subdivision and latterly Hwy 416 is a 20th century thing, not a 19th century occurrence. The change at Eagleson to Hazeldean is due to being in a different township and on a different alignment, but Baseline and Robertson were both in Nepean. Or to put the question differently, did Baseline and Robertson ever possess the same name, and, if so, what was it, and, if not, where did the split occur? At Richmond?

[Ottawan]

What was Robertson Road's historic name? I mean before it became Hwy 7/15. It's on the same alignment as Baseline and the interruption of the two by the CN Beachburg Subdivision and latterly Hwy 416 is a 20th century thing, not a 19th century occurrence. The change at Eagleson to Hazeldean is due to being in a different township and on a different alignment, but Baseline and Robertson were both in Nepean. Or to put the question differently, did Baseline and Robertson ever possess the same name, and, if so, what was it, and, if not, where did the split occur? At Richmond?

Ok... I did a little reading, and I have a partial answer. Baseline Road and Richardson in fact did not connect. Baseline (or as it was previously spelt: Base Line Road) was one of the earliest roads in the area. I can't seem to find when it was actually built, but it was planned to be the base line for Nepean Township, when it was first surveyed in 1798.

Bell's Corners in fact comprised of two seperate junctions (therefore corners - plural): the corner of Base Line and Richmond Road, and the junction where Richmond Road 'split' into the road that continued as the Richmond Road, and the 'Arnprior Road'. It is clear that the corner of Base Line and Richmond was located where the modern corner of Richmond and Robertson is today, because the historic "Hartin's Hotel", rebuilt in 1870 following a fire, was located at this corner - this building today houses Al's Steakhouse.

What I am confused about is what road was the Arnprior Road. It seems that it began in Bell's Corners. My guess is that it followed what is now Robertson west before following a highway 17 alignment towards Arnprior, although this then contradicts my other source that says the Richardson-Richmond corner was that of Base Line and Richmond.

Hmm... I wonder if there's a map at the Ottawa Room that might clear this up further. If not there's definately something at the city archives, but it will be a while before I have the time to visit simply out of curiosity.

[lrt's friend]

Speaking of that corner, does anyone else find the Richmond-Robertson-Richmond intersection a bit odd-looking? I mean Richmond Rd is as straight as an arrow all the way from the point at which it leaves the concession grid near Stonehaven Drive until it gets within 300 m of Robertson Rd where it veers *away* from Ottawa and Richmond Rd further in. That is peculiar if you ask me because back in the pre-car era no one gave a fig about whether intersections were at 90° angles or not since it simply did not matter to a populace that travelled on foot or by horse. Richmond Rd within Bell's Corners seems like a shell of what it ought to be (a major commercial street instead of a suburban collector) and I can't help but think that the busyness of the Moodie-Robertson intersection is partly due to the lack of Richmond Rd being a major road. Those three roads together could have formed a good urban core to Bell's Corners.

What was Robertson Road's historic name? I mean before it became Hwy 7/15. It's on the same alignment as Baseline and the interruption of the two by the CN Beachburg Subdivision and latterly Hwy 416 is a 20th century thing, not a 19th century occurrence. The change at Eagleson to Hazeldean is due to being in a different township and on a different alignment, but Baseline and Robertson were both in Nepean. Or to put the question differently, did Baseline and Robertson ever possess the same name, and, if so, what was it, and, if not, where did the split occur? At Richmond?

I don't pretend to be an expert on Nepean history but I got my copy of the 1879 Belden Atlas out and took a look and Nepean's history book 'The City Beyond' which also helps a bit.

There are two important things:

First, Base Line was a surveying term denoting the starting point for surveying lots and concessions into a grid. In Nepean, the Base Line divided the land in the Ottawa Front from the land in the Rideau Front. Literally, land surveyed facing the Ottawa River versus land surveyed facing the Rideau River.

In Gloucester, there were three Base Lines. Until the 2001 amalgamation, Ramsayville Road was known as Baseline Road which was the dividing line between the Ottawa Front and the Rideau Front. Until 1950, St. Laurent Blvd. was also known as the Base Line Road as it was the dividing line between the Ottawa Front and the Junction Gore. Similarly, Walkley Road was also a Base Line between the Rideau Front and Junction Gore.

