Orléans road extension could finally be on the way
After years of stops and starts, the City of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission (NCC) say they've finally reached an agreement that could improve road transportation for east-end residents.
According to a "memo of understanding" announced Wednesday, the city and the NCC have agreed on a roughly 1.5-kilometre, two-lane extension of Brian Coburn Boulevard through the Greenbelt to connect with Renaud Road.
The current stretch of Renaud Road, which zig-zags sharply and crosses the Prescott-Russell Trail, "would be closed and returned to greenspace," according to the news release.
It said the change would "help address the transportation needs of the growing east end community," essentially by adding a more direct east-west alternative to Innes Road and the Blackburn Hamlet Bypass.
The new alignment would improve road safety in the area, according to the news release.
National Capital Commission CEO Tobi Nussbaum, right, announces the tentative agreement between the NCC and the City of Ottawa on Feb. 28, 2024. (Simon Smith/CBC)
Thousands of homes have been built in the area based on a long-promised bus rapid transit line that has never materialized, resulting in gridlock on nearby roads where commuters have few options other than driving.
In 2013, the city and the NCC signed an agreement for a new Transitway to run along the existing bypass. A few years later, the city decided soil conditions would make that project too expensive.
More recently, the NCC has informed the city that it would not consider a new road through Greenbelt farmland located to the south.
City of Ottawa staff recommended this design for a Brian Coburn Boulevard extension through the Greenbelt, south of the existing Blackburn bypass, in 2022. (City of Ottawa)
Despite that, city staff recommended that council approve a plan to link Renaud Road directly to Brian Coburn Boulevard, though it focused more on improving the southern portion of Renaud Road than removing it entirely
Those recommendations were approved in March 2022.
Alongside that connection, there's been work underway to add transit and carpool lanes to the Blackburn Hamlet Bypass and Innes Road.
