Montreal - Blair Road Transit Priority Corridor
The City of Ottawa has initiated an Environmental Assessment Study of the Montreal-Blair Road Transit Priority Corridor. The Study area spans St. Laurent Boulevard from the west to Shefford Road at the east, and Blair Station from the south to the eastern gates of the National Research Council (NRC) on Blair Road, 1.2 km north of Montreal Road.
The Study will investigate options to improve transit service efficiency and environment for all travel modes along the corridor (including cycling and pedestrian traffic) with an emphasis on connectivity to the Blair Station, future travel demand, and meeting modal share objectives.
The Rothwell Heights Property Owners Association (RHPOA) is participating in meetings as a stakeholder, given the inclusion of Blair Road to the east gates of the National Research Council (NRC) in the area to be assessed.
The RHPOA was represented by two board members at a recent “Focused Stakeholder Meeting” who joined representatives from the Wateridge Village Association, NRC, OC Transpo, Parsons Engineering, and the City of Ottawa also in attendance.
We asked what determined the inclusion of Blair Road north of Montreal Road in the Study, and were told the approximately 1.2 km section of Blair Road north of Montreal Road was added to the study scope by direction of Council (May 2018 Transportation Committee meeting minutes.)
Council’s direction related to the Former CFB Rockcliffe Community Design Plan which notes at page 29: “Current traffic patterns do not permit access to the Rockcliffe site through the NRC campus from Blair Road; however the possibility to allow future access for transit, cyclists and pedestrians to the Rockcliffe site through the NRC campus exists.”
At the recent meeting, we learned that the Study Team has been collecting information on existing conditions, transit ridership (both current and future demand projections), and stakeholder perspectives. In the coming months the Study Team will be looking at the pros and cons of different designs, and will be consulting broadly on these designs during the study process.
The first Public Open House on the project will be held on Wednesday, December 4, 2019 from 6pm-8:30pm at the Pat Clark Community Centre located at 4355 Halmont Drive (south of Ogilvie Road and east of the Aviation Parkway). The event will be publicly advertised in newspapers and on the City’s project webpage.
Click the link below for the PowerPoint presentation presented on June 13, 2019 at the first Public Consultation Group Meeting.