The second consideration is that rural road names did not get fixed until quite recently, in some cases as recently as the 1960s or even 1970s. Many road names changed based on local popularity or based on land changing ownership. In my lifetime, the road on which my grandparent's farm was situated changed names. The road on which I live changed twice. Some roads really didn't have any sort of fixed name. Before Mitch Owens Drive was named, it was simply known as the Boundary Road or the road to Manotick. It was very vague in those days. Until 911 service came into affect, rural road names were informal as they were not critical to mail delivery or sale of land. Mail was delivered by Post Office box or Rural Route. Land was sold based on lot and concession numbers.

Now, the map indicates that Robertson Road is part of the Base Line in Nepean but local convention may have named it differently. An article in the Ottawa Citizen dated October 21, 1982 explains that the naming was a compromise, Robertson Road to satisfy Nepean residents and Hazeldean Road to satisfy Kanata residents. It was named at that time. Roberston Road was named after the pioneer, John Robertson who lived just to the west of Moodie Drive. Prior to that time, it was known as Highway 7 and prior to that Highway 15. What it was known as prior to the setup of the King's Highway system in the 1920s, I don't know.

As far as the Richmond Road/Robertson Road intersection, I haven't looked at it recently, but it is not unusual for traffic engineers to reroute streets slightly to create a perpendicular intersection. As a kid, that intersection was far from perpendicular. At that point this was the main turning point when travelling to Richmond. You didn't use Moodie Drive as that was a sleepy country road at that time and it was less direct. Because of the sharpness of the angle, it was no doubt considered a safety issue, plus existing residences facing Richmond Road made it desirable to reroute heavy traffic via Moodie Drive. As far as the curve near the intersection, this has history behind it. Richmond Road was a forced road following the lay of the land. During the early years, there were many attempts to straighten the road, however, Bells Corners was the major stopping point between Richmond and Ottawa. Early maps suggest that Richmond Road actually continued north through the intersection before turning east, instead of the current alignment. Since Bells Corners was already built up, the straightening process had to still lead you to the same intersection, where the businesses and hotels were located. As a result, if Richmond Road continued on a straight course, it would have bypassed the village and its services. Since that was not desirable during the days of the horse and buggy, the road curved into the centre of the village. That same bend in the road appears in the 1879 Belden map.

[Dado]

Ok... I did a little reading, and I have a partial answer. Baseline Road and Richardson in fact did not connect. Baseline (or as it was previously spelt: Base Line Road) was one of the earliest roads in the area. I can't seem to find when it was actually built, but it was planned to be the base line for Nepean Township, when it was first surveyed in 1798.

Bell's Corners in fact comprised of two seperate junctions (therefore corners - plural): the corner of Base Line and Richmond Road, and the junction where Richmond Road 'split' into the road that continued as the Richmond Road, and the 'Arnprior Road'. It is clear that the corner of Base Line and Richmond was located where the modern corner of Richmond and Robertson is today, because the historic "Hartin's Hotel", rebuilt in 1870 following a fire, was located at this corner - this building today houses Al's Steakhouse.

What I am confused about is what road was the Arnprior Road. It seems that it began in Bell's Corners. My guess is that it followed what is now Robertson west before following a highway 17 alignment towards Arnprior, although this then contradicts my other source that says the Richardson-Richmond corner was that of Base Line and Richmond.

I did a Google search on it and found a few references to it. One, a copy of the old City of Kanata website (http://www.igs.net/~tonyc/aboutkan.html), states that a farmer near the "old Arnprior Road" named his farm Glen Cairn. Given the current location of Glen Cairn, that means the road at least had to go somewhere near Glen Cairn, but not necessarily through it.

I found another, a Google book, that was about churches in the Ottawa Valley (A month of Sundays: a visit to seventy churches in the Ottawa Valley By Lloyd C. Morrison). Of interest here is St. John's Church on "Sandhill" Rd, which apparently was once the "Old Arnprior Road". That might seem odd at first, but the moment I read it I knew why: having cycle on it I can tell you that that section of road by the church is completely unlike nearly any other road in Kanata - it has a distinctly "rural-bucolic" feel to it - not "rural-highway" but "rural-bucolic":

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ottawa&ie=UTF8&om=1&hq=&hnear=Ottawa,+Ottawa+Division,+Ontario&ll=45.355221,-75.926256&spn=0.022738,0.054932&t=h&z=15&layer=c&cbll=45.355141,-75.926118&panoid=cwX0Kgu2ZG6fSHvMxiYnOg&cbp=13,279.79,,0,-1.19

