The expansion of Prince of Wales Drive from
Fisher Avenue to Fairpark Drive in south Nepean may be years away, but if the
latest open house is any indication, planners still have a lot to consider
before its completion.
The Prince of Wales Environmental
Assessment conducted its third open house at the Nepean Sportsplex on April 6
and 7 to collect input on the proposed widening of Prince of Wales Drive to four lanes from
two starting in 2016.
With preliminary designs on display,
planners heard a plethora of concerns from the few dozen residents in
attendance.
At the forefront of the agenda were environmental
concerns.
Because the land surrounding Prince of Wales Drive
is a soft form of clay, known as Leda clay, residents are worried about it
possibly sliding into the Rideau
River and altering the
water quality during construction – expected to be completed by 2022.
“That’s a real concern especially from
people on the waterfront. There’s been a history of landslides,” Virginia
Atkinson said, who’s lived off of the Nepean Creek near Fisher Avenue since 1961.
“I think the overall feeling is that we’re
a little defensive.”
“They’re going to have to justify that
there’s not going to be any more slides into the river,” added Malcolm
MacDonald, who also lives near Fisher
Avenue.
Senior project manager with the city
Valerie Bouillant confirmed that a geological survey to test the strength of
the clay will be scheduled as part of the plan.
“We got lots of good constructive comments
that are going to help us tweak the design a little bit and make it a better
plan for property owners along the corridor,” she said.
Even with some of the public’s
apprehension, this extension is a necessity, said Bouillant.
According to the Origin Destination Survey,
the population of Barrhaven and the south urban community is expected to nearly
double by 2031 with four times the amount of jobs.
Bouillant added that plans were based on 70
per cent of those people commuting by driving.
“If we were to leaving Prince of Wales the
way it is and not do anything, it’s simply not acceptable because of what we
know,” she said. “If we didn’t do anything the situation would be much worse in
terms of traffic.”
As a result, the right-hand turn lanes will
be lengthened north and southbound at West
Hunt Club Road beginning in 2016.
However, main construction will start at
Fairpark Drive to Merivale Road at the south in 1.5 to two kilometre blocks
heading northward no more than once a year, depending on funding.
Bouillant said the hope is to get the city
to realize that further expansion needs to happen further north of Fisher Avenue to
avoiding bottlenecking.
“That’s one of the main points that we are
putting in our report,” she said. “Fisher from Prince of Wales going north was
outside of our study and we definitely recommend that the city, as part of the
next transportation master plan update, look at that area in particular and how
traffic forecasts will be in 2031 and what is the best way to receive the
traffic that will result from the widening of Prince of Wales.”
Another potential problem involves the
railway bridge north of West Hunt
Club Road.
A temporary bridge will be built just to
the north of the current one so Via Rail trips will not be disrupted, but the
bigger concern is on impact of the land.
“The design of the future bridge will
definitely have to consider the soil,” Bouillant said. “There will be special
soil investigations done at a depth much deeper (than for a road).
“It’s part of our engineering, but it’s not
something that will prevent us from reconstructing the bridge.”
Other project highlights include:
-
Lowering the speed limit to 70
kilometres per hour outside of the Greenbelt
-
A two-metre cycling lane
-
2 ½-metre paved shoulders
-
A multi-use recreational
pathway along the Rideau
River to Hog’s Back Road
-
Two-metre sidewalk from Winding
Way (north) to Holborn Avenue on the east side and from northern Greenbelt
boundary to Fisher Avenue on the west side
-
Traffic signals, one on Winding Way and one
on Victory Hill
-
Enhanced stormwater measures
-
Noise attenuation with noise
barriers
The last point was questioned by Adriano
Dirienzo, who lives off of Amberwood
Crescent just south of Colonnade Road, a stretch of road not
covered by noise barriers.
“We’re going to review our noise
attenuation measures and look at properties that are indentified that are just
below the threshold,” Bouillant said.
Because of all the comments that were
accumulated over the two-day period, Bouillant and her staff will now head back
to the drawing board.
“What we’ll do over the next couple weeks
is compile all the comments that we’ve received per section and per location
and consider them in our design to the extent that we can,” she said.
Bouillant also is planning to follow up
with community associations and those individuals with specific problems.
The project was originally supposed to
extend all the way down to Woodroffe
Avenue at the south, but has since been included
in the Strandherd Drive
extension project, which commences this year.
Construction from Woodroffe Avenue to Fairpark Drive will start in the coming
weeks.
daniel.bowman@metroland.com