Weekly newsletter: August 26, 2025
Hi everyone!
It’s the last week of August and the end of summer vacation for many. To some (thanks to years of marketing by Staples), it’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Classes at French school boards start again today, so please take extra care driving, cycling, or walking near our community’s three French schools. Remember to stop for pedestrians at crossovers, crossing guards, and for school buses with their red signals activated.
Last week, I had lunch with Prime Minister Carney, who’s also our Member of Parliament, along with councillors Hill and Devine, and MPP Tyler Watt.
We discussed vehicle thefts (including vehicle security regulation and criminal justice changes), the need for the NCC to be a better local partner, a federal remote working space in Barrhaven, support for local health care access, and more.
It was a productive first meeting, and I hope to engage semi-regularly with the MP’s future constituency office staff. We were also advised the constituency office is in progress, but no timeline was provided.
Rats
City has indirect role only.
Over the last month, there’s been a notable increase in residents reaching out about issues with rats in their neighbourhood. The issue is not unique to Barrhaven or to Ottawa - unfortunately, once there is one, there are a hundred nearby.
The hot and dry summer certainly has not helped the issue, with rats (plus other animals and pests) searching for food, water, and shelter with more desperation.
In Ontario, wildlife and pest management is generally a private property matter, so the City does not address the issue directly, unless it’s a municipal property like recreation centres, parks, and sewers.
Instead, the City has indirect tools to try to address conditions that attract pests, like unkept lawns, holes in exterior walls, debris, litter (including leaving food outside to feed other animals, poorly maintained birdfeeders, and garbage storage), and other provisions of the Property Standards and Property Maintenance by-laws.
Rat sightings can be reported online to the City for by-law to try to find and address potential sources through education and/or enforcement. However, in many cases, the issue spans beyond the immediate area of a household that may have reported the rat sighting.
Human factors are a major influence of rat population, but another important factor is the ability for rats to reproduce.
Rats birth about eight babies (baby rats are called pups, apparently) per litter. Within three to four weeks, the pups and the mother are ready to breed again. One female rat can generate about 15,000 descendants in a year.
Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency is currently completing a scientific review of a soft bait product that targets the reproductive systems of male and female rats, inhibiting their ability to reproduce if ingested regularly. Last year, the City sent consultation comments to Health Canada to support the product’s ongoing research and consideration.
The product has shown promising results in some American cities (population reduction of 50 to 80 per cent) when used correctly and combined with regular efforts in addressing the conditions that attract pests in the first place.
If Health Canada approves the product, I see a path for the City to take a more direct role in helping residents and other property owners address the issue.
Next month, the Council will also be updating the parks garbage strategy, which is expected to include provisions on garbage containers in parks, which is important in the context of the rat issue. More details will be shared after that report is live in two or three weeks.
Fallowfield/Greenbank update
Dual left-turn lane from westbound Fallowfield not feasible. Other low-cost options being explored.
Back in April, I shared an idea to double the capacity of vehicles turning left from westbound Fallowfield to southbound Greenbank by changing the westbound left lane into a second left-turn lane. The intent was to find a relatively inexpensive way to improve capacity short-term without any construction.
The question was put to you as I am an irregular user of that intersection at best.
I received about 150 pieces of feedback by email, phone, and on social media over the next few weeks. Most of the feedback was supportive, while some concerns and considerations were also shared. Thank you to the residents who participated!
City staff were then tasked with studying the idea’s feasibility, along with a few other options.
In brief, changing the westbound left lane into a second left-turn lane is not achievable due to the intersection’s geometric constraints.
As arterial roads, Fallowfield and Greenbank are designed to accommodate large trucks. Intersections are therefore designed to accommodate them, including if two trucks were to turn left from both sides at the same time. A dual left-turning lane from westbound Fallowfield would leave insufficient space for left-turning trucks from eastbound Fallowfield.
Staff also simulated the dual left-turn lane plus splitting the cycles for eastbound and westbound Fallowfield, similar to the arrangement for Hog’s Back-Meadowlands at Prince of Wales. That arrangement increased delays at the intersection, particularly because the two crosswalks would be activated separately.
Additionally, staff noted peak hour usage of both westbound through lanes almost equalled that of the left-turn lane, so combining the two through lanes into one would create a new problem.
With the option of converting the westbound left lane to a second left-turn lane unfeasible, staff moved on to signal cycle changes.
Staff will be testing a short second protected left phase at the end of the Fallowfield cycle to document changes in queues and impacts on other movements through the intersection. The maximum length of the first protected left phase remains unchanged (already one of the longest in the City).
Results will be shared once they are available and after a debrief from City staff. Whatever the result, the low-cost option will be a short-term measure.
With Barrhaven’s continued growth (including Amazon), the long-term solution is to expand the intersection’s geometry to permit additional turning lanes, at least for the westbound-to-southbound left turn.
Of course, that is an expensive, likely disruptive construction project, but it will become necessary. The challenge is that it’s balanced against the same needs at other intersections in the community, like Fallowfield/Woodroffe and Woodroffe/Strandherd, and other intersections across the City.
Our local priorities will all be included in ongoing discussions with staff leading up to the next Transportation Master Plan update.
Bite-sized updates
Sorted alphabetically!
Barrhaven Harvest Fest – The Ottawa Farmers’ Market, Barrhaven BIA, and Locally Crafted Markets are hosting the third annual Barrhaven Harvest Fest autumn market↗ on Sunday, September 7, 10 am to 2 pm, at the Nepean Woods Park and Ride! This is a free event (no tickets) with purchases on site.
Cleaning the Capital – Registration is open for the Cleaning the Capital autumn 2025 campaign. Join the 12 cleanup projects already registered so far in Barrhaven East to help keep our parks and public spaces clean and looking good and earn some volunteer hours! Participants are provided with clean-up kits with garbage bags and gloves. Learn more or register at Ottawa.ca/clean↗.
Greenbank Road pathway – The resurfaced pathway is expected to reopen by the end of this week. Crews are completing construction access removal and landscaping.
Labour Day – Most City services will either be modified or closed, while OC Transpo will operate a Sunday schedule. Waste collection (blue and garbage) will also be delayed by a day to Wednesday, September 3. See Ottawa.ca↗ for details.
Leikin Drive closure – Leikin Drive between Merivale and Beckstead will reopen by the end of September 2, 2025. The contractor is currently constructing curbs and will begin paving the road this week.
Low water conditions – The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority have upgraded to a major low-water advisory across the entire Rideau River watershed. Households on well water↗ are strongly encouraged to reduce consumption and suspend non-essential uses.
Shower facilities and water filling stations are available at Minto Recreation Complex↗ and the Walter Baker Sports Centre↗ to residents of Hearts Desire and Rideau Glen. Please call ahead to confirm availability (contact information and hours of operation in the links).
Pop-up office hours – I’m regularly at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market (Barrhaven)↗ for pop-up office hours! I’ll be there next on Sunday, September 7, 10 am to 2 pm as part of the Harvest Fest autumn market.
School zone speed limits – Lower speed limits in school zones take effect once again on Monday, September 1 at 7 am. They are in effect Monday to Friday (including weekday holidays) from 7 am to 6 pm until June 30. In Barrhaven East, the automated speed enforcement cameras on Chapman Mills and on Crestway will begin enforcing 40 km/h during those times.
Walter Baker Sports Centre – The hot tub/steam room remain closed indefinitely due to foundation issues identified during summer maintenance. City staff are working on a repair plan.
Waste collection – Blue bin, green bin, and garbage collection next week will be delayed to Wednesday, September 3 as Monday is Labour Day.
That’s all for this week!
- Wilson