By Michael Mandarano
With a crucial environmental assessment finally out of the way, major construction on a three-kilometre stretch of Bank Street, from Wellington Street to the Rideau Canal, is set to begin in July of this year.
The ambitious re-development project is meant to fix the “aging and deteriorating municipal infrastructure on Bank Street,” according to the Environmental Study Report released in late March.
The report, which outlines the specifics of the plan, is required by the province before construction can start.
The stretch of Bank Street between Laurier Avenue and Wellington Street is the first section to be fixed.
It will include a new water main, a shared cycling lane, new street lights, street trees and, north of Queen Street, wider sidewalks.
Because this northern stretch of Bank Street is narrow, it will likely be closed to traffic once construction begins. That phase of the project is scheduled to take four months, starting in July.
Richard Holder, the city’s senior project manager, says a lack of funds has limited the amount of construction that can happen this year.
“This year we were hoping to be able to construct from Wellington down to Somerset and in front of Lansdowne (stadium), all in the same year,” Holden says. “But there was not the funds available, and so we’ve gone for a smaller section, from Laurier to Wellington.”
The rest of the project is scheduled to start next year, with 2010 the expected completion date. The city’s latest estimate puts the total cost at $32 million.
Holder says much of the project is meant to provide pedestrians with a more enjoyable Bank Street experience.
“People want to have a better pedestrian environment. So, (that means) de-cluttered streets, street trees, a ‘greening’ of the corridor,” he says. “We are planning to put street trees all the way through the corridor, from Wellington all the way down to Lansdowne.”
Local businesses will no doubt be affected by the large-scale construction, especially on the stretch of Bank Street that will be closed to traffic.
Neil Rosenthal manages Sports 4, a sporting goods shop on Bank Street just north of Laurier Avenue. He says he sees the pros and cons to the project.
“For us, the summertime traffic is a big deal. Pedestrian traffic is huge for us,” Rosenthal says. “We’re not going to see as many people just milling about outside.”
But as someone who lives and works downtown, Rosenthal says he sees an upside.
“I can totally see the necessity for the construction. Especially when you get into the areas where you have the two transitways, having a street this wide doesn’t make much sense,” he says. “But for the businesses alongside of it, it’s going to be a total adjustment.”
Rob Saikaley, owner of Quizno’s Sub at Bank and McLaren streets, has similar concerns.
“That’s going to hinder us big time,” he says. “It’ll be dirty, it’ll be messy, it won’t be easily accessible. It’s going to hurt.”
But, Saikaley says, the project is a good idea “if you want, eventually, to bring back pedestrians and make it easy for them to come by. I think it’s good for the future, but it’ll hurt me now. Short-term loss for long-term gain.”
However, one of the main issues raised by the community during consultations will not be addressed by the project.
“The main comments from people south of Gladstone have been to bury the hydro (lines),” Holder says. “(They’ve said) ‘if you’re not going to bury the hydro, don’t bother doing the work.’”
Holder says the city does not plan to bury the hydro lines for now. For that, the city’s department of planning and growth management is currently working on a citywide streetscape study that could recommend burying overhead hydro lines.
Of the Bank Street corridor, only the stretch between McLeod Street and Holmwood Avenue still has overhead hydro lines. Hydro Ottawa estimates the cost to bury these at $8 million, according to the Environmental Study Report.