Construction Season, New Parking Rules & More

It was great having a little piece of home downtown at City Hall on June 1st at the Mayor's Annual Rural Expo. Thanks to all those who participated!  

It was great having a little piece of home downtown at City Hall on June 1st at the Mayor's Annual Rural Expo. Thanks to all those who participated!  

Over the next few weeks and months, several construction projects may affect your daily commute. Road resurfacing projects will be undertaken on Rideau Valley Drive South, Potter Drive, and Barnsdale Road, between Twin Elm Road and Moodie Drive. Microsurfacing projects will also be undertaken along certain parts of Fourth Line Road, Eagleson Road, Dwyer Hill Road and Old Richmond Road. These were approved in early 2018 with the allocation of an additional $10M for road projects. Rideau-Goulbourn is the recipient of $2M of those funds. Finally, Gallagher Road, between Mackey and Malakoff, will receive its final treatment as part of the rural road upgrade that commenced last summer.

The replacement of the McBean Street bridge will commence shortly. The project has been awarded to Aecon. This massive project is expected to be carried out over the next 18 months. There will be impacts to traffic, specifically for heavy vehicles and buses. I will be providing a more detailed update on this project in the Richmond Hub shortly.

The sewer works along Martin Street are ongoing. As a part of this project, a Road Close Authorization has been granted for Fortune Street from Martin Street to Royal York Street. The road is scheduled to be closed from Friday, June 22nd to Wednesday, August 15th. On behalf of Richmond Village Ltd. (Caivan), Ottawa Greenbelt Construction Co. Ltd. will be undertaking the replacement of a sanitary trunk sewer. Notification signs will be posted. There will be a signed detour. Local and emergency vehicle access will be maintained.

Additional construction projects scheduled for this summer include the following replacements/rehabilitations:

  • Ashton Station Road Bridge
  • Munster Road Bridge (south of Jock Trail)
  • Old Richmond Road Bridge (south of Fallowfield Road)
  • Various culverts along Dwyer Hill Road, Longfields Drive, Roger Stevens Drive, Joy’s Road, Donnelly Drive, Eagleson Road, Rideau Valley Drive North

If you have any questions about these projects, please let me know.

Need new garbage, recycling bins? It just got easier!

As of June 4th, 2018, residents of Ottawa who require a new blue, black, or green bin will no longer need to request a Canadian Tire coupon to receive new bins. A new delivery service is being implemented that will simplify the process for residents to obtain recycling containers. Recycling containers will be delivered directly to the resident’s home.

Residents can now request a new recycling container by:

  • Making an online request for new bins. Once a request has been received, the bins will be delivered to the resident’s home within five (5) business days.
  • Contacting 311 to make a request for new bins. Once a request has been received, the bins will be delivered to the resident’s home within five (5) business days.
  • Visiting a City Client Service Centre (CSC) and requesting the bins. The CSC will create a service request to have the bin delivered to the resident’s home within five (5) business days.

The new delivery system will address the issue where residents had concerns about transporting the bins due to size. The service will also address and meet the requirements for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Residents who previously received coupons for the replacement of their bins must redeem their coupons on or before June 30th. After June 30th, the coupons will no longer be valid.

New, Relaxed Parking Rules in Effect

Following the approval of the Traffic and Parking By-law Update 2017 report by Council on September 13th, 2017, the Traffic and Parking By-law (No. 2017-301), and corresponding set fines approved by the Ontario Court of Justice are now in effect as of June 1st, 2018.

As part of the approved report, a significant change in the new by-law relates to the long-standing 3-Hour Parking Rule, as it applies to weekends and statutory holidays. Under the previous by-law, on weekends and statutory holidays, motorists would only be allowed to park for three consecutive hours (between 7:00am and 7:00pm), on streets where there are no parking limit signs. As of June 1st, 2018, on weekends and statutory holidays, motorists are now able to park for up to six consecutive hours (between 7:00am and 7:00pm) on streets where there are no parking limit signs.

KOTR Evening of Information

On June 20th, the Kars on the Rideau Public School Parent Council invites parents to an evening of information on supporting their children during the middle and tween years to maintain healthy lifestyles. This session is aimed at parents of children in grade 4 to 8.

This session is presented in collaboration with the City of Ottawa’s Public Health unit and Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services. Speakers will be present from both agencies discussing a number of issues, including the use of cannabis, vaping and opioids.

This session will take place at the school between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Participants are encouraged to register as space is limited. You can do so at the following link: www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-of-information-tickets-46664058455.

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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

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.

Proposed Modifications to Old Richmond Road, 285 metres south of Hope Side Road

Old Richmond Road, 255 metres south of Hope Side Road

  • New left-turn lane on Old Richmond Road
  • New access

For more information, please contact:
Mike Giampa, P.Eng.
Planning and Growth Management Department
Tel: 613-580-2424, extension 23657

[email protected] 

Any person who wishes to raise objections to the modifications must contact the City Clerk, in writing, at the address below by March 22, 2013.

City Clerk
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 1J1