King Edward Avenue Renewal

[Kitchissippi]

With its impact on Lowertown and Sandy Hill, the on-going reconstruction from the Macdonald Cartier Bridge to Laurier deserves its own thread. The project is supposed to finish this autumn.

[Tor2Ott]

Does anyone know what the status is of the project? It has been at a standstill for a few weeks now.

[Rathgrith]

Fixing King Edward is like putting lipstick on a pig. In the end its still a pig.

Gt the trucks off first, then things will change.

[Richard Eade]

Has the city made any decision on whether King Edward will be narrowed to 2 lanes in each direction north of Rideau?

[movebyleap]

I've been hearing about a facelift for King Edward for approximately 15-20 years now. Wasn't it going to be Ottawa's answer to the Champs Elysees at some point? Typical Ottawa pipedream....nothing will ever happen here!

[Ciemny]

King Edward Completed...up to a certain point.



And the continuing work........

[Tor2Ott]

Still looks like sh*t...but thanks for the pix.

I thought they're supposed to bury the overhead lines.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

It certainly is an improvement for King Edward.

Ideally, we'd have King Edward made into a true boulevard, with lovely buildings on both sides, nice and tall trees on the sidewalks and in the median, and no trucks on the damn thing.

[bikegypsy]

Originally Posted by Jamaican-Phoenix

Ideally, we'd have King Edward made into a true boulevard, with lovely buildings on both sides, nice and tall trees on the sidewalks and in the median, and no trucks on the damn thing.

I share your hopes. I'm soooo ashamed of the present state of this part of the city. KE looks like we've landed in Beirut. But it has so much potential.. it could easily become Ottawa's most pretigious street. a true boulevard.

I think that we are bound to see more development along King Edward in the coming years as the main core is running out of space.
Look at all the recent construction along Rideau. The core is spilling eastwards. It will continue past KE also. On KE, I see wide sidewalks with lots of trees; a few hotels; some mixe use buildings and a few institutions like the Innovation Center (what happened to that?); maybe a UofO off campus building and tapering off near the bridge with a couple low rise structures such as embassies.

[jcollins]

I think it's got a lot of potential. I think it'll take one or two key developments to really get the ball rolling.

In the above picture of KE completed, how far down is that?

[harls]

That's a crazy amount of light posts.

[Ted]

It would make a great 'Embassy Row'

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by Tor2Ott

Still looks like sh*t...but thanks for the pix.

I thought they're supposed to bury the overhead lines.

I also thought the overhead lines were going to be buried and the poles removed... it is disappointing. What happened?

[Tor2Ott]

Originally Posted by bradnixon

I also thought the overhead lines were going to be buried and the poles removed... it is disappointing. What happened?

Perhaps that would be the last phase, after all the actual construction is done.

About KE being a beautiful boulevard, I don't think it will ever happen. Traffic will always be heavy, even more so when Gatineau downtown offices are built. KE connects to the speedy "highway" in Quebec, so naturally, motorists would fly down KE at 90km/h. You need something more than grass and light posts to calm down the traffic. Otherwise it will always be an expressway into Ottawa. And because of that, what can be built along KE, besides houses? Retails, cafes, restaurants are out of the question. And with the homeless corner, it is not too attractive for any businesses. U of O faculty buildings? Land is not deep enough. Housing for students may happen, so it could be the new ghetto. Highrises are not possible as I believe there's a height restriction. Not too many options for KE as I honestly cannot think of anything that can be built and improve the area. The best thing that you could hope for is a spruced up expressway.

[deva]

What is Ottawa's track record with regards to burying overhead lines? I hate them with a passion and hope KE does not join the Wellington West reconstruction as a huge opportunity missed.

[Dado]

Good question. Is anyone aware of a recent (i.e. post-amalgamation) power line burying effort carried out as part of a sewer and road reconstruction?

Westboro and West Wellington kept their wires, so the track record there isn't too good.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by bikegypsy

I share your hopes. I'm soooo ashamed of the present state of this part of the city. KE looks like we've landed in Beirut. But it has so much potential.. it could easily become Ottawa's most pretigious street. a true boulevard.

I think that we are bound to see more development along King Edward in the coming years as the main core is running out of space.
Look at all the recent construction along Rideau. The core is spilling eastwards. It will continue past KE also. On KE, I see wide sidewalks with lots of trees; a few hotels; some mixe use buildings and a few institutions like the Innovation Center (what happened to that?); maybe a UofO off campus building and tapering off near the bridge with a couple low rise structures such as embassies.

I've been to Beirut - King Edward would need to improve significantly to reach that level. I would expect Rideau to develop (still a LONG way to go!) before King Edward. I believe the LCBO at KE and Rideau is zoned for high rise, but not much hope beyond that, I suspect.

[Ciemny]

I don't know if KE overhead wires will be buried. They already paved the sidewalks and created planters for some of the side streets that end at KE.

Sorry but I do not remeber waht part of KE is done already.........but its not a large chunk...most of it is still a complete construction dump. Im sorry , this may be just me, but having homeless shelters and some terribly decrepid housing will detract some people from KE, as a boulevard it must be rejuvinated. We would need somone like Haussmann in Ottawa to really grab people's attention.

This is what the new street lights look like, you can see the hydro pole in the distance.



This is what the sidewalk looks like at most of he hydro poles, either they will replace the poles and thats why its left like that, or that the style lol.



The complete crossing, nice design, wait till they do the same at KE and Rideau.



More of this traffic will cause the renovated KE to crumble pretty soon, again, along with those new stone sidewalks.



Lets not forget the STO.......hiding at the north end of KE.

[TransitZilla]

Maybe they will be burying the lines after all. From the city's website (http://ottawa.ca/city_services/major.../index_en.html)

Phase 2 – Reconstruction of MacDonald Cartier Bridge/Sussex Drive to St. Patrick Street
Phase 2 involves the reconstruction of King Edward Avenue from the MacDonald Cartier Bridge/Sussex Drive to St. Patrick Street, including:
Installation of a new watermain
Sewer re-lining
Preparation for burial of overhead utilities
Completion of roadway reconstruction

Phase 3 – Reconstruction St. Patrick Street to Rideau Street
Phase 3 involves the reconstruction of King Edward Avenue from St. Patrick Street to Rideau Street, including:
Installation of a new watermain.
Sewer replacement.
Burial of overhead utilities from Boteler to Rideau Street.
Completion of roadway reconstruction.

So phase 2 is done (north end), but once they finish to Rideau they will bury the lines for the entire stretch.

That is probably why the hydro poles are in the middle of the sidewalk and temporary asphalt was put down around them; once they are removed they will fill the sidewalk in with concrete.

So there is hope after all...

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by Dado

Good question. Is anyone aware of a recent (i.e. post-amalgamation) power line burying effort carried out as part of a sewer and road reconstruction?

Bank St. in Old Ottawa South.

Looks good too.