The city of Ottawa says that the season of construction will continue well into the fall.
The transportation committee held a technical briefing outlining how the construction projects will affect commuters. “I am not going to sugar coat it, this fall will be challenging on our roadways,” says Knoxdale-Merivale Councillor Keith Egli.
The city says they have invested $210-million in renewal work in roughly 225 work sites this year. There is another $132-million on up to 50 “new and improvement” projects.
Major problem spots highlighted by the city include Nicholas Street, Main Street, as well as Queen Street. There is also construction underway in all 13 LRT stations in the city.
But the downtown core will be the most impacted as the city is working hard to get projects done in time for the 2017 celebrations.
Egli says. “2017 is going to be a big year in Ottawa, we are the capital so we are going to have lots of tourists through, lots of visitors through and we want to put of best face forward.”
The city is suggesting commuters consider working from home, or shifting their work hours to avoid rush hours.
According to the City of Ottawa, these tools have been set up to help navigate the captial:
- OttawaNav– the City’s mobile application for real-time construction and traffic information
- City of Ottawa Traffic Report– outlining city-wide road closures, traffic restrictions and detours
- Travel Plannerat octranspo.com – transit customers can plan their routes
- Interactive traffic map– showing construction areas and live traffic cameras throughout the city
- Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) cameras
- Cycling mapsand information – detailing bicycle pathways and lanes throughout the city