Sand Hill (note the spelling) Rd is yet another one of these roads that has been chopped to bits and pieces. I've got an older Topographic map and I can see that from St. John's Church it headed over to what is now Helmsdale Rd, grazed Terry Fox Dr and continued on the alignment beside the Beachburg Sub. From there or at Herzberg Rd the name Sandhill (note spelling) Rd resumes again and heads into the federal communications research labs north of Carling, ending at Rifle Rd. How it gets from there to Bells Corners is a good question - there are numerous "ghosts" of corridors in the Greenbelt that might have been it, and one can't rule out the possibility of the Beachburg being built over it either (that actually seems like a definite possibility - in Bell's Corners just east of the trailer park is an odd bit of corridor roughly opposite Richmond Rd that would fulfil the role of making the final link, which is probably the extension of Richmond that lrt's friend is talking about). If Sandhill/Sand Hill Rd is indeed the old Arnprior Road, my guess is that northwest beyond St. John's Church it found its way to what is now Old Carp Road. On Google Earth, if you look at the property on the opposite side of Klondike Rd from the intersection of Sand Hill Rd you'll note that part of the fenceline of that property is set at an odd angle that could correspond to a former alignment of the road:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ottawa&ie=UTF8&om=1&hq=&hnear=Ottawa,+Ottawa+Division,+Ontario&ll=45.357417,-75.929818&spn=0.001421,0.003433&t=h&z=19

The difficulty with Sandhill Rd as Arnprior Rd is that it doesn't go near Glen Cairn, or at least not near as we would think of it, but if there were no other named roads around then it might count as being "near".



Hmm... I wonder if there's a map at the Ottawa Room that might clear this up further. If not there's definately something at the city archives, but it will be a while before I have the time to visit simply out of curiosity.

There seem to be a bunch of old non-grid roads that disappeared over time; it seems the powers-that-be have a perverse need to eradicate these "populist" roads or to chop them up. Wellington is a classic, here we have Richmond, elsewhere Jockvale is chopped to bits and built upon.

[RTWAP]

I sympathize with those who want to rename the main roads in Bells Corners. Try explaining to someone how to get to an address on Richmond Road (south of Bells Corners) from the Queensway. You exit at Richmond Road, you DON'T turn right when Richmond Road springs off to the left, staying instead on the newly named Robertson Road. Then a while later you turn left at Moodie, which magically rebecomes Richmond Road again.

Even worse, try getting from Moodie Drive SB in Bells Corners to Moodie Drive SB just south of Bells Corners.

The good thing is this frustration will all soon be a thing of the past. Everyone will have GPS that tells you when and where to turn, and the streetname wackiness will just prompt a muttered "That's strange" before you continue merrily on your way.

[Cre47]

Vox Lounge in Bells Corners demolished

OTTAWA - The old Vox Lounge in Bells Corners is finally coming down.

The long wait for the derelict building to be demolished included a costly legal battle. This year, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a 2009 judgment that allowed Petro-Canada to buy the property at 3795 Richmond Rd. from National Trust Co. for about $1.2 million. However, it appeared the legal fight could continue as the original owner of the property, Tony Isaac, was thinking of appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada.

He didn't and that allowed Deloitte and Touche, the court-appointed receiver, to close the deal with Suncor Energy, which now owns Petro-Canada, in late September.

Clarkway Construction of Toronto is in charge of the demolition, which started at about 8 a.m. Monday morning. Clarkway will also be cleaning up contaminated soil at the site, caused in the early 1990s when gas leaked from underground storage tanks at a Petro-Canada station next door to the Vox.

Petro-Canada razed the station and replaced the soil, and then tried to clean up the Vox property without tearing down the building. Isaac, who had trouble keeping up with his mortgage before it was closed for the cleanup, defaulted while waiting for Petro-Canada to resume the work.

It's believed Suncor will sell the Vox site and the former gas station property for redevelopment.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

[m3i6]

I still remember it as The Corkscrew restaurtant back in the early 80s. It was then amongst the few posh restaurants in the Ottawa area.

[O-Town Hockey]

What about Chi Chi's dammit!? I miss that place so much!

[Cre47]

Robertson Road renaming has businesses fuming


By Joanne Chianello, The Ottawa Citizen April 12, 2011 10:40 PM Comments (3)

Robertson Road is about to disappear from Ottawa maps if city council votes Wednesday to rename the street, much to the chagrin of business owners and the great-great-granddaughter of the road’s namesake.

