Capital Coun. Shawn Menard led members of the Ottawa East community in celebration Saturday after a beloved patch of parkland was recently saved when a 50-year-old plan to build a freeway through the green space was scrapped.
Menard also said the neighbourhood’s victory in the battle to preserve the “People’s Park” has helped convince him to run for re-election as ward councillor in this October’s municipal vote.
Menard confirmed to Capital Current at the event that he intends to run for a third term, citing his successful campaign to remove the northern section of the Alta Vista Transportation Corridor from the city’s master plan as reason to be optimistic about the future.
“My plan right now is definitely to be running. I’m thinking about what that means for policy and all that other stuff for when I end up registering, probably in June,” Menard said while working an industrial-sized barbecue grill in the noon sunshine. “This (success) factors in to all that thinking.”
The removal of the potential road corridor from the city’s transportation plan was finalized last July. Menard organized the free barbecue in the park itself, which lies between the Rideau River and Lees Avenue just south of the Queensway and across the street from the Lees LRT station.
The six-lane highway would have been elevated to link with Nicholas Street as it loops onto the 417, cutting through an eastern section of Old Ottawa East and blocking the view from properties on each side.
“It was going to be at the third-floor level” of one apartment building next to the park, said Don Fugler, an Old Ottawa East resident who has served on various positions with the local community association over the past 35 years.
The official plan that first listed the planned highway corridor dates to 1974. But the express route was first proposed during Queensway construction in 1965. The city’s transportation priorities and traffic demands were significantly different then compared with today.
Menard said it was a significant accomplishment to have such a long-term freeway plan removed from the city’s to-do list. He added that changes happening on other municipal issues he’s worked on over his past two terms on council — including transit and affordable housing, as well as the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic — have played a role in his intention to run again.
“It also shows that the city is changing in terms of its priorities . . . The community can make a difference — even though it’s been on the books for 50 years — they can change things,” Menard said. “I think this is such a nice, refreshing change from what we’re used to.”
‘My plan right now is definitely to be running. I’m thinking about what that means for policy and all that other stuff for when I end up registering, probably in June. This (success) factors in to all that thinking.’
— Capital Coun. Shawn Menard
The removal of the northern section of the corridor from the city’s transportation plan reflects the evolution of the site, with the nearby LRT station and current traffic patterns negating the need for an additional corridor for cars.
“We’ve been promoting 15-minute neighborhoods, development that was needed in Capital ward . . . The big thing is, we’ve just secured affordable housing along this stretch, as well,” Menard said. “This is a major transit line, the LRT station (is) right there, and we’re . . . going to have open green space. We need to spread this type of thinking and change in the city’s thinking everywhere.”
In a speech, Menard credited the community for the hard work it had done to kill the corridor.
“So many of you know it was a long journey to get here,” said Menard. “The community did this . . . The folks who have organized here for years, decades, to get this out (of the Official Plan) . . . It’s because of them this freeway is not going to be built.”
Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, who is running for mayor in the October election and supported the People’s Park campaign, also attended the celebration, as did Ottawa Centre MPP Catherine McKenney, a frequent ally of both Leiper and Menard when they served as Somerset councillor from 2014-2022.
McKenney ran for the city’s top political job in 2022 but came second to Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe. McKenney then ran successfully for the NDP in the last provincial election in Ontario in February 2025.
Menard was first elected to city council in 2018 after serving a term as a trustee with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. He was re-elected in resounding fashion in the 2022 municipal election with nearly 79 per cent of the total votes cast.
Its obvious, the east end bridge as envisioned would remove the need for it.
Its time to push for the new east end crossing at aviation parkway…its been planned for 60 years.
Get those 18 wheelers out of downtown