Alayne McGregor
Updated November 19 to correct locations of Bronson on- and off-ramps.
The replacement of five downtown bridges over the Queensway will noticeably disrupt walking, cycling, and driving in west Centretown in the next five years.
Starting this week, you will have one last chance to influence how the construction will be implemented.
On November 2, Ontario Ministry of Transportation consultant Lincoln MacDonald told the city Transportation Committee how MTO plans to replace five bridges over Preston Street, Rochester Street, Booth Street, Bronson Avenue, and Percy Street in stages over the next five years.
MTO says the schedule is now being coordinated with other ongoing and adjacent Highway 417 projects and is expected to start in 2021, subject to environmental approvals.
At Bronson Avenue, the project will widen and extend the eastbound 417 off-ramp and extend the westbound on-ramp, and widen the overpasses at Booth and Rochester to add speed change lanes. Chamberlain Avenue will be realigned to be opposite the Bronson eastbound off-ramp.
Queensway noise barriers will be added along the Queensway from LRT Line 2 to Rochester, and from Bronson to Lyon Street. Noise barriers from Rochester to Bronson will be replaced. The former A-1 Mini Storage at 458 Catherine will be demolished.
Streets closed weeks before
Each bridge will be demolished in place and MTO will use rapid replacement technology to put in the new bridge over a weekend, as was done this summer with the bridge over the LRT Line 2 tracks. MacDonald said this would require partially or fully closing the streets under these bridges in the year before and, in particular, the weeks leading up to the replacement.
The bridges will be replaced in this order: Rochester and Booth (year 2), Percy and Bronson (year 3), and Preston (year 4).
For the Rochester Bridge replacement: Rochester will be closed for up to three weeks from Gladstone to Orangeville. Raymond Street will be closed for two years from Rochester to Booth, and Orangeville from Rochester to Lebreton Street South for up to five years. Pedestrians and cyclists will be detoured to Preston and motor vehicles to Booth.
For the Booth Bridge replacement: Booth will be closed for up to three weeks from Arlington to Orangeville. Pedestrians will be redirected to Rochester and vehicles to Preston.
The Bronson Bridge replacement will require fully closing Bronson to pedestrians and vehicles for up to three weeks from Catherine to Imperial Avenue/Plymouth Street. Pedestrians and cyclists will be detoured to Percy. Motor vehicles will be detoured to Booth Street southbound and Chamberlain/Bank/Catherine northbound.
For the Percy bridge replacement, Chamberlain will be closed to all traffic for up to three weeks between Imperial and Glendale. Percy will be closed to motor vehicles from Catherine to Chamberlain for two years (and possibly for all traffic for shorter periods), and to bicycle and pedestrian traffic as well for up to five weeks before the replacement.
Percy is a heavily used bike route: cyclists will be diverted along Chamberlain to Kent Street and then back to Percy. At the meeting, Councillor Shawn Menard asked for a bike lane to be installed along the detour. MacDonald said he had met with city staff about the detours, but the idea of a specific “protected” bike lane had not been discussed.
For the Preston Street Bridge replacement: Preston will be fully closed between St. Anthony and Young for up to three weeks prior to the replacement, and from Louisa and Young on the replacement weekend. Pedestrians and cyclists will be detoured to the Trillium Pathway, while motor vehicles are supposed to use Gladstone/Bronson/Carling.
Soccer field taken over for new bridge construction
The replacement bridges will be constructed in three locations: taking over the soccer field beside Ottawa Technical High School off Preston Street; in the Ottawa Community Housing lands between Booth and Rochester north of the Queensway which are slated for redevelopment; and in the former Ottawa Board of Education site at Bronson and Chamberlain.
Councillor Mathieu Fleury noted that Ottawa Community Housing planned to redevelop the Rochester staging site for badly needed housing and asked how quickly MTO would be releasing it. MacDonald said they would vacate the site as quickly as possible and expected to be out by year 3.
Walkability audit suggested
MacDonald said that pedestrian and cycling detours would be provided for any closures. At committee, pedestrian advocate Miranda Gray said she was concerned about the length of those detours and whether anyone had walked the routes to confirm that they feel safe. She suggested a walkability audit of the detours with pedestrians to check that the routes were well-lit and, in particular, that construction hoardings under the spans didn’t block light and make it impossible at night to see oncoming traffic or pedestrians.
Gray was also concerned that the Bronson construction plan was dangerous for cyclists: “This looks like a plan that creates a funnel where we will have cyclists weaving into traffic on both sides of that bridge.”
If you have any concerns about the proposed road closures, detours, or timing, you have one last chance to comment. The project’s Design and Construction Report has been posted as of November 12 to the project website at www.highway417-midtownbridgesandimprovements.com
The public will have until December 14 to comment on or suggest changes to the bridges’ design or the construction schedule and implementation.