Weekly newsletter: September 10, 2024
Hi everyone, and welcome to another week!
Thank you to everyone who came out to the Barrhaven Harvest Fest on Sunday. The event was hosted by the Barrhaven BIA, Ottawa Farmers’ Market, and Locally Crafted, who did amazing work organising it.
Despite the gloomy weather (featuring a lot of wind), turnout was great. I also set up a little booth for the first time and was grateful for the many residents who came by to say hi and have a chat! My favourite part was testing out the inflatable slide before it opened to the public.
The regular farmers market will continue every Sunday 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Nepean Woods Park and Ride until 27 October.
Annual maintenance at the Nepean Sportsplex swimming pool will be complete this week, with the pool set to reopen on 16 September. Additionally, Ottawa Public Library branches are once again open on Sundays.
Late-night traffic enforcement
Enforcement initiative will extend beyond end dates in years previous—practically until the snow begins to fall.
The Ottawa Police completed another round of targeted late-night traffic enforcement on Friday 30 August in Kanata, Barrhaven, and Riverside South.
A total of 65 provincial offences notices were issued, including 29 for speeding, five for improper mufflers, and four for using a phone while driving.
Five stunt driving/street racing charges were also laid, including three in Barrhaven:
110 km/h in a 60 km/h zone – Fallowfield/Orr
106 km/h in a 60 km/h zone – Strandherd/Riocan
146 km/h in a 60 km/h zone – Strandherd/Riocan
Each received 30-day roadside licence suspensions, vehicle seizure for 14 days, and a court summons. If convicted, stunt driving charges may result in fines of 2,000 to 10,000$, six demerit points, a possible up to six months in jail, and further one to three-year licence suspensions.
In previous years, targeted enforcement happened May through October, but nice weather can extend into early-December and can begin as early as late-March. I shared concerns about less enforcement despite those activities continuing for as long as the nice weather lasts.
Last week, Chief Stubbs confirmed the targeted enforcement will extend beyond the usual May to October period, continuing until the snow begins to fall. Next year, he expects to restart as soon as there is nice weather.
This will ensure no progress is lost and enforcement matches when it is needed rather than ending a programme that’s shown some success on a predetermined date.
As always, residents are encouraged to report problems with late-night traffic, including noise, street racing, and other dangerous activities through the Ottawa Police Service’s online reporting tool. Though it will not result in an immediate response, it does help guide their future enforcement efforts and locations.
Please do not use the online tool to report crimes in progress or emergencies.
Ottawa Police South Facility update
Project is progressing well (I think it’s still too soon to use “on time, on budget”).
The Ottawa Police Service also shared a progress update on the new south facility at a recent Police Service Board committee meeting.
Most significantly for residents living near the site, piling is now complete.
Piling is used in projects where the soil is inadequate for bearing the structural load of a building. The piles are driven into the ground, past the weaker soil layer, to solid ground found at a depth.
Tangential fun fact—Venice, Italy, is held up by millions of wooden piles driven some 1,600 years ago into a shallow lagoon which never rot due to a lack of oxygen.
Pre-construction soil analyses determined about 200 piles were required, but actual soil conditions during construction required an additional 50 piles to be purchased and driven into the ground, which extended that portion of the construction timeline.
However, some work sequences were adjusted, allowing other elements of the project to begin in areas where the foundation was complete, which has allowed the project to remain on schedule overall.
As a result, crews have started forming the walls of structure and are moving towards the upper level of the structure as well. Where the piling activity was extended, crews are completing the foundation and will come out of the ground soon. Structural steel will be installed later in the year.
The construction project team are also approaching completion for the interior design of the building and will soon progress to getting a fit-up consultant (preparing the interior so it’s move-in ready).
The project remains financially stable, with 11.3 per cent of the contingency construction budget spent to date, mostly relating to the added piles. For reference, the construction contract is $115.4 million, 7.5 per cent of that being contingency.
Periodic updates will be shared as the project progresses. Where there may be activities with a significant noise or comfort impact on nearby residents, the project team at the Ottawa Police Service will distribute flyers to notify those residents.
Additionally, upon completion of the substantive works, the remaining section of Prince of Wales Drive north of Lodge Road will be resurfaced (deferred from 2023).
They’re also trying to think of a better name than “South Facility.”
Traffic updates
Residents who regularly use Clearbrook to Longfields may have noticed newly painted lines now separate left-turn and right-turn/straight lanes at the intersection.
For good measure, I have also requested no stopping signs to be added between the mailbox and Longfields in the eastbound lane (I should have made that request at the same time as the lines—that’s my miss, sorry).
Thank you to the residents who have made requests for this change since early-2023! It took this long because we needed to wait for the lines to fade.
Over on Woodroffe at Deerfox-Stoneway, staff have shared the contractor will be on site today (Tuesday 10 September) to smoothen out the road cut. The other road cut on Stoneway requires police to direct traffic and has been tentatively scheduled for 20 September.
Unfortunately, there has been a delay to the commercial owners’ water/sewer connection project. I am very sympathetic to their situation, considering they have been patiently dealing with anything and everything relating to the lots since late-2022 to get their small businesses off the ground.
However, the contractor still has a responsibility to monitor and maintain road cuts in a good state, including when work is paused.
Additionally, the detection loop for the northbound left turn to Deerfox was damaged, resulting in the protected left activating automatically at the start of each cycle. Staff are aware and will be repairing them this week.
In the meantime, please be mindful of vehicles that may slow down suddenly over the road cuts at that intersection.
At Fallowfield/Transitway, the traffic signals are once again on a default timed cycle, but it was set deliberately this time, as the detection loops on the Transitway were disconnected for resurfacing work. Residents can expect the signals to function properly again in the coming days.
Lastly, the delayed road resurfacing project on Woodroffe between Fallowfield and the railway is now tentatively scheduled to begin next Monday.
The resurfacing was supposed to happen in July, but Via Rail informed the city its flagging services at the railway crossing are no longer available one day before the project was supposed to begin. Legally, a flag person must be on site when there’s construction near a railway, and it must be provided by the railway.
Residents will be notified through newsletter and social media if the date changes again.
Public virtual consultation – proposed Zoning By-law
Lastly, residents are invited to join Councillor Hill and me tonight, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm for a virtual consultation on the first draft of the proposed Zoning By-law. Register here.
With the help of staff, we will cover general changes as well as specific impacts the proposed by-law will have on our community. There will be an opportunity for questions from the public as well.
This consultation process will inform the second draft of the by-law, due to be released in early-2025. That will have its own public consultation process, which in turn will inform the final draft to be presented to Council for discussion, amendments, and a vote in late-2025.
The proposed Zoning By-law will guide growth and development in the City of Ottawa up to the year 2046 and will be critical in facilitating growth that aligns with intensification goals as outlined in the City’s Official Plan, adopted by Council in 2021 and approved by the provincial government in 2022.
A city’s Official Plan outlines a land use policy framework to guide growth and development, including policies for housing, employment, infrastructure, protections for water, natural, and agricultural resources, and public health and safety.
The City of Ottawa’s Official Plan was adopted by Council in 2021, approved by the provincial government with amendments in November 2022, shortly before the current term of Council began and amongst a flurry of other planning legislation changes.
A zoning by-law is the complementary tool which implements a municipality’s official plan policies and objectives as a legal and precise way of managing land use and future development.
To learn more about the proposed Zoning By-law, why it’s needed, and what’s changing, please see my newsletter from 11 June 2024.