“It’s awful,” said Barbara Fisher of the plan to rename the road after someone else. “We’re not respecting history. Robertson Road goes right through where our farm was. I think it’s an affront to all of a sudden have it taken away.”

Council is about to swap one historical Nepean name for another, replacing Robertson Road and a small piece of Richmond Road with Lloyd Francis Boulevard, in memory of the local developer, Liberal MP and Speaker of the House of Commons.

Some businesses along Robertson Road aren’t too pleased, even though the change is reportedly for their benefit.

Just west of Baseline Road, Richmond Road continues westbound for about a kilometre and then takes a sharp left southbound. Drivers travelling west on Richmond Road who continued straight find themselves on Robertson Road. It’s that one-kilometre strip of Richmond Road and the connecting Robertson Road that will be re-named.

According to a city report, businesses complained that their customers couldn’t find them.

But at least a dozen Richmond Road establishment owners and managers said they don’t want the name change — and many hadn’t heard about it.

“Boo!” said Tony Vacchio, owner of Zola’s restaurant. “It’s ridiculous. Why would any business be happy about that?”

Darren Sproule, the general manager of Graham Nissan, said no one asked him about the change.

“I don’t think it solves the problem with the confusion,” said Sproule. “And for people who live in Ottawa, they already know where Robertson is.”

The idea of the name change, championed by College Councillor Rick Chiarelli, who said it was part of his re-election platform, has been floated for some time, but Tuesday’s vote took many by surprise.

According to a city staff report, in June and July 2010, Chiarelli’s office delivered “194 surveys to owners and occupants in the Bells Corners BIA directly affected by the name change.”

No Robertson Road businesses contacted by the Citizen could recall receiving the survey, although that doesn’t mean the forms weren’t dropped off. The report said that 38 responses were received, of which 34 were in favour.

“I didn’t receive any survey about it,” said Jacob Samaha, owner of the LaPointe fish market. “And to change to a completely different name will make it even more confusing. I am completely against it.”

The Bells Corners BIA, which was established in February 2010 and does not have a Robertson Road business owner on its executive, voted in favour of the name change at its annual general meeting a couple of months ago, said executive director Alex Lewis, a former Chiarelli staffer.

He said that the issue was well-publicized in local newspapers.

Elizabeth Montsko owns Sew For It on Moodie Drive and is also a member of the Bells Corner BIA. Although she agrees the Richmond-Roberston road issue is a problem — “I’ve had people come into my store asking for directions” — she also said that the name change was presented to the BIA as a fait accompli.

“The information was given to us by the councillor that the change was happening and that’s the way it was,” said Montsko.

City staff told the planning committee that they could not find any descendants of John Robertson, who helped build the first eight locks of the Rideau Canal and then established a farm, general store and schoolhouse in what is now Bells Corners. However, Chiarelli had been in touch with the great-great-granddaughter, Barbara Fisher, late last week.

She also sent Chiarelli an email on Monday expressing her displeasure with the renaming. Fisher said she was too busy with work to attend the meeting on Tuesday and that Chiarelli’s office had warned her that committee meetings often go on all day. Tuesday’s planning committee was done by lunchtime.

The committee did hear, however, from the family and friends of the late Lloyd Francis, among them fellow west-end housing developer Bill Teron.

“I can’t imagine any road being more appropriate to commemorate my father,” said son Paul Francis in an interview.

“He gave (Bells Corner) its modern form. The Robertson name is worthy of commemoration, I agree, but he doesn’t have nearly the same formative impact for the community of Bells Corners as my father.”

Francis said Bells Corners is where his father “made the family fortune” and suggested that the city rename the old Richmond Lane after Robertson instead.

The proposed name change will affect 130 civic addresses — with 56 of them on the Richmond Road portion — and cost the city about $43,000. However, residents and businesses would be responsible for any costs relating to the address change. If council approves the name change today, businesses will have a year to adjust to their new addresses.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

[eternallyme]

Not really a fan of going to politics to rename. Historical figures are worth a lot more than political figures. I do agree the naming of streets in the area is quite confusing.

If Richmond Road is severed, the two other portions farther south and west should be renamed as well. Stony Swamp Parkway IMO would be the best name for Richmond south of Moodie, as well as Moodie from there to Carling (while Moodie Drive remains for the rural branch leading south). Some other historical figure could be used for the collector road section in the centre of Bells Corners.

