Residents in the “meaty part” of Centretown are left to cover their own ears as a result of a design plan released by the Ontario government for new sound barriers along the Queensway, according to the vice-president of Centretown Citizens Community Association.
Robert Dekker says the proposal to erect barriers that will mitigate noise from the highway is disappointing for residents because it excludes the heart of Centretown.
He says they want a barrier put up on the north side of the highway from Lyon Street to Elgin Street.
Dekker says the CCCA asked the province in 2007 to consider sound proofing the area but says even with recent changes to the plan that section of Centretown is still left out.
New barriers will replace the current ones on the north side of the highway from Bronson Avenue to Lyon Street and on the south side from the O-Train to Preston Street and then from Lyon Street to the Rideau Canal, according to the design.
The details of the new walls have not been confirmed, but Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi says the Ministry of Transportation typically uses concrete absorptive barriers standing four-to-five feet tall.
Dekker says he doesn’t know why certain areas are chosen over others but he has an idea.
“They are going to get a bigger bang for their buck by putting them on the south side and affecting people in the Glebe and not people in Centretown,” he says.
Naqvi, on the other hand, says potential locations for sound barriers are identified and the ministry then looks at options to install them with other highway projects in the area to maximize cost savings and efficiency.
He says that the decisions are all part of the Queensway redevelopment project that is currently underway.
That project has focused on the expansion of the east and west sides of downtown.
Now that construction is driving its way into the core, the attention is on improving existing noise barriers, ramps and paving, says Naqvi.
Centretown residents have complained about the noise pollution for years according to both Naqvi and Dekker.
“It’s loud,” says Centretown resident Tanya Pascoe, “you always hear cars, ambulances and heavy trucks whizzing by.”
Pascoe lives in an apartment on the corner of Arlington Avenue and Percy Street parallel to the Queensway where the only new barrier on the north side is set to go up.
Naqvi is encouraging residents such as Pascoe to provide their feedback on the proposal.
He says “people by large are very happy to see the process moving on.”
It has been eight years since the area was added to a waiting list for new barriers, according to an article published in Centretown News in 2009.
In 2008, the preliminary design received environmental clearance, says Naqvi.
“All that’s left now is for the plans to be finalized for one more public consultation and then the actual construction,” he says.
But according to David Lindensmith, Ministry of Transportation senior project engineer, construction will have to wait until funding is secured and the expansion of the Queensway from Nicholas Street east to Highway 174 is finished.
That project is set to begin this spring.
Dekker says the CCCA will use the waiting time to continue to lobby for new barriers.
“The positive is that we will have an opportunity to try and make some changes to the plan and maybe have more of Centretown affected by the positive aspects of the noise barriers,” he says.