One of the worst streets in Ontario is finally getting a facelift.
After a summer of consultation and planning, the City of Ottawa is set to unveil its plan for the reconstruction of Carling Avenue between Bronson Avenue and the O-Train line.
The city will be constructing new sewers, watermains and sidewalks, as well as doing landscaping in the area. Street lighting along Carling will also be upgraded to current city standards.
Project manager Luke Foley and his team are currently undertaking the preliminary design – due to be completed in January – for the rehabilitation of this section of Carling Avenue.
“By the end of the preliminary design phase a preferred design is selected . . . (which) will include location of watermain and sewers, utility conflicts, property requirements, lane configuration and sidewalks,” says Foley.
He adds that after the completion and approval of the preliminary design the city will move on to the detailed design phase of the project, which will involve the preparation of contract drawings and tender documents in order to proceed to construction.
Pending budget approval, construction is currently planned to begin next spring and will take place over a two-year period.
“Currently, the plan would be to close the westbound lanes to traffic and construct all the underground works and roadway for the westbound lanes in the first year of construction,” says Foley.
The eastbound lanes would then be completed during the second year of construction.
The reconstruction project intends to improve facilities for cyclists and pedestrians and make transportation safer along the busy roadway.
“We are looking at widening the sidewalks, introducing cycling lanes where possible, and extending vehicle turn lanes where possible,” says Foley.
For the past several years Carling Avenue has made the list of the top 20 worst roads in southern Ontario.
The online poll is conducted annually by the Canadian Automobile Association and the Ontario Road Builders’ Association, with the general public and members of the CAA ranking roads based on safety and their need for repair. Factors taken into consideration include potholes, traffic congestion and number of accidents or unsafe conditions for motorists and pedestrians.
This year the CAA listed Carling as the 20th worst road in southern Ontario, a step up from its seventh place ranking in 2009.
The city also has plans to rehabilitate the section of Carling between Kirkwood Avenue and Merivale Road. The reconstruction of this section of Carling Avenue will include replacing large diameter watermains.
Patrick Leblanc, a member of Foley’s team, will head up the project, which involves the relocation of a 1,220 millimetre water transmission main that is on the Queensway.
Approximately 400,000 water customers in the City of Ottawa are impacted by this water transmission main.
“We will be constructing the top end of the Cave Creek Collector sewer on Merivale Road and completely rehabilitating both roadways with new sewers, local watermains, sidewalks, cycling facilities, roadway and streetscaping and landscaping,” says Leblanc.
He notes that the work is scheduled to start in early 2011 and continue for approximately a year and a half.