A Traffic Abomination Caused By Government

Just how much construction and traffic congestion can be forced on the residents and surrounding areas of Richmond Road near Cleary Avenue.

Light rail is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027 (already two years late) though, realistically, it is unlikely to make that deadline if the rest of the project is any indication. Construction on that has been moving at a snail’s pace and the project is causing much noise, dirt and traffic problems.

Normally, that would be enough but not with the National Capital Commission and the City of Ottawa, both operating on municipal standard time.

The Richmond Road reconstruction started in 2024 and is scheduled to be finished in 2027. That has caused major traffic disruptions with the detours defying the understand of mere mortals. Businesses are suffering. And don’t forget the dirt and the noise. All this in conjunction with the woefully late and problematic LRT.

In all its wisdom, while the Ottawa River parkway was being torn up for road rebuilding in a city-NCC co-production, our governments decided to rebuild Westboro Beach, not that there was much wrong with it in the first place. That ran from 2022 to 2025 causing the hideous traffic jams when combined with the LRT-Ottawa river parkway construction and reconstruction. Traffic jams ran all the way from the Champlain Bridge to Carling Avenue. And how could we forget the noise and dirt.

But there’s more.

The Champlain Bridge reconstruction, which ran from 2022 to 2024, caused unprecedented traffic jams on both sides of the provincial border. This was done in conjunction with the LRT scar, the Richmond Road rebuild and the re-imagining of Westboro Beach. And not only were they disruptive, they were also amazingly slow.

Now there is even more. Incredibly. Planning as done by the Mad Hatter.

Woodroffe Avenue north between Richmond Road is scheduled to be rebuilt in the summer of 2025 beginning on June 20. According to Bay Councillor Theresa Kavanagh, this will involve replacing underground water, sewer and storm sewer pipes.

That cuts off one of the few access points to the Ottawa River parkway which is already crowded with traffic from the appalling and interminable mess on Richmond Road. Maybe the lack of access will improve the jammed traffic on the parkway. Drivers’ only options are to use already jammed Richmond Road, crowded Highway 417 (some of that crowding is from the late LRT) and the awkward Carling Avenue.

The sheer incompetence in the late building of LRT and Richmond Road (which in hampers slows the bus fleet already slow from budget cuts), it’s total disorganization in terms of traffic and transit just shows how poorly governments run our community. And we pay for all this.

Even the smallest amount of competence, cooperation and organization could have prevented this mess.

But increasingly it looks as though civic government and the NCC are run for their own convenience rather than for the benefit of the people of the community. The proof is the above.

Self-serving would be the correct term. It is appalling.

Ken Gray

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