Also the address numbers should be changed to eliminate the re-setting at zero. All numbers on Robertson within Bells Corners should be increased by 3800 as a result (so, for example, 110 Robertson becomes 3910). In the Greenbelt portion, they should be re-apportioned so that the former CPR underpass is set at 4100 (it is at about 220 Robertson now but with no 200s addresses a round number could be picked), and they increase steadily to 5000 at Eagleson. (Hazeldean Road addresses should also be redone between 5000 and 5500 to realign better with the western section in Stittsville and eliminate the very large change.)

[Kitchissippi]

Richmond Road south of Moodie should remain as it is because it is precisely what it is: the road to the town of Richmond. Roads are supposed to be named after places they lead to. Robertson Road was the road to the Robertson Farm, Montreal Road was the original route to Montreal and so on.

I don't know why they didn't propose to just name the entire stretch Robertson Road, or Hazeldean Road for that matter to really simplify things.

[eternallyme]

An update:

It is now Robertson Road from Baseline Road to Hazeldean Road, with the collector road section called Old Richmond Road. Not sure what the section south of Moodie is called, didn't go down there. (IMO, Moodie north of there and Richmond south of there should have the same name, something new, being a single continuous street, while Moodie Drive is kept for the rural southern section.)

Address numbers have also changed - 0 Robertson is now 2000 Robertson, with Baseline being about 1850 Robertson and the old CPR underpass at the west end being near 2250 Robertson.

Some additional tinkering is necessary in my opinion:

* Address numbers should change on Richmond Road to simplify as well. At Carling Avenue, they abruptly jump from 1500 to 2700. The pattern should continue (Sterling Place, the first west of Carling at 2716, becomes 1516 Richmond). The highest number on Richmond east of Bayshore is 3080, which becomes 1880 Richmond. To keep it simple: all addresses there decrease by 1200. Although that leaves a slight issue for the few businesses in the Greenbelt section (such as Tubman Funeral Home, which could become 1900 Richmond depending on if that section can be reshuffled), it would be a lot simpler.

* Should the name Hazeldean Road (for the Kanata/Stittsville portion) disappear to make things simpler through the western suburbs?

* Either way, the numbering through Kanata and Stittsville should change as well. At Eagleson Road, 2830 Robertson becomes 400 Hazeldean. I recommend that Hazeldean reset at 3000. It should rise through the low 3000s in Kanata with no set pattern (currently it runs VERY slow, so the pace of increase will go up) up to the Carp River Bridge which would become 3500 Hazeldean. At that point, 550 Hazeldean becomes 5500 Hazeldean. I recommend that all numbers in the Stittsville and rural portions decrease by 2000 (i.e. 6001 becomes 4001) to keep everything in order as well.

* Finally, the speed limits I would change on that whole section:

** Richmond east of Carling (currently 50 km/h) - remains 50 km/h

** Richmond from Carling to Bayshore (currently 60 km/h) - decrease to 50 km/h (due to the fact it is generally a 2-lane roadway through residential areas, even if it is an arterial)

** Richmond from Bayshore to Holly Acres (currently 60 km/h) - increase to 70 km/h (for simplification purposes and the wide ROW in the interchange)

** Richmond/Robertson from Holly Acres to Stafford (currently 80 km/h) - decrease to 70 km/h (accounting for the short distance and numerous intersections but mainly rural design)

** Robertson from Stafford to Mill Hill (currently 60 km/h) - decrease to 50 km/h (accounting for the fact that redevelopment is likely and storefronts might come soon)

** Robertson from Mill Hill to Eagleson (currently 80 km/h) - remains 80 km/h (reasonable due to the rural design)

** Through Kanata and Stittsville, no changes at this time

[J.OT13]

An update:

Not sure what the section south of Moodie is called, didn't go down there. (IMO, Moodie north of there and Richmond south of there should have the same name, something new, being a single continuous street, while Moodie Drive is kept for the rural southern section.)



Old Richmond road all the way down to Richmond Village (more of bland a suburb these days) where it then changes to Perth. Worth noting that it changes to Franktown Road west of Richmond village and changes back to Richmond when you get out of the City of Ottawa limits, getting closer to Frank Town village. Also note that there is another Perth street going to Perth on the south end of Frank Town village.

I would like to go on with changing the other 2 or 3 Richmond roads in Bells Corners and address the fact that Moodie becomes Richmond and you have to turn onto Moodie from Moodie or the 2 Moodies aren't connected..? They really screwed it up when they built Bells Corners in the 50s/60s. If we're changing names, they should fix the whole mess, not just parts of it.

