Two city workers stand inside a 1,980-mm water pipe, the kind of which will be installed under Bronson Avenue in 2010-2011.
Residents and business owners who’ve endured construction chaos on Bank and Preston streets are facing another infrastructure nightmare along a major downtown thoroughfare: a preposed water main replacement expected to shut down Bronson Avenue for several months as early as next year.
The reconstruction was announced Feb. 2 as part of Ottawa’s Infrastructure Master Plan, a section of the city’s Official Plan review that details all of the big-ticket repair and expansion projects for Ottawa’s water and wastewater systems.
The plan, which lists the city’s infrastructure priorities between now and 2031, indicates that the current pipeline supplying much of central Ottawa won’t be able to meet the demands of the capital’s growing population.
The city estimates a population increase of about four per cent per year.
By 2031, Ottawa’s population is expected to surpass 1.1 million – an increase of about 265,000 from 2006.
The “feedermain” reconstruction – which would replace the current 60-cm pipe running under Bronson Avenue with a new one nearly three times bigger – would close stretches of Bronson Avenue in Centretown during 2010-2011.
It’s a scenario certain to cause major disruptions to residents’ quality of life and have major effects on local businesses.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes says that although the project will be a serious inconvenience, it is inevitable.
“The water main is so important that we have to fix it. We really have no choice.”
In their Residential Land Strategy for 2006 to 2031, planners have stated that in order to meet the needs of Ottawa’s growing population, the city would have to develop significant new tracts of land for residential zoning.
This growth would put tremendous pressure on Bronson’s already strained water main – possibly risking a pipe explosion, says George Blow, an engineer with Robinson Consultants.
Jonah Clements, a Bronson Avenue resident, says his daily routines were greatly affected by the recent water main construction at the intersection of Bronson and Holmwood avenues.
Clements says he is worried about how residents will be affected if the entire Bronson commuter corridor is shut down.
“It really hindered my quality of life. The noise, traffic and blocked access to my apartment were just the beginning of the problems,” he says. “I can’t imagine what a major closure would do to this community and its economy.”
Holmes says that if the proposed development were to pass, it would mean a major increase in traffic for other north-south routes such as Bank Street.
She adds that council delayed improving the Bronson water main until other projects – such as the ones that have closed sections of Preston and Bank streets – were completed.
Holmes says that this would ensure that other traffic options were open to absorb commuters blocked from taking Bronson.
The installation of the Bronson Avenue feedermain between Wellington Street and the Queensway – the full north-south extent of Centretown – is expected to cost $5.4 million.
A second section of the expanded feedermain is to be installed after 2020 along Bronson south of the Queensway.
Getting its water supply from the Lemieux Island pumping station along the Ottawa River, Blow says the Bronson pipeline is one of the city’s main water distribution conduits.
According to Blow, the top of the existing pipe is 2.4 m below ground and 610 mm in diameter. In order to accommodate Ottawa’s growth, that pipe would have to be replaced by a steel or concrete pipe about 1.5 m in diameter.
The pipe, says Blow, would be replaced in sections of about 600 m at a time, the distance from valve to valve. He says the city would most likely have only 600 m of road closed at a time – one bit of good news for residents, business owners and commuters.
In order to ensure that the construction doesn’t disrupt water distribution, water would be re-routed through other pipes temporarily to sustain the flow.
Blow adds that construction will most likely have to take place during the winter months because demand for water is much higher in the summer – something that would prolong the planned two-year construction window.
Ottawa council will hold a public meeting on March 31 about the proposal. A final decision is expected in April.