By Dan Neutel
The Bronson Avenue renewal project is about to begin and, while the improvements are needed, it could be a tough slog for residents during reconstruction.
That was the message that city officials hoped to convey during an open door meeting at the McNabb Community Centre on March 5.
About 100 people came out to listen to the design team explain some of the decisions made regarding Bronson and offer clarification on other aspects of the project.
Over the next few years, Bronson Avenue is going to be completely rebuilt from the canal to Queen’s Street, attendees were told during the session. Phase one involves the section between Laurier and Arlington, which is scheduled to be completed in 2013 and could begin as early as this month.
“Bronson Avenue has to be completed before LRT begins construction,” said Darryl Shurb, program manager for the City of Ottawa. “This is for two reasons: because they will be shutting down other roads in the core and Bronson Avenue has to be open (and) the second is that the number of trucks hauling rock from the excavation will be using Bronson and, if we don’t repair the underground infrastructure before then, it will start failing.”
The major reason for the reconstruction of Bronson is that much of the underground infrastructure dates back to the 1860s. Bronson will be rebuilt from city property line to city property line and the major intersections, including Somerset and Gladstone, have been completely redesigned to make pedestrian crossing safer.
The most contentious issue planners faced was balancing the needs of commuters versus the needs of residents. Bronson is still the city’s most important north south corridor and, while motorists called for a widening of the street to facilitate traffic, residents wanted the traffic slowed. The plan to widen the street was eventually scrapped.
“We came to the realization that we wouldn’t be able to slow traffic down because it would start impacting the side streets,” said Shurb. “Our minimum road widths for a road of this size is 14 metres wide, but we found that by going to our minimum width we would incur costs of approximately $4 million by moving hydro lines. So we came to the realization that keeping the road at its present 13.4-metre width was the best (option).”
Bronson will also be re-designed to give the street a more community feel: sidewalks will be two metres wide wherever possible, 130 new trees will be planted, bike racks will be installed, decorative street lighting and planters will be added.
During construction it is expected that traffic will be diverted to Preston Street via Carling Avenue. If traffic begins to detour down residential streets, quick action will be taken to prevent it.
It was made clear at the March 5 meeting that construction projects like this are huge undertakings and many things happen that cannot be planned for. The city and its contractor will do all they can to allow residents to go about their daily lives with as little interruptions as possible. But should they have problems they are encourages to contact the city or a supervisor who will be on site at all times.
“It will be extremely challenging and not without impact to the surrounding community,” said Bruce Kenny, another project manager on the Bronson project. “One of the reasons that we have community events is to paint a realistic picture about these projects.”