They should have given totally new names to the 2 Richmonds between Robertson and Moodie south (Loyd Freakin’ Francis maybe) and renamed Richmond road from Moodie to Richmond village “Old Richmond road”.

[eternallyme]

Old Richmond road all the way down to Richmond Village (more of bland a suburb these days) where it then changes to Perth. Worth noting that it changes to Franktown Road west of Richmond village and changes back to Richmond when you get out of the City of Ottawa limits, getting closer to Frank Town village. Also note that there is another Perth street going to Perth on the south end of Frank Town village.

I would like to go on with changing the other 2 or 3 Richmond roads in Bells Corners and address the fact that Moodie becomes Richmond and you have to turn onto Moodie from Moodie or the 2 Moodies aren't connected..? They really screwed it up when they built Bells Corners in the 50s/60s. If we're changing names, they should fix the whole mess, not just parts of it.

They should have given totally new names to the 2 Richmonds between Robertson and Moodie south (Loyd Freakin’ Francis maybe) and renamed Richmond road from Moodie to Richmond village “Old Richmond road”.

To go that far into simplification, they would have to co-ordinate with Lanark County (who owns the road west of the city limits). But certainly, extending that same name all the way to the end would be a very good idea...

Moodie and Richmond in southern Bells Corners run together in an X-shaped pattern briefly before diverging. I agree that separate names for the disjoint collector and the continuing rural arterial should have been used. Heck, Old Richmond Road could have replaced Moodie Drive from Bells Corners to Carling instead...

If historical purposes trump current situations, then perhaps end Moodie at Old Richmond, realign the intersections (that would become a major construction project later) and find a new name for Moodie onward to Carling. (I prefer keeping Moodie for the southern part because that was where the family that is the source of the name originated I believe.)

The speed limit changes (mostly decreases) are a completely different issue but I think are warranted in the area. In the case of Richmond between Britannia and Bayshore, there are very few, if any, 2-lane urban residential roadways with a 60 km/h speed limit (nearly all comparable arterials are 50), and it would better reflect the high-density residential nature. Carling is somewhat residential but is 4-lane divided so a totally different situation (60 is reasonable in that situation). In the case of the 70 through the east Greenbelt, it is due to the short distance and many intersections (although the 70 zone would be slightly longer than the current 80 zone). As for Bells Corners, it would set up for the development.

[S-Man]

Fun fact: The Duke of Richmond, 1st Governor-General for Upper and Lower Canada, died of rabies in Richmnd, Ontario, while visiting the town named after him.

Fun fact!

[J.OT13]

Fun fact: The Duke of Richmond, 1st Governor-General for Upper and Lower Canada, died of rabies in Richmnd, Ontario, while visiting the town named after him.

Fun fact!

Awesome random fact!

[J.OT13]

To go that far into simplification, they would have to co-ordinate with Lanark County (who owns the road west of the city limits). But certainly, extending that same name all the way to the end would be a very good idea...

Moodie and Richmond in southern Bells Corners run together in an X-shaped pattern briefly before diverging. I agree that separate names for the disjoint collector and the continuing rural arterial should have been used. Heck, Old Richmond Road could have replaced Moodie Drive from Bells Corners to Carling instead...

If historical purposes trump current situations, then perhaps end Moodie at Old Richmond, realign the intersections (that would become a major construction project later) and find a new name for Moodie onward to Carling. (I prefer keeping Moodie for the southern part because that was where the family that is the source of the name originated I believe.)

The speed limit changes (mostly decreases) are a completely different issue but I think are warranted in the area. In the case of Richmond between Britannia and Bayshore, there are very few, if any, 2-lane urban residential roadways with a 60 km/h speed limit (nearly all comparable arterials are 50), and it would better reflect the high-density residential nature. Carling is somewhat residential but is 4-lane divided so a totally different situation (60 is reasonable in that situation). In the case of the 70 through the east Greenbelt, it is due to the short distance and many intersections (although the 70 zone would be slightly longer than the current 80 zone). As for Bells Corners, it would set up for the development.

I can't comment about the speed limits, but I agree with everything else. + you’re right; the Lanark County portion is just used as a highway to a bunch Eastern Ontario towns and villages, so it really doesn’t matter what it's called and it's not worth changing names.