Ontario to fund environmental assessment for Ottawa Road 174
City refuses to put up cash for study
BY DAVID GONCZOL, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN MAY 16, 2010 8:02 PM
OTTAWA-Fed up with waiting, the Ontario government has decided to go it alone and fund an environmental assessment of solutions to traffic congestion on the busy stretch of Ottawa Road 174 and County Road 17 in the city’s east end and beyond into Rockland.
But without the city’s participation, the study will only look at the portion of road outside city limits.
Provincial officials have made it clear they have no plans to repeat an offer that was rejected by the city two years ago to fund a study including the city’s portion of the road, which included $80 million from the federal and provincial governments to cover most of any ensuing road construction costs. Since then the city has begun work on improving safety in some areas of Ottawa Road 174 between Trim Road and Canaan Road, but little has been done to ease increasing congestion.
The debate over the years has largely been between people outside the city of Ottawa who want Ottawa Road 174 widened and those who live in Cumberland (which is part of the City of Ottawa) who do not want the road widened into something they fear will resemble the Queensway.
A city of Ottawa study reported last year that there have been 270 collisions between 2003 and 2007, including five fatal collisions on the 12.4 kilometre stretch from Trim Road east to Canaan Road.
Kathleen Wynne, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, will be in Rockland on Wednesday to announce that the province will proceed without the city.
The City of Ottawa and the province have been at odds since 1997 when the city assumed responsibility for a portion of what was formerly called Provincial Highway 17.
A solution has been difficult to find in part because of strong opposition in Cumberland to widen Ottawa Road 174 from both Cumberland ward councillor Rob Jellett and the Cumberland Village Community Association. The City of Ottawa also contends it should not have to pay for any work because the congestion is caused by motorists east of the city.
Glengarry, Prescott, and Russell MPP Jean Marc Lalonde, MPP for Glengarry, Prescott, and Russell as well as a former mayor of Rockland, said people outside the city of Ottawa can’t wait any longer to fix the traffic problems.
“I’ve been waiting long enough ... I said, lets start the environmental assessment in the Prescott and Russell sector, then we will continue negotiating (with the city of Ottawa),” said Lalonde. He said he hopes the City of Ottawa will ask to join the environmental assessment and that Wynne will change her mind and fund Ottawa’s portion. Wynne said this week there is “no plan” to reconsider the offer.
Jellett said the city has had no warning that the Ontario government was moving ahead.
“This is coming out of the blue to me,” said Jellett, who said the city has assumed for the past two years that costs for any environmental assessment would always be picked up by the province.
“I have no idea how the city is going to respond to that,” said Jellett,
He said city officials had agreed to an environmental assessment but would not fund it or be the ones to lead the study, but would commit city staff to provide technical information. It is expected that the United Counties of Prescott Russell will lead the two-year study with provincial funding, which will focus on 8.4 kilometres of County Road 17 east of Canaan Road, ignoring the 12.4 kilometre stretch to the west where it widens into the four-lane Queensway at Trim Road.
A disappointed Jellett said the whole stretch of road from Trim Road east to Rockland has to be included in the study if it is to include all possible solutions, including the construction of a road diverting traffic around the village of Cumberland to Innes Road.
“Until you look at all the alternatives … you can’t make a proper decision.” said Jellett.
Similarly, Stéphane Parisien, chief administrative officer for the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, said it would be better to study the entire length of congested road from Rockland west to Trim Road but is pleased work will finally begin.
“It’s something we are struggling with as well but it would give us an opportunity to possibly find other ways of redirecting traffic if the city was not participating,” said Parisien.
Rebecca Dufton, president of the Cumberland Village Community Association, said news that the province is moving unilaterally seems to indicate they still simply want to widen what she says is a dangerous road through Cumberland.
“That’s not going to move it ahead at all because they are not going to look at this stretch (through the village of Cumberland), regardless. I don’t think it’s going to get them anywhere. It’s just a waste of time and money,” she said.
She said local residents drive the road in fear because of the many accidents that occur regularly, including a high number of rear end collisions caused when residents slow down to turn into laneways or streets adjoining Ottawa Road 174. She says people commuting to Ottawa who want the road widened in the village of Cumberland simply see their community as a roadway.
“They just think of it as a way to get to work. It’s not going through a community,” she said.
Clarence-Rockland Mayor Richard Lalonde, brother of MPP Jean Marc Lalonde, said local residents have become increasingly frustrated since Ottawa rejected the joint federal-provincial funding to study and widen the roadway. He said there is some talk in his community about blockading the ferry that brings about 800,000 motorists a year from Masson, Que. to Cumberland and onto Ottawa Road 174.
“The only thing we could do is block the entrances to where the ferry is. But, even that, I don’t think it’s fair. We could put people there in the morning and say this is the way we are going to do it. That’s going to stop the people from going to Ottawa but the only people who are going to suffer are the owners of the ferry,” said Lalonde.
He said people east of Ottawa don’t understand why millions of dollars have been spent to improve access to Ottawa for Quebec residents through upgrades to King Edward Avenue while Ontario residents are left facing long lines of traffic east of the city.
“As far as I’m concerned we are all part of Ontario. It’s very frustrating,” said Lalonde.
He said that there is hope that a win by Jim Watson in this year’s mayoralty race will result in City of Ottawa support for the project. Officials in municipalities east of Ottawa point out that Watson was part of the Ontario government cabinet that offered millions to fix the problem two years ago.
“I think the problem will be resolved,” said Lalonde.
Jellett said that interprovincial access through King Edward Avenue was funded mostly by the National Capital Commission. Construction work done by Ottawa to improve King Edward Avenue is intended to deal with problems caused by high volumes of truck traffic in the area.
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